Vertical caving terminology and methods > SRT basic terms
What happens when there is not enough excess of rope, leading to the highly embarassing situation where a caver abseils down the rope with the rope's stretch allowing them to to reach the bottom of the pitch, then disconnects from the rope, only to watch it spring back up out of reach due to the rope's elasticity. Alternatively, this can be caused by a caver snagging the rope, and lifting the end out of reach of the next caver, and leaving it there. It can also be caused by the rope being stolen by passing thieves. It can also happen on a pull-through trip, where the way on is in flood (common in the Kingsdale caves) or sumped (common in Heron Pot) or cannot be found, or when there is simply no way on at the bottom, and the caver made a mistake by descending the wrong pitch (common in The Pit in Simpson's Pot, but also possible in other places such as Monastery Pitch in Lost John's Cave), or when a pull-through rope gets tangled irretrievably, and the team do not have a spare, or any prusiking gear. Being stranded means being unable to leave the cave, and generally results in a rescue (assuming that the cavers have arranged a callout), and owing a beer to a lot of people; an expensive mistake for both pocket and pride. Rescue might be avoided with some tactical climbing, lassoing, or by finding a second route which has a fixed rope on it.
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