Thanks all. Went through yesterday with no major problems.

We couldn't get the canoe to us as the line had wrapped itself around the pole in the middle of the chamber (would be useful if somebody took a hacksaw next time) but the rubber dinghy had been pulled up to the top of the abseil. We were able to use this to retrieve the canoe and the dinghy was returned to the top.

There was LOTS of fresh rockfall on the way up to the Twyl/Twll. Initially we thought we might be going the wrong way as it was a bit of a squeeze to get through.

Other than that, everything was in good condition - somebody's done a lot of work down there! Both the first "zip-wire" and the last bridge now have fixed cables to walk along. This made things much easier. The "tension traverse" has had a revamp too and now has a staple ladder at the start and a small foot bridge at the final tricky section. These are made from old parts found in the mine, which we thought was a nice touch.

I took my 13 year old daughter with me and she did great. Had to set up a 3:1 hauling system to get her out of the Chamber of Horrors though. So the only real issue of the day was a pulled muscle in my shoulder. :lol:

Well done that's a proper adventure with your girl, she's a brave kid :thumbsup:

Cheers for the feedback on the route, will be helpful to others.

[youtube]MYlEJNTx3kA[/youtube]

Great video, thank you for posting it.
Glad you all enjoyed the trip and well done Ada, most of those obstacles would be daunting to experienced mine explorers, let alone a newby.
Thanks also for the comments and report of the in-situ gear. Glad you found it all easy to use.
The canoe in the Chambers of Horrors has always been a problem. We have re-installed the pulley system so many times but it seems people simply can't work out how to use it and end up cutting the rope. 😠 As soon as they do this it can't be reset without an entire new rope some 250 ft long or so. We have given up replacing it.
The best thing is to ensure each group has an inflatable dinghy with them and that they take it out with them too. :thumbsup:

Are you registered on the site? If you still can’t find it PM me and I’ll email it tomorrow. Drunk now! :)

Yes you are drunk. If he not registered would not be able to post.
Irish malt?

:lol::lol::lol:

Thank you Roy!
Fair point, well made....

Glad you took it the right way, only a joke.
:thumbsup:

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Great video, thank you for posting it.
Glad you all enjoyed the trip and well done Ada, most of those obstacles would be daunting to experienced mine explorers, let alone a newby.
Thanks also for the comments and report of the in-situ gear. Glad you found it all easy to use.
The canoe in the Chambers of Horrors has always been a problem. We have re-installed the pulley system so many times but it seems people simply can't work out how to use it and end up cutting the rope. 😠 As soon as they do this it can't be reset without an entire new rope some 250 ft long or so. We have given up replacing it.
The best thing is to ensure each group has an inflatable dinghy with them and that they take it out with them too. :thumbsup:

Hi Pete!
The canoe is always the most awesome bit of the trip! 🙂 Just wondering if a large diameter roller / pulley (something like an empty cable drum) at each end might work for the canoe pullback rope? It would tolerate a knot on the rope then, maybe use a bigger diameter rope (10mm?), might be more robust? I’d still take a dingy in a rucksack but the canoe is such a treat!
:)

Hoping to go on the through trip on 23rd or 24th this month, lockdowns etc permitting.

:thumbsup: Thanks everyone for recent posts on route condition after chamber of horrors, I'm nervous of route finding from there to 9 Adit as never been in Rhosydd before and some descriptions seen contradictory (changed route?)

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I’ve given reasonable descriptions earlier in the thread, and the survey is on this site. But the obvious answer is to check it out from the Rhossydd end on your way to Croesor (assuming you’re walking via Cwmorthin lake!). Ok, it will add an hour to your trip - but at least you won’t be worrying the whole way!

Went on the through trip late last night (before today's 6pm lockdown kicks in). I knew there was a lot of work and effort (and money) spent on rigging the route but I was astonished just how much

THANK YOU!

I was also surprised at the amount of fresh rockfall in Rhosydd. After entering Rhosydd the route had a roof collapse with easy squeeze just before the turning circles and incline (with the counterweight cart crashed at halfway) and ukcaving.com wiki says "...The passage terminates in wriggle through collapsed boulders, into a chamber. Ascend the boulder slope for a few metres towards.." Not sure how collapsed that wriggle was in recent past but it looked fresh and a bit :curse: sketchy to me there and at the start of that chamber, not sure how much longer it's going to stay open?

Was wondering about taking my 13 year old son on this but in his case I think I'd need to wait until he's a bit older.

Great adventure, thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks again to the maintainers. (Picked a small amount of litter from others, bad people!)

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I was also surprised at the amount of fresh rockfall in Rhosydd. After entering Rhosydd the route had a roof collapse with easy squeeze just before the turning circles and incline (with the counterweight cart crashed at halfway) and ukcaving.com wiki says "...The passage terminates in wriggle through collapsed boulders, into a chamber. Ascend the boulder slope for a few metres towards.." Not sure how collapsed that wriggle was in recent past but it looked fresh and a bit :curse: sketchy to me there and at the start of that chamber, not sure how much longer it's going to stay open?

