Peterson Pot Entrance to Hall of the Mountain King

From Ease Gill

Peterson Pot Entrance Series[edit | edit source]

A gulley descends under the tree; the slope is loose — take care! The first pitch (P4) is soon reached.

  • 8m rope rigged to flake on right (in situ rope, February 2018).

The pitch lands in a small chamber. A route between boulders opens immediately over the second pitch (P4) down a chimney.

  • 8m rope rigged to spike in floor.

A slot leads into a rift, with a junction [ahead soon closes down]. The way on is to the right into Roly-Poly Passage. The passage starts as a small tube. The first bend is best taken facing right; at the subsequent left-hand bend, it is possible to turn over to face left; a double-bend then leads into a 2m by 1.5m chamber.

The passage continues as an awkward crawl-traverse in the top of a rift, soon passing a side passage to the left. The passage takes about 15 minutes — sometimes much longer. The top section of the rift is not much larger than body size; below is narrower, and 1-2m deep. The rift contains a series of sharp bends, for which it is necessary to approach facing the correct way. There are several double-bends, but in each case it is possible to turn over part way round.

The passage eventually pops out of a window directly above a 3m drop, The Sky Dive; an in situ rope (February 2018) provides a very useful handhold while wriggling out of the window and righting oneself.

Immediately below is the third pitch (P8), which can be free-climbed, down a rift in several section, and meeting the streamway near the bottom.

  • 12m rope (in situ, February 2018).

Immediately, an exposed traverse leads to the top of the fourth pitch.

  • 5m rope for traverse, or 10m pitch for traverse and pitch, rigged to thread at start of traverse and bolt at end on left. (Rope for traverse in situ, February 2018).

There are two ways on:

  • Descending the fourth pitch leads immediately to the fifth pitch (P6), requiring a 12m rope. Below, the passage soon gets too tight.
  • At the top of the pitch, a window is the start of the route into Pippikin Pot.

Peterson Pot Fourth Pitch to Hall of the Mountain King[edit | edit source]

From the window above the fourth pitch of Peterson Pot, a short muddy crawl leads into a small chamber (2m by 1.5m) at the base of an 8m-high aven. The way on is at head height, a wriggle to a climb up into a large passage, Svengland. [Alternatively, a muddy crawl in the floor of the chamber also leads to Svengland.] Going left, ascending and then descending boulder slopes leads to a rift, which soon leads to a 3m climb down. Round the corner is a 7m pitch.

  • 10m rope rigged to two bolts (rope in situ, February 2018).

The pitch lands at a junction. [To the right leads to a 20m pitch into Hall of the Mountain King (rope of dubious quality in situ, February 2018).] To the left, a muddy 4m climb (rope in situ, February 2018) leads to a rift. Ahead is a muddy, steeply descending tube. At the bottom soon reaches a 2.5m climb down (scaffold bar stemple in situ). Round the corner, a slither down muddy boulders reaches Wellington Traverse in Hall of the Mountain King: traversing left reaches the top of the chamber.