Four years after the rock falls that not only radically altered the 3rd pitch but also blocked the way on to the 4th and 5th pitches and the bottom of the cave, Rhino Rift has now been completely reopened. Chris Binding and Andrew Atkinson, who had previously re-bolted the damaged pitches have now cleared the fallen rock and cleared the route.
Care must always be taken in this cave to watch for loose rock, but it can now be bottomed again by the cautious caver.
Chris tells us that the reopening has been the culmination of four years of hard work, with approximately 70 person sessions of effort going into this project with something in the region of 20 or more cubic meters of rock and spoil having been moved by hand. The work was done on behalf of the Charterhouse Caving Company Ltd who manage access to the cave and they would like to add their thanks to Chris Binding, Andrew Atkinson. Kevin Speight, Henry Davies-Ball, Steve Fearnley, Ross Wheeler and all those roped into helping with this project.
