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Fleecie/Fleecy: Large fleece romper suit with a zip up the front (and round the crotch if that's your scene). Makes you look like an overgrown tellytubby. Small rambling children on hillsides will point at you and shout' Tinky-Winky!'. Ignore them. FX2: Headtorch powered by a huge battery attached to your waist. This will cause you much grief in tighter passageways. The other alternative is a carbide lamp which involves having a naked flame strapped to your forehead. Grot bags: Large plastic bags for keeping gear in. Kept full of festering unwashed gear under your stairs until your local environmental health officer comes round and takes it away in a van. Karabiner: coupling link with safety closure, used in S.R.T or for safety or when on ladders. Not to be confused with carabinieri, which is the Italian Police Force. Petzl: smaller head/helmet mounted battery torch
liable to stop working and plunge you into darkness at inopportune
moments, e.g. when hanging upside down in a waterfall. Pitches. Drops or climbs where a ladder or S.R.T. rope is needed to allow you to progress rather than plummet. Like football pitch, except vertical and dark, with the flood lights off. And with no grass or linesmen, and it's best to play down field. OK, so maybe not a football pitch, imagine the inside of a very deep wardrobe, but with no shoes at the bottom. S.R.T. (Single Rope Technique). The use of a
system of ropes, pullies and harnesses that allows you to ascend,
descend and hang motionless on larger 'pitches'. S.R.T. can also
stand for 'Still Requires Training' or 'Stuck Really Terribly'
in certain cases. S.R.T. also requires the use of a harness which
is specially designed to lessen your chances of procreation in
later life. Self-marooning: Neat little euphemism used by cave rescue teams, meaning getting stuck in an improbable place whilst undertaking S.R.T, without help from anyone else. This takes a very special talent. 'Self-falling' and 'Self-getting hit by a big rock' are the next most common reasons for calling out cave rescue. Sump: Caving passageway completely filled with
water. Passing technique involves a short spell underwater, usually
pulling on a rope. Sounds quite bad. Is. Tackle bag: Largeish plastic sack that leaders taken
on trips containing caving equipment, usually rope or ladders.
Occasionally gets thrown down pitches only for the throwee to
realise they can't get down the next bit without whatever was
in the bag. |
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