First thing to say is that I would not suggest anyone ever visit mines on their own. It is irresponsible, dangerous and high in objective dangers; however now that mine visits are not an option any more I admit that I have done it, “your honour!!”

While living in Coniston in the 1990s I was very active in the coppermines. Due to shift work I sometimes had difficulty getting partners. I personally was not a lover of club meets. Having 15 people on the same piece of false floor was not my idea of fun to name but one example.

Most of my solo visits were to replace damaged in-situ gear. I only went to places I had previously visited and new well so route finding was not an issue.

On one visit I abseiled to Top level then Middle level to just before the last abseiled to replace a hand line. My concession to safety was to ascend back the way I came; pulling the ropes through and completing the through route was just a bit too risky in case of a blockage.

Another time I self-belayed across the MAGS catwalk on the way to the Top level extension (I believe there is now a permanent hand line there). I replaced the hand line by the ore wagon then visited the fearsome earthquake passage and beyond.

It is hard to covey how much different it is in a mine by yourself. Your senses are really heightened. You carry out every move in a methodical precise manner because you are more aware of the potential risks. It is the same feeling I had when I used to solo ice climb routes that I knew. The other thing that is amazing is the surroundings. The dripping water, the noise of the wind rushing through the levels is intensified. You feel like you are there when the mine was up and running, very hard to explain, not an unpleasant experience by any means.

I say again “not recommended.” You have to know yourself and your abilities well and accept the risks and consequences.

So there it is a full confession, guilty as charged.

Jeff

I am well known for doing this.

My record is 10.5 hours solo in Caplecleugh. I was doing a digging project, and that amount of time in a wetsuit left me sore in a few places I wont mention.

I am still at it, I work on my own on digging projects in Wales most weekends.

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I very much enjoy simple easy trips on my own, provided you know and understand the nature of the site and keep well within your personal limits I don't see too much of a problem.

It is nice to be underground on your own with your own agenda to take as long over taking photos as you wish, hang around in interesting spots and just stop and take in the atmosphere.

I'm probably more confident of coming back safe than when I set off for a cycle ride on my own round the lanes of Cambridgeshire....

It's probably not to be encouraged but "rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools" probably applies.

😢 :surrender:

I'd like to refer all contributors to this thread to the OED, in particular the words 'objective' and 'subjective', particularly as they are commonly used in connection with the word 'danger'

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I went underground once on my own, did not like it one bit, my imagination is over active and it goes wild on my own. I wanted to survey a sublevel and had to check the rigging 5 times before I abseiled down. Then found a section of newly collapsed passage, not there a month or so ago, did not help....

The thing is, a minor accident on your own quickly can turn into a life or death situation. If you are with someone they can help, at the very least make you conformable, whilst they get help right away, rather than letting hyperthermia take you whilst you are waiting 10 hrs or so in the cold damp pool of water that you can't move out of... there you go, imagination on one again.

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a contemporary of mine at CSM in the early 70s, didn't survive to qualify; having suffocated in Wheal Jane, while on an unauthorised specimen-gathering trip behind the ventilation screens.

I'd like to say this was the only time I'd encountered an incident of this nature, but regrettably it isn't.

concentrates your thinking rather

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Agreed.

Solo mine exploring is inadvisable and not to be encouraged.

However - a solo visit to a simple horizontal system, frequently visited by others which you have visited before and are familiar with, with no history of bad air, signs of instability etc. with suitable equipment and precautions, callout arrangements etc. etc. is perhaps not the height of folly. Yes bad stuff could still happen but it is perhaps comparable with a solo walk in the mountains or a solo sailing trip or.... all sorts of other solo stuff. All of which is not really recommended but frequently done.

I wouldn't feel comfortable with a solo SRT trip but then again I'm barely comfortable with a group one 😞 there are those that would be though and fair play to them.

When push comes to shove, its your life. If you're happy with the risks involved then go for it.
I personally love being underground alone though I wouldn't (or more likely couldn't) do the things mentioned in the original post.

