Imperial College Caving Club [ICCC]

The Herman Herz: Lucky Escape while Caving

This award is named for a mohican-wearing old-lag who stopped caving the day his nine lives were used up, having survived some stupendously hazardous situations (both self-inflicted and thus avoidable, and sheer Acts of God).
This is awarded for lucky escapes while caving - a reminder of our underground mortality, and serves as an opportunity at the AGM for everyone to discuss how, where and why things went wrong with the previous year's caving. The caving environment is certainly hazardous, but the sport does not need to be dangerous. An essential part of mitigating the risk is self-awareness and analysis of where things have gone wrong.

The For Evans' Sake: Creative Use of a Bodily Fluid

Named in honour of the two brothers who dragged ICCC kicking & screaming up to its current international exploration glory, while retaining an ever present connection with their bodily needs.
This award is for most creative use of a bodily fluid. The award consists of 'Bob the Turd', a large coprolite (fossilised crap) found by Goaty in the Moroccon High-Atlas and dating from the Jurassic era, most likely produced by a Shark.

2014

For Evans' Sake: Tanguy Racine

For an incredible attempt at redecorating the SMCC using his own vomit. During the clean-up an entire 3 litre pan was filled with said vomit.

Herman Herz: Sam Page

During summer expedition (hopefully not a pattern emerging there) Sam managed to avoid being hit by a large boulder dislodged by Kate on a pitch in Undercover Squirrel.

2013

For Evans' Sake: Chris Keeley

for vomiting due to exhauastion while on the rope on the way out of Link pot, into his wellies & down the pitch, resulting in 5 cavers prussiking up through vomit. [Nb: That evening we carried 10L of water from Bullpot farm to wash the pitch down!]

Herman Herz: Clare Tan

During summer expedition in Slovenia, whilst pushing the deepest part of the caver (nearly 1km below the surface), Clare and Jarv made a breakthrough into a steep climb down a widening rift. Jarv managed to climb down the ~50 degree slope before Clare arrives at the bottom at speed, having slipped down. After exploring the new found sump pool, their one mission is to escape.

2012

For Evans' Sake: Kate Smith

for her creative use of vomit, in Yorkshire, Mendips and on the jelly.

Herman Herz: William 'my soft lock has forsaken me' French

for breaking both heels in Quaking. CRO Incident 2011#40. William lost control of his abseil by accidentally dislodging a soft-lock as he passed a deviation on 9mm rope (Quaking 3rd pitch), approximately 10m off the floor.

"For Evans' Sake" Lifetime Achievement award: J. 'Drink your Own' Evans

For long standing services to experimental medical science in the utilisation of bodily fluids.

2011

Herman Herz: Clare Tan

For being suspended by the chinstrap of her helmet after getting it wedged while abseiling on a tight pitch in Car Pot, and being choked half to death as JKP prussic'd up the pitch to rescue her.

For Evans' Sake: The entire Vodna Sled 2010 Expedition

For their Plastic Bag garden in Friendship Gallery, in particular the 'loving cup' of the final compostable excrement binbag. Special mention to DanG for somehow summoning the courage to 'deal with it' and wrestling the many faeces into a daren drum for sealing up and taking up to the surface for disposal.

On being reminded of this entirely repressed memory, DanG remarked:
It wouldn't have been nearly so bad if people had been a little more consistent with their aim. One had to search really rather carefully for safe hand holds.
I have written a Haiku to try and exorcise those memories. (Hmm, should that be Haipoo? Or low poo even ;)

    Little plastic bags
    Balance serenely down there.
    Must burn hands off now.

2010

Herman Herz: Grigory Perelman

Grigory Perelman (nom de plume, AKA William French)- for everything from freeclimbing to the bottom of S1 (having passed the pitch rigger on the way down somehow), getting down Swinsto + up the great aven before realising that both leg harness buckles were undone and working rather loose, getting ponytail trapped in descender on Bar & having to cut it all off, etc. etc.

For Evans' Sake: Jana Carga

Jana Carga (again) for her 'goldfish from the fayre' production at underground camp, Slovenia, when using the composting toilet bags.

2009

Herman Herz: Ed

Ed, for his SE Passage Pot (Flood) mistreatment of a deviation (around a rock flake) as a rebelay, leaving him stranded 10m from the floor attached to the rope.

