Ease Gill Aven to Molluscan Hall

From Ease Gill

Ease Gill Aven to Molluscan Hall[edit | edit source]

Ease Gill Aven is a 10m pitch down a chimney. The Aven should not be descended if there is more than a trickle of water.

  • 10m rope or 20m rope for pull-through; P-bolt and thread Y-hang. (Rope in situ, December 2016.)

There are various routes through Molluscan Hall. This route is based on John Gardner's description at http://www.braemoor.co.uk/caving/route22.shtml.

At the foot of the Aven, the way on is an obvious outlet in clean rock. A step across a hole leads into continuing sandy/bouldery passage. Descending the next hole leads into a lower rift passage.

Ahead soon enters a chamber, running to left and right, 6m long and 2m wide, with large boulders in the floor. [The sound of the streamway comes from the left.] Turning right, and clambering over boulders leads to an ascent in a rift. [This meets a bedding plane, running back to the top of the previous chamber.]

Ahead, a route through a breakdown passage soon leads to a step down to a muddy ledge with stal bosses, and a further pit [with continuing passage ahead]. Descending the pit leads into a small chamber. At the lowest point of the chamber, a route between boulders reaches a small, low chamber. A crawl outlet immediately reaches a junction. Going left is a flat-out crawl, initially over bedrock and then over gravel. The crawl becomes wider and higher, and reaches the streamway.

Upstream soon reaches a choke. Ascending the obvious open route through the choke, then going left, soon regains the stream in Molluscan Hall. [Doubling back, and climbing up, leads to Dismal Bypass.] Ahead leads to Dismal Junction.