Would say that many of us have been down under on their own at some time. Not a good idea though, but always send a text message if you have signal to at least 2 people when you are going into the mine and when you have come out. not forgetting to say when you expect to be coming out of the mine.
I always find if you want to take some underground photos it is best to go on your own as you can concentrate better on the job and you don't have to worry about your mates getting fed up with waiting for you to take your photos.

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I'm slightly wary of text messages, particularly as most of the places you'll be are likely to have bad reception, mainly due to one occassion when I did 2 trips in one day advising Mrs T of in and out times by text, somehow my second "in" message arrived before my first "out" message causing some confusion.

Always better to actually speak to someone perhaps.

I am happy as someone always knows where I am if it’s only the local people who would sound the alarm if my car was there the next day.
At least people would know where you were.
I always wonder what the survival figures are for fell walkers and runners who fall into water drainage gulleys.
I have seen them 12 feet deep and overgrown.

Impossible to climb out of, especially with the inevitable fractures, and you would be invisible from the air, never mind search parties. And then its starts raining heavily and you find out why they called drainage gulleys.

The mines are OK with me.

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Some very constructive and fair comments to my original post, thanks all. It is a personal thing. I think a lot depends on what background you come from and your mind set.

I always took backup prussic cords etc to minimize the risk as much as possible.

Nice to hear other people are also guilty of the offence.

Jeff

being underground alone, well yes, very satisfying in some ways. Spent some time waiting for the others to mess about with cameras in Great Masson the other week, made myself comfy and turned off my light, pleasant way to spend 20 minutes or so.

but I can't agree about solo trips. I know Casteret did it with candles in his bathing cap and whatnot, but that isn't really the point, is it?

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Mr Jeff.
Solo exploration is not an offence even in today’s politically correct/HSE culture, happily rejected by the general public at large.

The day that every ordinary citizen endorses that crap I will jump of the Eiffel Tower.

Any society is full of people who feel that they know what is best for other people, unfortunately they seem to be attracted into politics, but that belongs to another thread.

I believe in, and have always stood for, the freedom of the individual. If we want, let’s go solo underground, let’s try to climb the highest mountain, let’s fell walk, bungee jump or whatever turns us on.

If we take any notice of the self appointed herd leader types, we will all end up nothing more than bunch of snooker playing Sun readers living in a grey politically correct society where the only escape will be suicide just to relieve the boredom.

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The position in most guidebooks is made fairly clear not to go alone and I believe there is some NAMHO guidance which says much the same thing. I think you'd have to look hard to find anyone actually promoting the idea of solo trips (beyond individuals stating that they enjoy them). Of course no-one should be pushed somehow into a solo trip but I don't image that's ever happened...

There is little to stop anyone undertaking a solo trip if they want and in my opinion neither should there be short of advice and cautionary notes etc.

Solo trips seem to happen regularly in caving circles without causing too much remark.

The obvious downsides are the lack of anyone to administer first aid etc. In the event of an accident there will be no-one to summon help before the callout time. In the event of a serious injury an increase in the rescue time limiting your chances of survival. I imagine being in distress alone underground would also be fairly unpleasant. No-one with spare gear in the event of equipment failure perhaps? If you have considered all this and still fancy a trip, why not?

I've heard reasons given relating to creating additional risks to any rescue party, fair enough that's a concern, possibly they may be lacking some information that could have been provided by a third party that would make their job easier, maybe they could have got you out quicker if your condition hadn't deteriorated due to additional time in raising the alarm.

All the above combined with the fact I am a complete coward means I have limited my solo explorations to very easy short trips. normally to places I have visited before with a group or have researched pretty thoroughly beforehand.

Mr Jeff.
Solo exploration is not an offence even in today’s politically correct/HSE culture, happily rejected by the general public at large.

The day that every ordinary citizen endorses that crap I will jump of the Eiffel Tower.

