Vertical caving terminology and methods > Ladders, climbs and older techniques
A mechanical device used to pull or slowly release a rope or cable, which has been almost completely replaced by SRT, and is very rarely seen. This can be used for lowering someone or something down a pitch using a rope, or hauling them back up again. This is different from a descender or ascender because a winch remains static on the pitch, while the caver or other object moves up or down the pitch. When using a winch, the rope moves at the same time as the caver, instead of remaining in position like it would with SRT. Typically the winch would be positioned at the pitch head, but it could be located at the pitch base if the rope runs through a pulley at the pitch head instead. Alternatively, in extremely rare cases, a winch might be connected to the caver and move with the caver, while the up rope remains static on the upper part of the pitch, but there is no down rope below the caver, since the down rope is wrapped around the winch. A winch may use manual power or machine power. Portable types are generally a historical item that no longer exists in vertical caving, but for a long time, raising or lowering cavers using this approach was the most common way to navigate significant pitches. A large team is normally needed to use manual power, and cavers might need to be left behind at each pitch head, to haul up returning cavers.
Motorised winches are largely used only with surface shafts. They may use an internal combustion engine (petrol/diesel) or be electrically powered. Electrically powered winches need an external generator, powered by an internal combustion engine. Either way, an internal combustion engine would be needed, so these are not really welcome inside caves. Their use is now confined almost exclusively to rescue situations, particularly those involving non-caving rescue organisations, such as the search and rescue helicopters, urban search and rescue, or the fire service. They might also be seen in use with showcaves, and active mines. In very rare cases, they might be used with outdoor adventure groups, but this would not be considered to be normal caving (or even relevant to caving), and is really just a way to get tourists with no caving skills into places they could not get to with their own abilities. Small scale devices might sometimes be used for cave digging operations.
Winches bring significant issues. Most obvious is the weight and bulk of the winch, which needs to be transported to and through a cave. When there are multiple pitches, the winch needs to be lowered down one pitch, and used on the next one, then raised up each pitch in turn to be used on the one above. If heavy enough, another winch might be needed in order to raise the winch, or a person would need to ride the winch up a pitch, cranking the handles as they go! The winch rope might snag rocks and boulders, dropping them on the person who is connected to the winch. The winch rope might get stuck in cracks, or damaged where it rubs against something sharp. The winch might pull the person against obstructions, injuring them before the winch controller has a chance to stop the winch. Mechanical faults can disable the winch, and they need to have a failsafe design so that motion is safely halted in the event of a mechanical failure, though this can leave a person hanging on a winch cable for as long as it takes to repair the winch. The person connected to the winch is totally at the mercy of the person controlling the winch, which means that some effective means of communication is needed, such as a telephone. Winches are incredibly risky, prone to failures, and overly awkward.
The terms originate in sailing and mining, and have very specific differences, but within caving, the term winch is generally used for all of them. However, if you care about the distinction, a winch wraps the rope around a spool and keeps it there, so the coil gets bigger as more rope is wrapped around it. A windlass (mining device with a horizontal spool), capstan (sailing device with a vertical spool) or whim (large mining device with a vertical spool) temporarily wraps the rope around a spool for grip, but then the end of the rope feeds back out of the device, and needs to be managed some other way. A particularly large whim or capstan may be horse powered, with horses walking in circles to turn it. A hoist is any kind of spooled device that is designed specifically for lifting and lowering (meaning that it is actually the most appropriate term for what cavers call a winch), while a winch is intended for pulling loads horizontally. A gin or engine might be used historically to suggest that an artificial source of power is used, such as a steam engine or water powered engine. However, the term was used for manually powered winches in the era before steam engines.
