Gargantua | Cleft

The plan is to conduct a thru trip of Gargantua, while offering our partners not so skilled or inclined with SRT to explore Cleft Cave. Itinerary includes meeting up @ 5pm Thursday in Coleman (Cinnamon Bear Bakery & Cafe parking lot) - then head to Ptolemy Creek Trailhead and complete the "7" crossings to a camp before the steeper section - giving more time Friday to chill and or explore up at the plateau. There is lots of flexibility with varying schedules and we will adapt as needed, key is knowing who and when and being settled at Ptolemy Plateau camp site Friday. Saturday is Gargantua | Cleft. Sunday down and home. Everyone who joins with intent of Gargantua need their own full SRT kit including ascenders and descenders (with skills for ascending, descending deviations and re-belays) along with normal caving gear (coveralls, knee pads, gloves, helmet with 3 sources of light). All gear needs to be clean with newest WNS requirements. The same applies for those planning on Cleft except for needing to have the SRT kit & skills. If you have a 60m or less static / semi-static rope and rigging available to take for back-up or options in Gargantua, feel free to bring it and we will decide on additional ropes and rigging when we meet. We will also discuss options before the trip itself. If you haven't had the pleasure of hauling gear up to this area, try not to under-estimate the effort required. ~7km and 800m ascending gets you to the camp area (with much of the vertical earned in the last 2kms) with another 1+km and 300+m to Gargantua cave entrance. Each participant is expected to be prepared for backcountry camping of 4 days and 3 nights (food, shelter, water purification). Water can be scarce on the plateau (have had to chip ice out of a cave before). Indicate in your registration your preference of Gargantua or Cleft.