Vertical caving terminology and methods > Pitches and potholes, general terms
Reaching the bottom of a pothole or pitch which cavers have either never reached before, or very rarely reach. If people almost always turn around before reaching the lowest (non-sumped) point of the cave, then it would be acceptable to claim that you had bottomed it if you did reach that lowest point. During the initial exploration of a cave, the word would be used to mean reaching the lowest point of the cave for the first time ever. During the initial exploration of a particularly large pitch which took more than one attempt to reach the pitch base, or if the pitch base was reached with a significantly large effort on the first visit, then the word could be used to mean the first descent that reached the pitch base. The word might be used to describe a personal achievement, after several failed attempts, or unexpectedly managing to reach the lowest point on the first try.
May be used in the context of a pothole bottoming out at a certain depth when a conclusive lowest point is reached, referring to the pothole either reaching an impressive depth (such as finally bottoming out at 1122 metres depth), or failing to meet expectations or hopes (such as bottoming out at just 23 metres). Might also be used after an expedition where considerable effort was put into the expedition, but very little extra depth was added to the pothole (such as bottoming out at just 31 metres below the point reached during the last expedition).
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