Team: Jon, Jim, Bog and Fabian
Just over a month ago I undertook a solitary caving day entering Snelslow Swallet as well as a Giants Hole Round Trip to place Radon meters on behalf of the DCA as well as PICA. After asking if someone would like to come along when I would collect these meters after a month, I luckily had three willing volunteers… or victims.
We met as usual on a cold breezy evening at the Giants Hole car park, whilst enjoying a lovely cold beer we prepped the kit and put our caving gear on.
The first item tonight was to enter Snelslow Swallet, now the three have never entered this cave before so it was a pleasure showing them this little hidden gem which I would class as a beautiful SRT training ground because you have the facility to rig a couple of pitches in the main chamber including a re-belay or deviation for training.
We opted for a simple deviation and very shortly after found ourselves at the bottom of the Main Chamber. Now although it’s not a particularly deep cave I am always amazed by the geology and sediment layers you are able to see in the Main Chamber. This cave only contained two meters, so we completed this in less than an hour.
A quick re-group at the cars and deposit of ropes Jon and Bog shot off into Giants Hole to start rigging Garland’s Pot. Jim waited for me to catch up and we started heading up hill.
As soon as we reached the entrance we heard the stream being slightly louder than usual, we both knew this was going to be a little more sporty than your usual Giants trip. The more you entered the cave the more you realised this was going to be a lot of fun. The false floors which were usually dry were now completely covered with fast flowing water. The left turn at the first sump which usually is ankle deep was now knee deep.
Walking down the Giants Highway was impressive, the low thundery vibrations became louder and louder the close you got to Base Camp Chamber. On entering you could see the whole floor covered in water which was being forcefully ejected from the upper series creating quite a lot of foam in the process. Following this route past Boss Aven towards Garland’s Pot required careful foot placement as slipping here would have certainly knocked you off your feet and given you a good soaking. Up ahead we noticed two headlight lamps and Jon had rigged Garland’s and was on the way down. Communication proved rather difficult due to the sheer amount of water thundering over the edge. Descending the rope gave us a lovely, good soaking and got the circulation pumping.
Ditching the SRT kit at the bottom of Chert Hall we decided to continue light and enjoy this sure to be wet round trip. Now I appreciate the tedious left and right turns of the crab walk which after the 400 odd meters does start twisting your back. Having knee deep water dragging your feet forwards with strong force added a different feel to this. Any slip into any of the deep pools would cause problematic, as Jim found out. He decided the pick the deepest pool to see how much force the water can apply to your body, let’s say it was a lot!
If the water wasn’t enough of an added obstacle the upcoming “vice” certainly was. A couple of years ago I was able to squeeze my way through but since a two-year Pandemic and lack of fitness I need to take the wet route through the bottom to pass this obstacle. I was glad to see that this applied to the others as well, so we all got a good dunk through this duck followed by a slip and slide down razor edge cascade and another shower down comic act cascade.
The guys had a quite interesting ascend up the Eating House climb with me assisting from the bottom placing feet into foot loops. Only when it was my turn could I appreciate the added difficulty of not being able to see your feet whilst the waterfall is giving your privates a non-consensual pounding. Holding for a few moments to grab the obligatory “mid-climb shot” I was able to collect my first meter at the top of the hand line.
The way onwards through Maggin’s Rift and through the North East Swallet was pretty uneventful. The next meter was quickly located at the junction with the poached egg passage with us joking if we should just continue into Oxlow via the Chamber of Horrors. It surely couldn’t get much worse?
Well, then there’s the Giants Windpipe… The warning of it being a 20ft long dive if sumped always makes you worry if you have to turn around and retrace your steps. Jon offered to reccy and after a few moments we followed and heard a reliving “there’s around 5 inches of air space” if you could class this as relief. Jon and myself opted to tackle this section on our back whilst trying to not to have a couple of sips of “Giants water” resembling the result of a tasty Indian meal. Jim and Bog decided to take this on their front which yes… worked somehow.
For the return way Jim and myself continued the high travers for as long as possible whilst Jon and Bog climbed down just before the calcite window and continue at stream level. After another 50m we saw their lights below and we joined for the remainder of the streamway.
Ascending a wet Garland’s would have one bonus, the mud from all the crawling and climbing was going to be washed off. It also went into every little hole in your caving suit soaking you one last time.
The way out was once again uneventful with Jon and Jim heading off to get the van heated, Bog de-rigging and me following behind.
Cold beers were enjoyed in the comfort of Jim’s van were we regained feeling in our hands and feet and stopped looking like a pair of Parkinson’s patients who have missed their evening medication.
The Giants Hole Round Trip is a great Derbyshire must do! But if this would be your first time I’d recommend a calmer, drier trip. But then again hearing the thundering water of Base Camp Chamber and Garland’s Pot is something NOT to be missed!
Fabian