Any society is full of people who feel that they know what is best for other people, unfortunately they seem to be attracted into politics, but that belongs to another thread.

I believe in, and have always stood for, the freedom of the individual. If we want, let’s go solo underground, let’s try to climb the highest mountain, let’s fell walk, bungee jump or whatever turns us on.

If we take any notice of the self appointed herd leader types, we will all end up nothing more than bunch of snooker playing Sun readers living in a grey politically correct society where the only escape will be suicide just to relieve the boredom.

Nope, no offence, you are just subject to the normal law of the land, if your solo trip is somehow grossly negligent and someone is injured you'll be in trouble and rightly so, just as if you were negligent in any other situation. I don't imagine even causing a difficult and protracted rescue situation would fall into this bracket.

The Health & Safety at Work act doesn't apply cos you're not at work!

I suppose we have two things to be grateful for;

1. That robust health and safety laws protect us and those affected by us when we are at work and effectively have no choice but to be in the environment/situation we're in.

2. That we are still by and large free to take our own calculated risks when on our own time.

The position in most guidebooks is made fairly clear not to go alone and I believe there is some NAMHO guidance which says much the same thing. I think you'd have to look hard to find anyone actually promoting the idea of solo trips (beyond individuals stating that they enjoy them). Of course no-one should be pushed somehow into a solo trip but I don't image that's ever happened...

Guide books are written, generally, for newcomers to the activity and for such an audience "don't go on your own" is decent advice.

However it is a personal decision whether or not to go underground alone and it's probably less risky than, for example, solo rock climbing which many people enjoy. I'm perfectly happy underground alone and probably do more trips solo than with company.
I'm a bit more cautious alone but certainly don't just stick to easy trips or places I already know, I recently did the Nenthead traverse alone and found it alot more enjoyable than standing around in cold deep water waiting for a group to do the pitches would have been.

When it comes down to it, it's up to every individual to decide the level of risk they're happy with in their lives and get on with it.

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Indeed, this fellow here is quite happy with what he has. And does not need health and safety to tell him what he needs to protect him from the elements of his working conditions, or his leisure activities for that matter.

🔗Personal-Album-106-Image-056[linkphoto]Personal-Album-106-Image-056[/linkphoto][/link]
🙂

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The position in most guidebooks is made fairly clear not to go alone and I believe there is some NAMHO guidance which says much the same thing. I think you'd have to look hard to find anyone actually promoting the idea of solo trips (beyond individuals stating that they enjoy them). Of course no-one should be pushed somehow into a solo trip but I don't image that's ever happened...

Guide books are written, generally, for newcomers to the activity and for such an audience "don't go on your own" is decent advice.

However it is a personal decision whether or not to go underground alone and it's probably less risky than, for example, solo rock climbing which many people enjoy. I'm perfectly happy underground alone and probably do more trips solo than with company.
I'm a bit more cautious alone but certainly don't just stick to easy trips or places I already know, I recently did the Nenthead traverse alone and found it alot more enjoyable than standing around in cold deep water waiting for a group to do the pitches would have been.

When it comes down to it, it's up to every individual to decide the level of risk they're happy with in their lives and get on with it.

Absolutely :thumbup:

Indeed, this fellow here is quite happy with what he has. And does not need health and safety to tell him what he needs to protect him from the elements of his working conditions, or his leisure activities for that matter.

🔗Personal-Album-106-Image-056[linkphoto]Personal-Album-106-Image-056[/linkphoto][/link]
🙂

hhmmmmm ::)

my experience has tended to be that if you provide the local labour with proper hard hats and other PPE, they are actually quite appreciative

of course their perception of 'risk' is a bit different, living in a country with more land mines than people tends to have that effect, but by and large the notion of 'the freedom to take risks' as you see fit is a bit like 'food allergies' .. all very well if you can afford it, and there is someone whose job is to look after you if they don't turn out well.

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