Winches may have first been used in Assyria around 700-600 BCE. Greek historian Herodotus (from what is now Turkey) wrote about their use in the Persian Wars to create a brige at Hellespont (the Dardanelles), now Turkey, in 480 BCE. Although mechane (μηχανή) cranes for lifting people were used in ancient Greece at around the same time, it is not known if these used a winch mechanism, counterweights or a more simple lever system. Winches were used in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, sometimes as part of a very large crane. From Roman times, these may have a human sized tread wheel (hamster wheel), which people could walk in to generate the winching force. The rest of this section concentrates on the use of winches in caving. Miners will have had access to winches, so there is a chance that miners throughout those centuries were using winches to explore caves that they encountered while mining. However, they did not often keep records of what caves they visited, or whether they descended them using winches. Winches became so common in mining for lifting rocks that it did not seem necessary to say that they would be used for people. Most of the developments happened in mining and sailing, so these developments are not covered. Unfortunately, most records neglect to say whether a winch was used when lowering cavers down a pitch, so this section only covers cases where winches are suspected to have been used.
Motorised winches rely on several other inventions. British scientist Michael Faraday invented the first electric generator in 1831, which needed a mechanical power source to turn it. In 1839, the development of a portable steam engine, followed by the development of a viable traction engine in 1860, might have made it possible to bring a mobile steam powered winch to a surface shaft, and these were used in mining (a portable steam engine was used at Cystanog Lead Mine, near Carmathen in southwest Wales in 1853), but I have not found any record of them ever being used for caving. The first functioning petrol engine was created in 1876 by German engineer Nicolaus Otto. The electric winch was invented in 1885 by the British Edison-Swan company, but they only became small enough to use in the 1950s, at about 130 kg for a small model. In the 1890s, small hit-and-miss petrol engines were developed, which were used for various winching purposes, but there are no known records of them being used for caving. Diesel engines were invented by German/French inventor Rudolf Diesel in 1897. Diesel generators appeared very soon afterwards, and by World War II, some models weighed as little as 120 kg. In 1928, diesel winches became available, but it seems that cavers made their own instead. Electric generators small enough to be carried by hand were first created by Japanese company Honda in 1965.
The Covolo di Butistone cave (known as Kofel in German) in the Brente river valley in Italy has been described since 1004 CE as being used as a fortress, situated part way up a tall cliff. Over the centuries, it has been modified heavily to add buildings and tunnels that were carved out of the rock, and to remove the holds that were originally used to access it by climbing. Most of the work is thought to have been done for the Scaligeri princes of Verona in 1321-1337, though it had changed hands several times after then (and a few times before), and any other group involved could have made changes. It is known to have had its fortifications improved in 1509, under the Holy Roman Empire. For a long time, a hand powered winch was the only way to access the fortress, which had probably been installed between 1321-1337, since the space for it was provided by the early layout. If so, it will have been the earliest known winch used to access a cave (though it is possible that one was used at the nearby Covolo di Pisciavacca cave fortress at some point during 1000-1509). It will have been powerful enough to lift cannons into the cave, and could lift two people at once when needed. The winch was mentioned by Domenico Odorico Capra in a 1580 report to the Republic of Venice, as an "argano" (an Italian word meaning any kind of winch), located in the cave above. It was described in 1596 by a saboteur (who had not seen it) as a "mangalo", which at the time was the Italian word for a wooden ballistic catapult (called a mangonel in English), that used a horizontal winch spindle to tension it, powered by vertical handles that were turned by hand, and were either permanent (like a ship's wheel), or may be removable levers. It was described again in 1598 by a visiting clergyman (who had seen it) using the same word. It was described in the same year in a report by Venetian superintendant Francesco Caldogno, as using the "force of a wheel that those of the fortress turn", which was a part of the fortress made by "men in ancient times", suggesting that the winch was old enough by then for its origin to have aready been forgotten.