For Evans' Sake: Jana Carga

Jana Carga for her mid Gladiator's traverse relieving of bladder pressure, perched above twin 60m pitches on a wedged rock, with one leg through a harness loop for 'safety'.

2008

Herman Herz: Jana Carga

Jana Carga for her Prima Dona free-climbable collapse, oh-aren't-traverse-lines-a-brilliant-idea whoops I-nearly-died.

For Evans' Sake: Tom 'Vom' Brown AKA TomB

Tom Brown for his penis puppetry + Tobasco sauce disaster in the Bivvi, Slov 2007

2007

Herman Herz: Marc Labuhn

Finally got past that squeeze... where is that rebelay? What's that Jarv is shouting? Six feet below me? No, can't be right... damn, gone too far. Back up, sorry Jutta, going to take a bit longer. OK, second attempt. See the ledge now, this is actually quite comfortable. Now, where can I clip in these cows tails... there, that should hold.

Derig the descender, still hate that part, I know I'm safe, but it feels so wrong. Rigging the descender, looks fine, off comes the short cows tail, test the descender... yep, it's working. Jarv was saying something about not hanging about, not sure what he meant, but if I just unclip the long cows tail, I should be good to go.

Going, going, hang on, how can the front plate be doing that... oh dear...

EXPLETIVE DELETED! EXPLETIVE DELETED!

Yes, thanks Jarv, good reactions, not sure how much pulling the rope will help here, but I know you mean well. Let's see, what can I use to stop myself from plummeting to the ground. Ah, walls. Yes, if I just use all that adrenaline to wedge myself in with every bit of strength I have, I should be able to take my weight off the rope enough to... yeah, there we go, that almost looks safe now. Oh, good, I'm still alive. Not far to the bottom now, there we are.

Right then, where's the next pitch?

For Evans' Sake: Sandeep Mavadia

For his "My Bowels have forsaken me" Marble Steps deposit, which finally explained the great mystery of where all the survival bags + triangular bandages had been going during the year...

2006

Herman Hertz: David Wilson

Working on a promising surface dig with over 20 years of caving experience behind him, there wasn't a person on the mountain more capable of doing this delicate work. Bedrock was visible not-so-far through the drafting boulders. With a sudden trinkle of pebbles, followed by a deeper rumble and shouts from his onlocking cohorts, he jumped nimbly out of the hole as it became plugged by a good 6-foot high boulder. Should dave had been lying down with the crowbar, as he had been just a few short moments before, the story wouldn't have had such a happy ending.

For Evans' Sake: Richard Venn

Claiming the award for the second-year running, with an 'event' just two days before the AGM. As much as we mocked Rik was his (detailed below) incident while on expedition, we never thought that our jokes would chime so true. About 60m down, on a Sunday trip, Rik felt the all-too-familiar subtarranean rumble from his bowels. Rigging, he abseiled as fast as possible & stripped while balancing on a small ledge over an 80m pitch. His survival bag forgotten, his brand spanking new pair of yellow marigolds (given to him on Friday from a 'liberated' stockpile) were the unfortunate receptacle for his unscheduled production.
Shitting in a cave on a Sunday trip was his swan-song as the last time he'd go on a trip as a student after four years with ICCC.

2005

Herman Hertz: Sandeep Mavadia

Though merely a fresher, Sandeep had managed to accrue a truly flabergasting collection of by-the-skin-of-his-teeth escapes. From a hypothermic rescue-calling at New Year, to completing (without incidence) nearly the whole of a 10hr SRT trip through Sasenage in the French Alps with his harness unbuckled!

For Evans' Sake: Richard Venn

Rik is a special boy, while on a short (bounce) trip in Slovenia, he suddenly found himself caught out by movement within his bowels. His survival bag was utilised in its most common ICCC fashion, as a shit bag, but he was then left hanging bare in a freezing cave with nowt but sharp rocks to use as toilet paper. His ever-suffering cave buddy, Andy Jurd, was quick to the rescue with the production of a plastic wrapper from the Malt-Loaf they had eaten just a short time before. The quality of the polish was not brilliant, and after a arduous prussic out of the cave, Rik's Furry required a good wash in Dettol.