Mallorca 2014 - Day 3 - Cova De Na Mitjana

Our chosen cave for the day was ‘Cova de Na Mitjana’ and we all set off in high spirits and with a lot less kit to carry than the day before. It was quite a long drive, and on arrival at the gates of a country park it was quite comical to see the occupants of both cars dash off in all directions to find suitable bushes!

Searching for the route down to the cave - Photo by Brendan

The group at the cave entrance - Photo by Brendan

The group at the cave entrance - Photo by Mark

We followed the book directions to the top of the hill and set off towards the coast, Mark disappearing with the GPS app on his phone in one direction, Wal following his nose in another and the rest of us trying to follow cairns and make sense of what the book said. Arriving at a little inlet, we could see so many possible cave entrances in the craggy cliffs surrounding us that it would have taken us ages to find the right one, but it turned out that the GPS coordinates that Brendan had given Mark from Google Earth turned out to be spot on, Mark had gone straight to the cave, and he guided us along the coast to the cave mouth. It turned out that all the directions given in the book were really good, but only once you’d found the cave and could work out what the directions were trying to say. GPS a definite winner this week.
There was only a short pitch to gain access to the cave, and again we were blown away by it. Although only one chamber really, it was packed with every formation possible, and a few that looked impossible as well. A beautiful blue pool of seawater completed the look.
The photographers in the group were wetting themselves with glee and started setting up myriads of flashguns, but after a couple of hours of wandering round and gazing, there was little else to do, so a group of us made our way back out and spent a pleasant few hours paddling and swimming at the nearest beach while we waited.

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Mark

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Mark

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Mark

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Brendan

The magnificent chamber - Photo by Brendan

All out by about 8.30pm, we raided the local supermarket and got back to the villa.
As we planned the next day’s activities, various opinions were aired (with emphasis) about what we each wanted out of the week, as the logistics of moving as a group of 8 with differing aims and abilities hit home. Various compromises were sorted and the next day’s trip was decided.

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey, Steve Wal Wallis, Helen Nightingale, Loz Appleby, Chloe Burney, Phil Lester and Brendan Marris
Report: Jess Burkey

Mallorca 2014 - Day 2 - Cova De Sa Campana

Having chosen to start with the cave that Brendan had been to before, ‘Sa Campana’, we were all up bright and early and still milling around aimlessly in various states of undress well past 8am. Wal of course had been up since 5 but was no more ready than the rest of us. Finally we managed to get into the cars by 9 and got out of the drive, at which point Brendan stopped, got out of his car and came to ask us
“Have you got Helen?”
“No, she was in your car”
“Well she’s not now”
“She’s only small, she hasn’t slipped between the seats or something?”
“No I checked. I think we’ve locked her in the villa then!”
Helen rescued, we set off for the drive that was billed as ‘interesting switchbacks on a narrow mountain road’. Oh yes. You wouldn’t want to stall, and lose your power steering and brakes, that’s for sure! The other car soon showed up too and Brendan’s fingers were prised out of the dashboard while the colour slowly returned to his face.

The team at the car park ready for the slog up to the cave - Photo by Brendan

We found the parking spot, amongst signs that warned us DO NOT HUNT THE MUSHROOMS! (Maybe truffles??)
Brendan set off among the undergrowth like a trained hound and for the next hour or so we followed a combination of book directions and GPS (but mostly Brendan’s memory) over rocks, up climbs, through spiky bushes and over the top of the mountains with our shedloads of heavy kit.