Was wondering about taking my 13 year old son on this but in his case I think I'd need to wait until he's a bit older.

Great adventure, thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks again to the maintainers. (Picked a small amount of litter from others, bad people!)

The big chamber with the massive rocks always feels rough to me, in fact I'm not a fan of that whole floor. Is the first easy squeeze you mention an old wall? Not the Croesor one but another one.

The big chamber with the massive rocks always feels rough to me, in fact I'm not a fan of that whole floor. Is the first easy squeeze you mention an old wall? Not the Croesor one but another one.

Well, I've got to be careful. I'm using squeeze quite liberally, probably the pot holing community wouldn't regard it as a real squeeze. The first one is between the wall and the turning circles incline and is greatly reduced height due to an old rock fall. I had to take of rucksack and push it ahead of me. Perhaps a very very small rucksack you could scrape through with it on. The second one that looked far fresher was a definite wriggle and did look a bit sketchy to get into the big chamber. The chamber itself looked very unstable. While I was in there it was like someone threw a small rock cricket ball sized perhaps with a big bang didn't see it, this was not a sliding stone!!!! You guys will probably dismiss that as a tall story, also some large flat blocks to clamber over may not be very secure although none moved on us as we were Very careful. Very pleased to be out of that chamber

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I know the bit you mean then at the bottom of the incline where you have to squeeze up.


I can't comment on the fresh looking because everytime I go under I forgot wether the rocks on the floor was there before.

Where can I find a survey for Croesor (not Rhosydd) if I want to go back to explore a bit of Croesor beyond the CTRTT path. Thanks all

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For survey maps, simply go to the Mines, Quarries and Sites tab and put Croesor in the search term. When it comes up, in the right hand column is all the info you'll need... 🙂

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https://www.aditnow.co.uk/Mines/Croesor-Slate-Mine_6/ 
I suspect it may answer the mystery of the wrecked dinghy referred to in the other through trip account :lol:

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https://www.aditnow.co.uk/Mines/Croesor-Slate-Mine_6/ 

Excellent!

Even if you had deleted the written report and only included the comic strip drawings I would still have known exactly which trip it is.
The skeletons and the mine monster give it away :lol:

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Reading this thread I've hunted out an account of the Croesor Rhosydd through trip we made in January 1994. ...

I remember reading this, and particularly the explanatory drawings. (I'm not at all sure where or when I came across it though.) Being used to nice solid Yorkshire potholes, I decided that sort of thing was definitely not for me!

Strangely enough, I did the trip without incident with some fellow ANers in 2007 and quite enjoyed it. :)

Good to see the account saved for posterity on AN.

Dave

Thanks for posting that early report, really enjoyed reading it.

I was very up for attempting this in early/mid 90s after having read the original magazine article. The trouble was all of my friends were lukewarm on the idea (at best!) and the only person I knew of who knew the location (an IRATA L3 living near Llanberris) refused to tell me saying it was too dangerous for anyone to go.

Sadly it was near 25 years before I read the description of CTR and the penny dropped. Greatly enjoyed my trip but the ill advised foolishness of the early trips is missing. There must be other epics like CTR used to be (which presumably you couldn't detail here for same safety reasons). I'm wondering if some new through trip linkup in Gwydyr mines.

Keep exploring!

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I'm wondering if some new through trip linkup in Gwydyr mines.

For Parc mine there are all sorts of plausible trips on paper, at least, starting from the level 2 portal. A through trip, exiting from level 3 is straightforward, if a tad wet. More interesting exit points would be out via Llanrwst mine or Cyffty mine. The former may well be impractical as the Llanrwst deep adit (LDA) had numerous blockages years ago and time probably hasn't been kind. A while ago I pondered whether it might be practical to exit from one of the Llanrwst shafts given that progress has been made climbing in the stopes behind new shaft to get on the same horizon as LDA but I feel that the upper workings are so unstable that any attempt would be suicidal. I think the collapse of diagonal shaft a few years ago gives a clue to the potential problems.

A through trip from Parc level 2 to Cwffty mine and out would be interesting but needs work on the Cwffty end to find a way to the surface. The engine shaft has a heavy grating (for obvious reasons) and the old adit probably has numerous collapses and a hostile landowner. There is a shaft which might connect which has a 'modified' bat castle which might provide an exit ;D

As it stands a trip to the upper levels of Cwffty from the level 2 portal and back makes for a long and very wet day - I did it with Roy and Jason quite a few years ago. I am not sure what state the ladder ways and ropes in Cyffty mine are in now - some bits where getting marginal then and time/weather may have taken its toll...

Of course it is still possible for do a through trip in Pandora's, but again the landowner is hostile and the environment agency are concerned about the metal level in the outfall. CAL couldn't put this mine on the list due to issues with the landowner (even though the entrance/exit is probably OK.

Dave