Young Member's Weekend ~ by James Meredith

The 3rd and 4th of November played host to the first ever Young Members Weekend, which was a weekend organised by young members for young members. In total, there was approximately 20 young people there ranging from the ages of almost 17 to 5 years old. The main feature of the weekend was the caving trip to Ogof Pasg-Foelwen. This was a cave that had everything and certainly redefined kiddies caving and also had 12 under 18's underground all at once.

Thank you to Jules Carter for the caving photos from the trip and to all the adults who helped and transported people there and back. Also, a big thank you to Beth Lewingdon for car sitting on what was a chilly day in Wales. After an evening of fireworks, the children enjoyed carving pumpkins and decorating cakes and cookies. Thank you again to Beth for her amazing cookery skills. Click here for loads more pictures.

Thank you to everyone who came and helped out over the course of the weekend. It was great to see so many younger people up there all at the same time making the event a huge success.

Snailbeach Mine meet ~ by Piers Hallihan

Earlier in November 9 SWCC members braved the wilds of Shropshire to explore the Snailbeach Lead mines. Dating back to Roman times, the mines were worked in one way or another until the 1950’s with peak production being in the late 19th and very early 20th Centuries. The mines reach down over 556 yards from the main shaft in the centre of the village (as a scale drawing in the visitor centre shows, that’s almost 2 Eiffel towers) but since the main pumps were turned off in 1911, everything below the 110 yard level is flooded, with most of the “interesting” stuff being found at the 40 yard level.

Confusingly, the Levels are measured from the height of the main shaft in the centre of the village with modern access being via a Level some distance away and 120 feet higher up meaning that to access the 40 yard level, you actually have to descend something more like 80 Yards. Thanks to our hosts from the Shropshire Caving and Mining Club who’d been up and rigged most of the mine ready for us during the week, there wasn’t too much hanging around and the fact that they’d rigged it as a round trip meant we could split up and have two people descending at a time to meet up underground.
See full report and pictures . .

Gorner Glacier ~ from Martin Groves and Gareth Davies

Once again Gareth, Martin, Krysia and the team have plunged deep within this Swiss glacier.

This time with Robbie Shone and his amazing camera work. Click here and prepare to freeze!

Gareth writes: "Towering above the alpine villages of Switzerland, Italy and France, the imposing peaks of the Matterhorn and surrounding mountains have long been a mecca for mountaineers and explorers alike. Today, whilst cable cars and a mountain railway transport hordes of tourists to the more accessible areas, pioneering exploration continues, not on the surface, but far out of sight in the icy depths of the second largest glacier system in the Alps. During the end of October, 2012, an eight-person strong British team, led by Martin Groves and Gareth Davies, which was partly funded by Welsh Sports Association, returned to the Gorner Glacier for their third expedition exploring, mapping and photographing the harsh but beautiful sub-glacial world of moulins.

The 2012 expedition took place slightly later than during the previous year, in the hope that meltwater would be less, and the going significantly easier. In reality, extremely harsh weather conditions made progress difficult, as the team battled with strong blizzards and temperatures of -18 °C. Countless hours were spent advancing through the deep snow, only for the hard work to be completely erased again moments later. All was not lost however. Access was gained to several incredibly beautiful moulins. Who knows, in this ever changing world beneath the glacier, how long these magnificent places will be accessible for?

Advance team
Gareth Davies SWCC, diver
Greg Kemp cardiff uni,
Tom bright cardiff uni

2nd team
Martin Groves SWCC, diver
Krisia Groves SWCC
Ian Holmes ex cardiff
Sam Doyle Aberystwyth uni and Glaciologist
Robbie Shone photographer ( Innsbruck)

The plan had been for my group to take communal gear and set up camp, confirm conditions and recci dive site.
Martin and co to bring up dive gear and rest of team kit (from my car), but weather turned and we spent 48hrs snowed in and another 36 hrs digging out whilst Martin and co dug in, (thanks Jules for the shovel).

It was a very entertaining trip and a good learning curve, despite objective of "Diving beneath the glacier" being scuppered by weather."

Full report and more pictures later.

Cheap caving wellies ~ from Chris Grimmet

For several years I have been using a pair of Trucker wellington boots for caving. These have a steel toecap, a steel midsole insert for stiffening and are fabric lined which makes them easier to take on and off. These wellies have been excellent until last weekend when one sprung a leak in Snailbeach Lead Mine and I had to look for a new pair.

One company is selling off this type of boot as they are no longer going to stock them and the price is a bargain at £8.50 per pair including VAT plus £5.65 carriage, on which I guess VAT will apply. At the time of writing they have left:-

4 pairs of Size 9s, 12 pairs of Size 10s, 8 pairs of Size 11s, 2 pairs of Size 12s

If you are interested, go to www.vizwear.com

DOs needed please

Ok gang, we are short of Duty Officers over the next few months - please take a look at the Calendar and offer your services for one day or the weekend, especially if its been more than a year since you did it last.

Weekends with visitors are particularly urgent - and who knows you may make new caving friends! Log onto the website to sign up - its easy - or else email me and I will put you down.

Especially needed on Nov 25. Dec 1, 2, 8, 9, 22, 23, 29,30,31. And most of Jan and Feb (ahem).

Full members who need a nudge in this direction please be chastened by two of our Provisional Members who were so keen they offered to be DO even before they were ready!!!