Mark looking out over the Torrent De Paries - Photo by Brendan

The team at the entrance to the cave kitting up - Photo by Brendan

It was knocking on 1pm when we got to the cave entrance, and there’s no way you would have spotted it even from 6 feet away if you didn’t know where it was. A full trip report will be posted separately, but suffice to say the cave was HUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!!! We wandered round absolutely amazed at not only the size but the beauty of the caverns – on one wall alone was a display of ‘antlers’ that makes the ones in Daren look like pocket-sized toys.
By the time we got out of the cave the sun was beginning to set, and the last part of the walk back to the car was in darkness – good job we had headtorches! The drive home through the switchbacks was even more fun in the dark, and I’m proud to say my passengers only screamed once! Mind you, they had their eyes shut after that…

Jess in the magnificently decorated Sala Des Fangs - Photo by Mark

Chloe in the magnificently decorated Sala Des Fangs - Photo by Mark

Helen in the magnificently decorated Sala Des Fangs - Photo by Mark

A late meal in town found us returning back to the villa about midnight. Plans for the next day were then hastily changed as we decided an easier day than originally planned might be in order as we were all fookin knackered.

Present: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey, Steve Wal Wallis, Helen Nightingale, Loz Appleby, Chloe Burney, Phil Lester and Brendan Marris
Report: Jess Burkey

Mallorca 2014 - Day 1 - Arrival

When Brendan first suggested a group of us going to Mallorca on a caving holiday, I must admit that the words’ Mallorca’ and ‘holiday’ were the ones that sparkled out at me. As beach holidays tend to get boring after a while, the idea of mixing in some caving as well made it sound like the perfect plan!

The washing facilities at the villa - Photo by Wal

Months of planning then ensued; flights, accommodation, car hire, insurance etc. all had to be discussed, arranged and paid for. Brendan admitted that when he went caving before in Mallorca, they had only actually found one cave, as the entrances are extremely well hidden. We were determined, therefore, to be as well prepared as possible to be successful. After making contact with a member of the Mallorcan Federation of Caving, we were able to purchase through him a beautiful book containing the most well-decorated caves, including route descriptions, and we picked out 10 of the best, figuring we should be able to find at least a few of them.
We also found out that permits had to be applied for, and after some trawling through the web for information, plus help from our new contact, a form was filled out in Catalan (!!) and a reply came back that seemed to give us permission for most of the caves we had chosen.
As the day approached, work got busier and busier, and with half a book in Spanish to translate so that we could work out what kit to take and what each trip would involve, I started to panic. It all got done just in time though, and we started packing. As I put in shorts and sandals and pretty dresses for going out in the evening, Mark was taking out his second pair of shorts and adding another overall and extra wellies…
Saturday arrived far too early and we all met at the airport at 4am. Worried about our Scurion batteries, which look very much like small home-made explosives, we had printed out specs sheets and presented them at check in for advice. “Just put them in your hold luggage” we were told. Phil was then held up for half an hour while they retrieved his suitcase from the plane, as he had a set of rechargeable AA’s in his case!
Arriving in Mallorca (relieved that our batteries hadn’t blown up the plane) and after being fleeced by the robdogging bastards at the car hire company, we made our way easily to the villa, which was down a winding, narrow single-track road with high stone walls each side – something we got very used to over the week. The villa had a pool! This of course had to be tested straight away, with Chloe trying out the first of her 3 ½ bikinis and Wal nearly knocking himself out diving in without finding out which was the deep end. After a splash around, Mark was doing his Tigger impression “Cave! Cave! Cave!” so a small party set off to find the cave nearest to the villa whilst the more sensible ones stayed by the pool for a bit. The triumphant cave party returned having found the cave mouth using the book description and GPS and we began to plan our week.

The view of Puerto Pollence from Cova De Cal Pesso - Photo by Brendan

We planned our caving trips for each day based on the weather forecast, the length of the drives and walks-in, the proximity of the caves to each other, and my insistence on having one ‘good night out’ in Magaluf. We worked out that if we were up and out by 8 each morning, then we could have a good day’s caving, get back to the villa in time for a bit of sun, maybe a BBQ or meal out, get kit ready for next day etc. The first cave had been found so easily, what could possibly go wrong??

