I posted a while back about the possibility of descending Piers Gill in Wasdale. We were warned off!
We did this yesterday and it was such a good day out, I thought I'd post about it.
The gill is an amazing place, 70m deep, steep sided, atmospheric, and reasonably committing. We ended up doing 10+ abseils, mostly less than 8m, but one 25m one. They were fun; as to abseil without getting wet from the stream you had to bridge out, and then use tension across the plunge pools, and then laugh at your friends trying the same.
The rest was reasonably straightforward scrambling, on good rock - smooth but not too slippy.
In ascent, the big pitch must be unpleasant as it is loose and looks hard to protect. In the wet it could be horrible. However descending this bit is no problem. Most of the abs were on tat, mostly in-situ, although we left a couple of nuts on one.
Recommended kit list: one 50m half rope, 9 wires, lot of tat, knife. Most of us were warm enough in thermals, synthetic jackets and waterproofs. Mountain boots were better than trainers. Water levels were medium/high, but we only got wet to the waist, and only near the end.
So I highly recommend it, for competent parties.
Piers Gill (MS)
