Oread Halls Cave

Grade: 5D | Surveyed: 1999-12-01

Phil Hitchcock, Anthony Hitchcock and Peter Swart, TBD

Extension: TBD

Introduction

The name of the cave is derived from Greek mythology. The Oreads are Mountain Nymphs and when this cave was first discovered, it must have been beautififul indeed, and a most suitable home for Mountain Nymphs. Although the cave walls now sport graffiti and marks from candle smoke, the cave is still impressive.

Discovery

John Meyer’s discovery of Oread Halls satisfied his long held dream to find one more major cave before his climbing days were over. He records the event in his diary dated 12th November 1941,

Went up the mountain and repainted the name "Mooi Uitsig", (Lovely View).
Lunched at Twin Caverns. Had tea at Comm Hall. On my return discovered a
"well" near Devil’s Head. (Oread Halls, top entrance).

Phil Hitchcock and Meyer attempted to descend the well on the 18th November, but their rope ladder was too short.

20/11/41: Meyer, Phil Hitchcock and Basil Harris managed to descend the well
by adding a second section to the ladder. They explored the two passages,
one at either end of the well.

27/11/41: Phil Hitchcock and Basil Harris and I visited the new cave today.
At The bottom I painted the name "Oread Halls" and "J.G. Meyer, Phil Hitchcock,
and Basil Harris descended by rope-ladder 20/11/41".
While I was painting these words, Phil and Basil numbered the chambers (1 to 5)
in the right passage, and, coming back measured the length, 42 yards. Then I
joined them. I painted the letters A to I in the chambers of the left passage.
We measured the length of the left passage, 78 yards, but right to the end of
the floor of the well, 84 yards. In chamber G, which was particularly fine,
I painted the name "Grand Hall". The well is 32 feet deep at the lower end.
The floor is about 24 yards long and from 8 to 10 feet wide.

23/01/42: Annie Hefer, Phil Hitchcock and I paid a visit to Oread Halls. After
decent we took an hour to explore the two passages and their chambers. At the end
of the right-hand passage Phil struggled through a very narrow passage and came
into a big chamber (Annie’s Hall). Then we followed him. At one spot we could
see daylight. The opening was too narrow for us to get through. So we turned back.

27/01/42: J.G.Meyer and Phil Hitchcock opened the "Lower Entrance" by means of
hammer and chisel, also widened the narrow spots between Annie’s Hall and Chamber 5.

Meyer painted the name “Annie’s Hall” on the ceiling.

Description

See virtual tour. TBD

Survey and Exploration

Although the first survey recorded was done by Dave Eckles and Anthony Hitchcock in 1979 using compass and tape, there is a photograph of early SASA members using an Abney Level in Oread Halls. (TBD). The initial survey did however prove a connection between Oread Halls and April Grotto. This passage is too narrow to crawl through, but a stream flows from April Grotto though Oread Halls towards Annie’s Hall.

Anthony Hitchcock, Peter Swart, Stephan Moser and Joan Vlok re-surveyed Oread Halls using compass clinometer and tape on the 7th October 1995. This was a more accurate version including some extensions that were made beyond the Grand Hall. These were low sand blocked passages and shelves that were excavated for about 20m. A narrow passage remained as a lead, but enthusiasm had waned after all the digging.)

Anthony Hitchcock and Peter Swart decided to survey the cave again to bring it up to publication standard and orient the end passage properly with Take Breath Cave.

Some years before Peter Swart and Jean-Paul van Belle attempted to prove that there is a connection between Oread Halls and Take Breath. Take Breath is a small dusty grotto with its entrance at the base of the upper cliffs above Echo Halt. It is found to the right and on the same level as Step Aside. Peter lit a saltpetre smoke bomb near the end of Oread Halls while Jean-Paul waited in Take Breath. The smoke was swept along the passage and a cursing Jean-Paul reversed at record speed out of Take Breath engulfed in smoke. All attempts to find the connecting passage or establish a voice connection between the caves have proved fruitless.

The new survey was begun at the end of April 1998 and was done in stages. April Grotto and the passage from the well towards April Grotto were mapped first. The next section from the lower entrance at Annie’s Hall to the well was surveyed on the 28th February 1999. Peter pushed down a passage under the entrance and found a tight passage that carries the Oread Halls stream down towards Clovelly. He could not proceed beyond 8m. It is thought that this water emerges from a shelf at the top of the cliff above Mystery Grotto. The end of the left-hand side passage just beyond the S bends showed a very narrow passage that continues for 4m and may go further, but curves out of view.

The passage to the Grand Hall was surveyed in March and the remainder to the end of the dig in April 1999. Digging commenced again at the end of April and on the 2nd May the excavators managed to enter a wide sand filled passage sloping upwards. Progress was made up the slope by moving sand to either side until they managed to pass a constriction at the top of the slope. This allowed access to a sort passage heading left and right and ending in a small choke. A narrow passage leads back into the ridge at this point.

On the 9th May the new passages were surveyed and Stephan Moser entered the furthest passage discovering a small terminal chamber. This is the end of the system. Peter Swart completed the re-survey of Take Breath during these last two trips. The cave system amounts to over 300m of accumulated passages.

Fauna

There are plenty of cave crickets and spiders. Shrimps are found in the steam in the winter. Very few bats are seen in this cave.

Safety

The main danger is presented by the well the locality of which was not so apparent in the 1970’s. In the last few years, however, a path has developed from the lower entrance past the hole and rejoining the main path beyond the Devil’s Head. The extra traffic around the pit entrance has led to noticeable erosion around the boulders protecting the hole. It is likely that collapse of these boulders will block the entrance.

The most dangerous region of the cave is in the passage between the well and April Grotto. Fifteen meters along this passage is a boulder choke forming a partial obstruction over which one must climb to proceed. The area looks most unstable and liable to fall in at any time. The rest of the cave is largely safe, as it is a horizontal system. There is always the possibility of someone getting stuck in some tight section near the end beyond Grand Hall. There is a small boulder choke at the very end of this passage that could collapse on someone trying to probe into it.

Extract from Fire Protection Services booklet

Four hundred and thirty-five feet in length, it is second only to the Boomslang Cave. It was originally entered through a hole in the roof by rope ladder, the depth being 31 feet. It is now entered by a chimney which was subsequently discovered at the S.E. end. This chimney is 12 feet in depth and leads through a very narrow passage into Annie's Hall. After passing through five chambers the Pit is reached. Ten more chambers A to J extend to the N.W. in a crescent shape. G is the Grand Hall.

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