The Team: Mark Burkey, Jess Burkey, Steve Wal Wallis, Loz Appleby, Chloe Burney, Phil Lester, Helen Nightingale and Brendan Marris
Report: Jess Burkey

Telford Trio in Splinter Group Complete Exchange Trip In the Peaks - Oxlow Caverns to Maskhill Mine

I had offered to rig Oxlow Cavern for Andy G who was leading a novice SRT trip into the cave and was soon joined by two sherpas with large rope bags in the guise of Rob and Tony. We headed into the main cavern and rigged the final pitch into Pool Chamber and then waited for two larger groups to arrive and then DCC had 13 members underground in the passage linking Oxlow and Maskhill.

I had spent some time on the descent showing Rob and Tony some rigging techniques and when we were all together it was decided that the Telford Trio (Me, Rob & Tony) would head out of Maskhill making the exchange trip and everyone else would exit Oxlow Cavern. This would help both of them understand more of the techniques used in rigging so we didn’t waste any time heading off up the Maskhill chamber.

I let Tony and Rob de-rig every pitch and played the role of rope bag hauler. Once we filled the first bag I took it up and out of the shaft and then headed back down to help with the work as there is a lot of rope and rigging to take out from Maskhill.

We were the first DCC cavers out and moved to the top of Oxlow to see if everyone was okay. There were lights moving down the shaft so we waited until we had communication with the others before heading down to the vehicles with all of our rope bags. We got changed and waited for the first few cavers to join us before heading to the Wanted Inn for a drink. I didn’t join Rob and Tony in the pub as I was on my motorbike and wanted to get back to Brum before it got too dark.

Trip Report: Andy Kempster

Members Present: Andy Kempster, Rob Campbell and Tony Ferrun.

Off On The Crusades Before going Off on Holiday!

As Mr Grimes was arranging a novice SRT trip in to Oxlow I decided a through trip from Maskhill would be good practice for cavers going to Mallorca at the beginning of October. After having been to Hidden Earth I also fancied a poke around in ‘New Oxlow’.

After parking up, changing and paying our fees to the farmer we were about to head off up the hill when I realised I had neglected to bring a memory card for my camera, so after some faffing Helen came to my rescue with an SD card from her camera.

We trotted up the hill with a tackle sack each weighing us down and were soon jumping like lemmings down the entrance pitch. Chloe wanted some practice and took over the rigging between the 2nd and 3rd pitches and we all made swift progress down to the connection with Oxlow.

Here we met up with the other group and posed for a quick group shot before continuing up the pull through in to Pilgrims Way. Here we dumped our SRT kits and after a reasonable amount of crawling we passed the Giant’s connection and were rewarded with larger passage way. We continued on exploring all leads until we came upon a pitch up and a pitch down. Unfortunately none of us had any SRT kit as we hadn’t expected to need it so we did the 20 min’s of crawling again in both directions to retrieve it. Chloe and Jess went up toward the new Crusader extensions and I began setting up a camera shot only to find out I was out of battery….Doh!

Instead I headed down the pitch and into the crawls and ducks that continued through the New Oxlow Extensions. Upon returning to the foot of the pitch we all re-joined and headed back to the elusive connection to Giants. We had taken a look at the horrid looking tight, flat out, wet way in to the chamber of horrors a few times in the past. Helen began taking the lead before deciding it wasn’t looking very pleasant. I encouraged Chloe to give it another go and with a little digging and with me wedged in the tight corner she managed to push through the tight squeeze. Turning around she actually found it easier to push back through. Feeling a little hypothermic we regrouped and headed out via Oxlow.

A great trip and a few places now to revisit!

Present: Helen Nightingale, Chloe Burney, Jess Burkey and Mark Burkey

Dan Yr Ogof Round Trip

On our North Wales weekend we fortunate to be offered a leader led trip in to ODB.
Our Leader, Marc, mentioned he was hoping to go to South Wales and we offered to lead some trips for him as a thank you.
Saturday saw us do the classic OFD 1 to OFD II through trip.

