BCRC Conference Clapham, Yorkshire Dales

Although Karen and I had only brought SRT kit (we were planning to spend a week walking in the Lakes next week and had no room for caving kit: Keith was bringing our kit up on Saturday next week as we would be returning to the Dales for an OCC Meet on Leck Fell) and the activities today were all involving being underground.

We explained the situation to BCRC Conference organisers at Ingleborough Hall and we were told it wouldn't be a problem as we would either be on the surface or only near a cave entrance.

After breakfast we joined Pete Roe from Swaledale (also an Orpheus member) plus Ivan Youg and Dave Warren from Scottish Cave Rescue Organisation and Julie Hardy also from Derbyshire CRO in a Cave Rescue Organisation land rover for lift to Leck Fell.

We attended a session on using a Larkin Rescue Frame. This was done over a small lidded pot called Cupcake which was just the other side of the wall from the road up to Leck Fell parking place. Luckily it was a dry and sunny but cool day.

Afterwards we walked up the road to the car parking place and had a lunch of soup and bread plus lovely flapjack provided by the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Organisation's mobile canteen.

The afternoon session involved a session on 2 to 1 hauling at Gavel Pot. What was interesting was the releasable deviation formed by attaching a short length of rope to a karabiner using a barrel knot and the rope was wrapped through a second karabiner then back and forth several times around both karabiners and then the end was tied off.

When the “casualty” reached the “Y hang” on a 2 to 1 haul (using a Z rig at the surface to take in the active rope on the 2 to 1 system), the deviation was released and the rope now formed a Tyrolean Travers.

The “casualty” was then hauled across the Tyrolean Travers to get across the slope at the shaft top.