John Cooper, Nigel Graham, Pete Hann, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Cooler today at 18°C but sunny and with a slight breeze. Kate down first loading buckets but only 3 of rocks and 2 of gravel sent up before she said help required. Kate ascended after John descended but he only managed another 2 of gravel before he came out. Adrian then descended with capping kit and the 2 dumpy bags which he used to block the rift in the floor. Didn’t really need them as he gave up having decided capping had no effect. Whilst Adrian was capping John measured the depth from the bottom of the fixed ladder to the floor as 5.8m. Decided to install the next section, 4m, of fixed ladder. Pete drilled a couple of holes on each side of the new ladder above the top rung. John descended and detached the bottom double ladder which was lowered to reach the floor (dumpy bag). Adrian came out and the new section of ladder was lowered. A protrusion prevented a nice hang which John tried to remove and then called for Adrian to cap it out. One broken drill bit later and sufficient had been removed to allow hammer and chisel to finish the job. Adrian ascended and John attached the new section. Still needs an attachment to the wall a couple of metres down. John checked out the top of Pete’s North wall to see what needs doing. Plenty of building up still required. Next session will be a small bang to widen the bottom 50cm down to floor level. 3½ hours. John.