To continue Marc’s weekend tour of South Wales, we decided it wouldn’t be complete without a round trip in Dan Yr Ogof. I had been in twice previously so Mark decided to let me lead (without any survey!) to see how much I could remember.

I managed to flawlessly navigate through the show cave…….. Whoever said this leading malarkey was hard work!?

At the Lakes we found the water was at a surprisingly low level and we were soon through to Straw Chamber, where we took a short diversion into Corbel’s Chamber. Marc isn’t particularly keen on small spaces but the long crawl proved to be far less of a challenge than he was expecting and we made it through to the fixed ladder without incident.

Once at the Crystal Pool we stopped to take a few photos, and while Mark packed the camera away, I took Marc along Flabbergasm to show him the straw formations. We then continued through the Grand Canyon to Cloud Chamber and the Green Canal. As always, I was the first to grab a rubber ring and go whizzing off through the clear water. Once we had emptied the ponds from our wellies on the far side, we took a diversion down Go Faster and Go Slower Passage to the Rising. After a photo at the Battleship we retraced our steps and headed to the top of the Abyss. The climb down was far less intimidating than I remembered and in fact was almost fun!

Once under the Camel and through Thixotropic Passage, Mark was very pleased to find the sump to Mazeways open as he had been waiting a while to explore this short but interesting area of the cave. We split up and spent a short while running up the converging and diverging passages, and of course Mark wanted a few more photos. We completed the round trip by making our way back to the crawl via Bakerloo and retraced our steps to the Lakes where Mark decided he really really wanted a photo. Being the ‘water baby’ he explained that my job was to walk out to the centre of the lake, hands full of flash guns, until I was only just holding my head above the water so I could backlight Marc, but of course remembering not to fall in and get the equipment wet! So after what seemed like an eternity teetering on my tiptoes in freezing water trying not to drown either myself or the flash guns, Mark finally had the photo he wanted, and I raced out to the van to get warm.
All in all an excellent trip in a beautiful cave, and a route I am keen to do again soon to cement the navigation in my head.

Marc In Lake 2

Chloe In Mazeways

The Crystal Pool 

Trip Report: Chloe Burney

Present: Chloe Burney, Mark Burkey and Guest Marc (N Wales)

Ogof Pen Eryr - the day after the cave before

Jess recommended this small cave of only 420m length for me and Daz on Sunday, as she thought we would enjoy its squirrely nature. Mel joined us as she was looking for a short outing and an early bath to get back to West Mids for the evening.
It is basically a straight line, and obviously accessible to local kids judging by the graffiti (including direction arrows!) and glow stick that we spotted on our way in. It's also popular for novices, as it gives a taste of lots of different caving aspects on a mini scale. This means that the way is very smooth in many places, so easy to spot. Yet we all still found it extremely enjoyable.

Early on there is a challenging squeeze, which all three of us agreed was tighter than the infamous Daren Cilau entrance we had been through the previous day. The description told us to thrutch though it which we had a good laugh about as we had no idea what this meant. Whatever it was we had a damn good try and hopefully some thrutching was involved. Some parts were harder going up than down due to the lack of friction and gravity.

The Corkscrew was another nice twisty challenge about two thirds along the cave. At the far end a bedding plane is reached, and passing under this, near to a dig, and then up through some boulders takes you to the final chamber which was well decorated with calcite formations. They are all now completely brown apart from a few patches, but still cool. The cave feels snug overall.

We rested in the final chamber and turned off our lights for a good few minutes to experience what Mel called 'the true dark' together. After that, feeling happy, there was nothing left to do but to turn round and make our exit. This took us much less time than we expected and in something like 40 minutes we had reached the fresh air and the solitary sleeping bat at the cave entrance.

Photo of formations in Pen Eryr by Becca

Trip report: Becca

Present: Becca, Daz and Mel