The winch itself is not shown, but its use for hauling people on a boatswain's chair was depicted in around 1610 (often mis-stated as early sixteenth century) in a painting, and in an enormous map (bottom-right corner) of the Tyrolean Alps in 1611, both by Matthias Burgklechner (or spelled Mathias and Burgklehner). His visit may have been years earlier. It was described in 1640-1682 by Mario Sale in Storia manoscritta di Bassano as "a rope pulled by a manganello". In 1650, "manganello" in Italian referred either to a catapult, or to a screw press for clothing where you have to walk around in circles pushing a lever to tighten the press (it now means truncheon), which might refer to a capstan-style winch that was used at the cave. The same word was used again in 1692 in "Processo in materia de Confini" (Biblioteca civica Bertoliana, b651 / Ex calto 2, number 15). In 1678, it was described by Kryštof Harant z Polžic a Bezdružic of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) as using a "roller beam", suggesting that the rope was wound around a large wooden beam. The fortress continued to be accessed this way until 1797, and was mentioned by many travel writers. By the 1800s, it could only be accessed using very long ladders instead. In 1820, the winch was described as having a rachet made from a toothed wheel with a sprung piece of iron pushed into the teeth, so that it could only rotate in one direction, and would hold its position if it was not being pushed around. It was manually turned by the people in the cave.
In 1595, François de Chalvet from France reported that the locals were using "very dangerous machines" to descend 103 metres into the Gouffre de Padirac, to mine guano to make saltpeter. These would have been winches, thought to have had a boatswain's chair consisting of a wooden cross bar tied to a rope. In 1659, Edward Leigh wrote about the first known use of winches to descend a pothole for what is likely to have been cave exploration purposes, which took place "about 60 years" earlier (aproximately 1599). British local George Bradley was lowered into Eldon Hole on a rope using "engines" (presumably a hand powered winch, since neither steam engines nor horse powered whims existed in the area at the time), on the instructions of politician Henry Cavendish. The distance he was supposedly lowered on rope, 73 metres, would have easily been enough to reach the current bottom, where he then claimed to have found many animal bones, and possibly human bones. However, there are contradictory stories claiming that he was lowered further, or that he lowered the end of the rope much further to reach the bottom, and while these are significantly exaggerated, it is possible that there was a further shaft that is now buried below the rubble dropped in by tourists testing the depth of the hole (which is extremely significant).
In 1748, a winch was used to descend Propast Macocha (Macocha Abyss) in the Czech Republic by two miners instructed by Austrian Joseph Anton Nagel. This was repeated in 1776 by Czech prince Karel Josef Salm, a 1784 expedition led by Czech explorer Karel Jan Rudzinský, 1808 by Austrian caver Hugo František Salm, 1856 by Czech paleontologist Jindřich "Heinrich" Wankel, 1864 by Czech archaeologist and explorer Martin Kríž, Czech citizens Martin Kala and Josef Nejezchleb at some point to retrieve bodies from suicides, 1889 by Austrian historian Othmar Skala, 1894 by Czech tourism developer Adolf Podroužek, 1898 by Czech geologist Florian Koudelka, and 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907 and 1909 by Czech caver Karel Absolon, who then used an iron ladder from 1913 onwards.)
In 1761, Alexander Catcott wrote that two miners had been lowered 64 metres to the bottom of Eldon Hole, thought to have been in 1760, using a mining winch. In 1771 British geologist John Lloyd was lowered 57 metres into Eldon Hole by "8 men" using a rope and winch, but stated that at least two or possibly three miners had already visited the bottom. A great deal of caves were descended by Slovenian miners in the 1700s, typically using winches. This included Jama Za Krasco No. 4, which held the world depth record of 247 metres depth from around 1780. It was already being worked since at least 1778, using winches for 13 pitches, and was visited by Slovenian mine inspector Anton Žerovnik in 1780 (at which time the mining had already ceased) and Swiss geographer Lois-Albert Necker de Saussure some time before 1841, presumably using the winches. A British team consisting of John Birkbeck, William Metcalfe, William Howson and 7 others used a winch with a large bucket to sit in for their successful second attempt to descend directly down Alum Pot in 1848. During the late 1840s, miners were using a winch to explore Moaning Caverns in California, USA, and American cavers started to use winches around that time too. In 1851, Colombian priest Romualdo Cuervo was winched 115 metres down into Hoyo del Aire, in a basket held