What a fantastic trip, though hard. I was definitely nervous the day before, it's been a while since I had done anything grade 5, unless you count Mossdale, but even that was a year ago before my injury (ruptured achillies tendon). Okay, I had done an 8 hours trip in Southwales (aggy) a few weeks ago, though it's not as arduous, no rope bags! In King there's quite a bit of rope to share between two people though I tried to reduce the weight using my light-weight grade 5 rope (8mm).
Anyway it was a glorious sunny day and it felt a right shame to spend this underground, and which was why I was having so much trouble to try and find a 3rd pretty much everyone I asked was climbing! We passed the farmer and his 1 door tractor to let him know where we were going and to expect to see is probbably in the dark, so he knows we are not sheep russlers or something.
Once through the farm there was a grade 5 walk up a steep hill, just a few months ago I would have struggled with this alone, due to my injury! But up we went and walked straight to the entrance using modern tech to find it.
Down the entrance and through the hole onto the first pitch/climb, which was easy enough on the way down (a theme here). I rigged the climb and the pitch with 1 rope so at-least there was backup to the main hang. I started descending and realised there was another anchor and went back up again to rig it (another theme here!). Really nice descent, down a flouted shaft into a big chamber. A crawl leads past a boulder, where an important note for anyone who reads this, is look up as soon as you can stand up. That's the way on, thankfully I remembered this, guides don't mention how easy it is to carry on in a tight horrible passage.
We were soon at the rope traverse where I bravely just hung off it on my cows tails as I was feeling lazy and then an awkward crawl to the top of the 2nd pitch in a boulder choke. I rigged the re-belay and missed it was y-hang, oh well rope rub was minimal.
A bit of crawling and akward climb we reached the traverse, it did not seem that bad and bag was easily retrievable when is slid in getting to the end I dropped down the hole to stand up, not advisable on the way out. I looked over the lip on the way you are meant to go, and thought feck that, I grabbed the knotted rope and dropped straight down, tight at first but it opened out and I flew down the rope to a knot stopping me basically on the floor, still far less scary and easier than the way you are meant to go, you just can't go back up this way. Pete followed me.
Onwards from here I will keep details light, there's lots of walking passage mixed with crawls, formations, a pitch and climbs/scrambles and we were soon at the boulder choke just before King Henry hall. To get through, go through the hole on the left and climb down, then down the hole on the right the higher one, onto a rather scary drop, the other hole is tighter and a massive loose boulder, so don't go that way. Anyway, after passing the second hole , which dropped on perched boulders a few meters above the floor. Pete passed the bags through I carefully put them on ledge, one rolled of. Bang, bash, slither bash. Feck bag down a hole out of sight, bugger!
I looked where it went, hmm not going to fit down that hole, thankfully there was another slightly bigger hole further down which allowed me to slither down between the boulders, tight though, SRT off required. I could see the bag, now but everything moved, I don't think anyone had been here before. Scariest 2 minutes of my life as climbed down and back out with everything moving, ready to bury me alive!
Back out and thankfully alive and important gear retrieved we carried on to the bottom, some fantastic airey pitches and 160m crawl (thankfully easy and bag draggable). We dumped gear at Jane's pitch and went down some large decorated passages until yet more crawling, 165m in total this time (according to NC) lead to the main stream where we checked out the duck and the sumps, the duck had less than 5cm of airspace and I was not wearing neoprene, feck that it's 4 hours to get out. The passage here reminds me very much of the master cave on the other side of the valley.
After going back up the bottom 20m high pitch (Elizibeth) was when I started to feel tired and by the time we had gone back up all the pitches and climbs before T-shaped rift doubly so. Getting back in is way harder than leaving. Climb up the knotted rope but not up the hole, you have to lie on-top of a rock pinnacle and straddle it. At this point you pull the bag up the rope and shove it in the passage in-front of you - Pete's idea. I had the bag on a cord and had a mild bit of panic here as its very easy to slip into the rift I had now pushed myself into it, but the bag was blocking my path and I could not move it far ahead due to the cord, so I just had to try and wedge myself and move it slowly forward nudging the bag with my head, before I eventually got through. Hardest bit done, but not out yet, it was then a case of pushing the bag along until it slipped down later, where it took me 10 minutes to get the bugger back out, Pete told me to control my breathing I was panting like a stream-train due to the physical effort of this.
Finally out, but bits of me really tired by this point, especially my shoulders and arms were, I was not flagging completely as I have really been working on my fitness over the last few months. On the traverse I knew I might struggle pulling myself back up though, so I just had to do the splits to get across the hole.
Rest of the way was slow but nothing was really hard now except for that hole at the top of Rope pitch (tip: don't be lasy like me and try and prussic it) - Pete flew through it. Anyway, we then exited to a beautiful sunset after 8 hours underground! Pity the walk back was spoiled by the fact the straps had broke on my tackle bag, I should I left it down the hole lol!
