Vertical caving terminology and methods > Ladders, climbs and older techniques
An older tool used to ascend an aven which cannot be free climbed. Usually constructed from a series of short scaffolding bars (often aluminium) that are clamped together to make a longer semi-sturdy pole. A ladder is then hung off the end, and the pole is raised up into the aven. A lightweight caver then climbs the ladder to reach the top of the pole. The pole is quite flexible, depending on its length and the number of pieces that have been joined, so a significant amount of height and positioning can be lost due to it bending. The parts of a maypole are often very heavy and cumbersome, and therefore this approach is limited to caves with convenient passageways where they can be carried.
Rigid poles had long been used to access high level passages, and had been historically used for collecting birds' nests (as early as the year 800 in southeast Asia). French caver Norbert Casteret used a long pole constructed underground from pipe segments that could be screwed together, during the exploration of Grotte Cigalère in 1932 (or 1933 - Casteret's book appears to have a mistake in the time scales). Unlike a more common maypole, it did not have a ladder or rope attached to it, and the pole itself was climbed instead. By 1933, however, a ladder had been added, which was clipped to the top of the pole. French cavers Pierre Chevalier and Henri Brenot devised a maypole some time after 1935 (described in Pierre Chevalier's 1951 book Subterranean Climbers), but it was not until 1940 that French caver Fernand Petzl actually created a segmented maypole, which could be assembled in a cave by slotting the parts together, which was used to explore the Dent de Crolles system near Grenoble. It used a ladder connected to the top. Their caving companion Charles Petit-Didier helped improve the design in 1942 so it could be used in longer lengths, using guy ropes. Irish cavers J.C. Coleman and N.J. Dunnington attempted to make a segmented scaling ladder in 1943, but it collapsed during its first use underground in Pollnagollum. In 1944, French caver Henry P. Guérin described the Fernand Petzl and Charles Petit-Didier maypoles, as well as another maypole that had ladder rungs built into it called a parrot mast, and one that used a pulley and a pull-up cord to raise a ladder. Charles Petit-Didier made a lighter weight maypole with segments that screwed together, in 1946. J.C. Coleman and N.J. Dunnington then independently invented a segmented maypole, and used it successfully in 1948. British caver Peter Harvey created a maypole to access high level passages in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu and Dan yr Ogof in 1948, and this is where they first earned the name maypole. British caver George Cornes used a similar device in 1952 in Easegill Caverns. While the various French cavers all knew of each other's work, it is not known how much the cavers from other countries knew about the inventions of the others.
This history section only covers maypoles. This article also has a detailed history of many of the other devices and techniques that are used for vertical caving.
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