by the winch cable. In 1867, Count Murat and Mr. de Salvagnac were lowered in a large bucket or wicker basket into the Gouffre de Padirac, to retrieve the body of a murdered girl, presumably using a winch. In 1880, the British Lamb Leer Cavern was rediscovered by miners Andrew Lyons and two others, and a winch was installed, presumably that year, so that foreman Joseph Nicholls, Andrew Lyons and other miners could access the Great Chamber. In 1882, Walson Richards (a newspaper corespondent and the only non-miner), S. F. Sopwith, Thomas Wynne, James McMurtrie and his son used the winch and bucket to access the Great Chamber, with the winch manually operated by 4 miners. In 1883, a group of 16-17 mostly mining related guests, including H. E. Hippisley and local policeman William Best, used the winch to access the Great Chamber, with the winch manually operated by 3 miners. The intention had been to turn it into a commercial venture but this never materialised. French caver Édouard-Alfred Martel used a winch to visit several caves, starting from 1889 in the Abime de Rabanel, but stopped using them as much after 1892. This would normally take a team of 3-4 people to power the winch. In many cases, he would also have a lifeline. Kačna Jama, then in the Austrian Empire, now Slovenia, was explored by Austrian Anton Hanke, and Slovenians Gregor Žiberna-Tentava, Valentin Rešaver and Jožef Rebec in 1880-1891. They used a winch for part of the descent in 1891. Members of the Yorkshire Rambler's Club, including British cavers Edward Calvert, Tom Gray, Thomas Singleton Booth, Sam Cuttriss and J. A. Green, descended Gaping Gill by being lowered using a winch on a boatswain's chair down Jib Tunnel's Lateral Shaft, in 1896. During the late 1800s, rope ladders became the dominant approach for use in potholes, and winches lost some of their importance.
The famous winch at Gaping Gill's Main Shaft was first used in 1921 by the Yorkshire Rambler's Club, which later became an attraction for tourists. Though there were many different designs, winches at that time consisted of a horizontal spool on a frame, with crank handles at one end or both, with stakes being driven into the ground to hold them to the floor. Gears were used to make the spool turn more slowly than the crank handles. Most had a brake that could be used to lower someone in a controlled manner, with the crank handles used only for raising them. At some time between 1921 and 1931, a petrol powered winch was constructed by British father and son Hugh V. Bancroft and Frederick T. "Eric" Bancroft, from a motorbike and hand powered winch. This was used at Alum Pot by members of Haworth Ramblers Club, because even though ladders were in common use, they were not nice for big pitches. In 1932, it was used by the Northern Cavern and Fell Club to lower paying visitors into the same cave. In 1933, the same approach was used at Gaping Gill, with the same winch redesigned into a better arrangement. The size, weight, and fumes meant that it could only be used at the top of a surface shaft. Cavers in the Mendip region of Britain were occasionally still using winches to ascend pitches in 1942. By 1944 cavers in the Grenoble region of France were commonly using hand powered winches when enough cavers were available, even though they had already developed both the use of ladders and SRT at that stage. They had developed special boatswain's chairs and harnesses for this purpose, and developed methods to protect cavers from falling rocks while being winched. The winches typically used incredibly thin 3mm or 4mm steel cable, and the whole devices weighed 15 kg for a 150 metre winch, or 30 kg for a 300 metre winch.
Much of the subsequent development work went into making winches more portable, or more reliable. During the 1950s and 1960s, the use of winches in caving started to die out, particularly after a 1952 incident where Marcel Loubens died due to a winch failure at the Puits Lépineux shaft of the Gouffre de la Pierre-Saint-Martin, in France/Spain. That happened during the first known expedition to use an electric winch, which had been designed by Belgian caver Max Cosyns, presumably with a built-in generator to provide power, as it weighed over 120 kg. Prior to that, the winches used for the project had been pedal powered. However, winches were still used for expeditions by American cavers in 1960, and British cavers in 1964. Because of their bulk, winches were only really suitable for big caving teams, and changing approaches to caving during the 1960s meant that smaller teams were more common, largely because of an increase in car ownership and the construction of motorways. Winches were rapidly abandoned once SRT took over in the 1970s. However, they were still in use in France in 1972, in an attempt to descend Puits des Pirates, Gouffre D'Aphanicé.
This history section only covers winches. 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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