Ogof Gwynt Yr Eira - Cave of the raining rocks

Gwynt Yr Eira has a reputation for being very loose and so we headed down very gingerly. The start of the cave was a little more straight forward than expected and we were able to free climb down to the top of the Drop The Dead Donkey Pitches. On the first of the pitches a fixed ladder is installed halfway down the pitch and serves to make getting on the rope a little easier. The rock ledge is littered with loose rock and one by one we made our way across and down the next pitch. At the bottom of the second of the pitches Mark had an explore of some high level leads before we dropped the final pitch towards the sumps. The streamway was followed upstream before we headed to the sump and digs downstream. We headed back up the pitches to search out the Road To Nowhere, we soon found our way through to Alaska and spent some time exploring routes in The Squalors. It was here that Mark found a promising lead and after pulling out some rocks sent Jess ahead into the virgin passage. Jess reported that she was in a small chamber big enough for a couple of people, with no way off, and so she returned. We then headed back to search for the route on. At this point Mark spotted a large block of rock peeling off the roof and shouted a warning ahead to me. The rock landing on the slope above me lost a lot of its energy and rolled relatively slowly into me - a near miss. We searched what we thought was all routes and could not find the Road To Nowhere and so abandoned the cave to return to SWCC for the bonfire night celebrations.

Jess above Drop The Dead Donkey Pitches

A cave that we will return to with the aim of finding the route into the Road to Nowhere.

Present: Jessica Harding, Mark Burkey and Brendan Marris