Peterson Pot to Pippikin Pot

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.

Hall of the Mountain King[edit | edit source]

Hall of the Mountain King is an extremely large, and extremely muddy, chamber. Several routes emanate from it. The following are described in a clockwise direction, from the top of the muddy slope overlooking the chamber.

  • [Descending the mud slope, to the left, is a blind pit.]
  • At the bottom of the mud slope, to the right, the obvious outlet leads to the Cigalère streamway.
  • Traversing right from the top of the mud slope is Wellington Traverse, which leads to Peterson Pot, Gothic Series and Hall of the Damned.
  • At the top of the muddy slope, on the left, is a traverse leading to the final pitch of Peterson Pot.

Hall of the Ten[edit | edit source]

Hall of the Ten is a major junction, where the normal route down Pippikin Pot enters the Leck Fell Master Cave. It is in a very large section of passage. The following routes are described in clockwise order.

  • Ascending the mud slope to the south leads to a continuing large passage. After 20m is a junction.
  • Ascending the mud slope to the north leads towards Dusty Junction, with routes to Mistral Hole and the caves of Easegill.
  • Descending through boulders leads into the Pippikin Streamway Choke; the normal route is to follow the Pippikin Streamway; various other routes lead off from within the choke.

Pippikin Pot Streamway, upstream[edit | edit source]

From Hall of the Ten, descending through boulders leads to a crawl upstream through a boulder choke. After a couple of minutes, the end of the choke is reached. Ahead, an oxbow soon rejoins the stream. Continuing upstream is pleasant walking passage, passing various roof passages. After about five minutes, a junction is reached.

  • Straight ahead is Ratbag Inlet.

Pippikin Pot Pitch Series, outwards[edit | edit source]

Note: all the pitches in this series need pre-rigging.

A clamber over boulders regains the pitch series streamway, and leads to the bottom of the sixth pitch (P6).

Above the pitch, a traverse leads to a short section of rift, leading to a route up between boulders into a small chamber. The bottom of the rift ahead is narrow. It is best to ascend to an obvious traverse level, a couple of metres above the stream. After about five minutes, the traverse ends at a descent into a small chamber with a pool.

A 3m climb, with a handline in situ (August 2016), leads up into a rift. Round the corner leads to narrow walking rift. After about four minutes, the bottom of the fifth pitch (P3) is reached; it is necessary to swing out a bit on the rope to reach a wide-enough section.

Round the corner is the fourth pitch (P8). Immediately above is a short climb up to a scaffold bar, best rigged as a pitch. Above, is an awkward narrow rift, Stemple Rift, best done wearing minimal SRT kit, pushing tackle in front. Immediately beyond the rift is the third pitch (P14).

A short section of narrow rift leads to the second pitch (P5). Above, is a short narrow rift followed by an upwards slot. Beyond is a hole in the floor; the way on is up to the right, a narrow slot about 2m above the floor. The slot leads to a small tube, which soon leads to the top of Cellar Pot; if pushing gear in front of you, avoid pushing it down the pot. A scaffold bar provides a traverse above the top of Cellar Pot (care!). Beyond, a crawl leads to a chamber, at the base of the entrance pitch (P6).