Our first trip of the year, and time to tackle a tough cave we've had our eyes on for a while - Simpsons-Swinsto
Another year, another excellent expedition to Slovenia. With 2.2 km discovered in Vrtnarija, all below 600 m, Pivo Moz 2015 was another successful year for ICCC. Significant work went into the pushing of the leads off Sic Semper Tyrannis which led to the closure of an 840m loop in the south, while Colarado Duck (formerly Sump) was passed with a further 270m found beyond, in the northern reaches of the cave. Aven climbing at Strap on the Nitro enabled the discovery of 294 m of south trending passage heading towards Wonderstuff in the ‘old system’.
In April 2015, eight cavers from Imperial College Caving club went to the south island of New Zealand to search for new cave systems. Poor weather forced us to abandon our original destination of Mt Owen, and we instead went to Takaka Hill. You can find more information on our expedition on our subsite.
Derbyshire once again ensared us in it's icey grip and despite some blizzard conditions we managed a JH --> Peak trip on Saturday with some bouncing and some doing the full through trip. A small derig trip on Sunday nearly ended in disaster when half metre snow drifts cut off Rowter farm whilst the deriggers were underground.
The new year began with the annual Mendips trip. Normally very popular and this year was no exception! Satuday saw most of the group head into Swildons, with two short round teams and one sump bounce team. Sunday saw a variety of activity, some in Eastwater, some on ladder retrieval duty in Swildons and some practicising SRT rescue techniques on the tower.
The threat of Derbyshire discouraged many and we were left with only the keenest, crackedest cavers. Despite our Peak District misgivings it turned out to be an excellent trip. We managed an audible exchange in Maskhill/Oxlow on Saturday. On Sunday we, under the direction of our newer cavers, probed the many horrible muddy crawls of Peak.