Amazing long weekend in Italy, hospitality by the Kirkpatrick family in the beautiful Asiago (a plateau surrounded by a ring of cavernous peaks), leadership courtesy of the Italian cavers Luca and Massimo (sic.). Was lovely to be back in the cool welcome of an alpine system! Bounced to ~300+m on the Saturday trip and an easy ~200m+ on the Sunday, before driving to Padova to be fed, watered and housed by the Kirkpatricks once more before an early morning flight home.

Lovely trip to Yorks, got down Avalanche via a speedy Bar Pot entrance and surveyed up to Rainbow in Avalanche with the clever new laser rangefinder. Midges were hungry when we came out. Had a lovely midnight walk back up to the gill when it transpired that the early exiters had (re)hidden the mobile a little too well!
Sunday... well, the weather was far too pleasent. A leisurely breakfast, then a big 12km loop walk up Pen-y-ghent sampling the finest artisan icecream I've ever tasted at Horton-in-ribblesdale post office. Sunburnt drive home.

An early return to Avalanche was demanded, this time with rather more conventional caving transport thanks to TomB's family car. Alas, illness turned the push trip into a photo trip, but a wonderful trip down Gaping Gill was had, via Flood. The three vegetarians pushed on to Avalanche for a 8 hour trip including the derig, the carnivores exited after a view of the way to Stream to get cooking.

Withnail: All right, this is the plan. We get in there and get wrecked. Then we'll eat a pork pie. Then we drop a couple of Surmontil 50s each; means we'll miss out Monday but come up smiling Tuesday morning.
24 hr Train-powered run on Gaping Gill was a success; inital probing into Avalanche inlet was made, bivi'ing next to Bar pot was perfectly pleasent until waking at dawn to a snow dusted dale, with the olive oil frozen solid.

Amazing trip to Croatia, organised by our excellent hosts Darko Baksic, Igor Jelenic, Teo Barisic and the Zadar caving club. Arrived in a blizzard, which thwarted our underground camp + exploration plans, but got to see an amazing variety of Croatian caves across the limestone backbone.
The Sibenik club report of being gatecrashed by the english at their Speleo Camp.

A double-caving birthday was enjoyed at Bullpot Farm, taking in the usual Easegill classics as well as a slightly more off-the-beaten-track trudge to Cape Kennedy, admiring the impressive and very manly formations, while remembering the navigation to and fro the 88-pitch.

Birthday cake and Slovene pancakes enjoyed in the farm, with a Guitar / Fiddle Jazz Duo concert in front of the fire...

The threat of actually doing some serious caving was sufficent to put off the majority of ICCC cavers with complaints of course-work deadlines and relatives' birthdays. This left a hardened core to sweep up to the NPC and dive down King Pot in sodden conditions for a brilliant 10.5 hour trip to the bottom of the last pitch. Truly astounding cave!

Massive JH-Titan exchange trip on the Saturday with 12 cavers in total. Late start of ~circa 3pm, but everyone out by a relatively early 11pm. Less motivation on the Sunday - people with cars had gone home, James KP + Jan did a little rigging practice and the rest walked up Mam Tor or fettled in the hut with uni work!

A long overdue return to the farm! Excitement fettling in Easegill on Saturday, smearing blood around a shaft and checking out the foam on the ceiling. Sunday saw a main party go to Aygill while an insane duo set off to King to swap a snickers bar and a maillon for a 20m rope and a broken Casio watch.

There will come a time during the next week when you will ask yourself:
"Just what have I done in these last few days before Christmas?"
The answer: Rat Hole <-> Stream (GG), County Pot <-> Lancaster Hole (EG), Lost Johns', Ireby Fell (ladders), Notts I (Anderson's route + Acrobat series?), Swinstow / Valley Ent