John Cooper, Kate Lawrence, Adrian Vanderplank and Jude Vanderplank. Cool again today at 9°C but a cold wind blowing. To start with Adrian cut down the sapling overhanging the entrance and Kate treated the stump whilst John added some staples to the wire mesh on the scaffold boards. Adrian then descended to the top of the slot and John descended to the bottom of the fixed ladder. After a discussion it was agreed the way forward would be to cut off the bottom 8 rungs of the fixed ladder and attach the cut off bit to the West wall. A new ladder of length 3.2m would then be required to reach the floor. This section would face South, as is the upper section, and be pinned to the East and West Walls. The walkie/talkies were tried but communication between surface and top of slot failed. John then returned to the surface and Adrian dropped into the slot. Once safe the lifeline was hauled up, Adrian’s bag with GoPro and floodlight was sent down on the haul line, and Kate descended to join him. John descended to the end of the fixed ladder to relay messages. Below the slot various depth measurements were attempted together with some video. At the end Kate came up to the top of the slot and passed the lifeline down to Adrian. Adrian’s bag was hauled up through the slot and Adrian followed. John returned to the surface to haul up the bag whilst Jude lifelined Kate then Adrian out. A useful planning session. 1½ hours. John.
