Oxford University Cave Club

"Ario 2000" Expedition Final Report

Picos de Europa, Spain

3rd July - 22nd August 2000

Expedition 2000 Final Report contents

Expedition 2000 contents page

Other Expedition reports

OUCC Home Page

 

Songs

The Prussiking Song

When this bloody pitch is over
Lots more prussiking for me
If I though that I had finished
O how foolish I would be

For when I'm through Guzamo's Grovel
I'll prussik Cemetery Gates
And when I've prussiked up that one
Rosy Crucifixion waits

I'll prussik through the first false floor
I'll launch myself over the top
I'll prussik down that climb
Then up Space Trout I won't stop

And then I'll prussik through the streamway
For though I need not take such pains
By then my tendency to prussik
Will be too thoroughly engrained

I'll prussik both the Tumbling Dice
I'll prussik Blind Pots Series
I'll prussik all the GSP rifts
I'll prussik Paradise Squeeze

I'll prussik up the pebbly slope
I'll prussik through Seventh Heaven
I'll prussik up those entrance pitches
I'll prussik right out of 2/7

And then when I am on the surface
I'll know that this is the last bit
I'll prussik down the ridge to Ario
I'll prussik straight into my pit

And when my prussiking is over
O how knackered I will be
Don't ask me how I liked my prussik
Give me a flippin' cup of tea.

The Cave of the Witch's Eye

(to the tune of "The House of the Rising Sun")

There is a cave in the Picos
They call the witch's eye
And it's been the ruin of many
Oxford Cavers such as I

Now Erin is a seamstress
She sews her TSA
And now she's going down 2/7
Exploring the streamway

Rob Garrett is a drinking man
He always says 'Dos mas!'
And he is down at the Maria Rosa
Drinking his Gin y Kas

There's nothing here that Lynn can eat
Not even top camp stew
For she's allergic to milk & eggs
And there's nothing she can do

The one we call 'la Jeffa'
Pip Crosby is quite ill
And she must stay inside her tent
Lying very still

Now Chris he is our novice
He porters all our bags
They are full for camping gear
For the use of the Old Lags

Now Wlodek is our hero
As told in tales of yore
But he has grown old &fat
And caves so fast no more

Now Gavin has bad crotch rot
His harness makes him sore
And though he likes deep caving
It rubs his skin quite raw

 

Jo has gone a diggin'
In the valley of Dry Bones
And she has hauled from Pozu Jenga
Lots of bags of stones

Rich Doyle he is a night owl
He caves from dusk til dawn
The only time you'll hear him returning
Is in the early hours of morn

Lev rigged a deviation
From a pendant on the wall
Then he nearly killed himself
When he made that bastard fall

Rich Gerrish at the bottom
Trying to lay low
Knew that he was out of luck
When he heard Lev yell 'BELOW!!'

I've got one foot in my footloops
The other's on the floor
And I'm going back to Tumbling Dice
To rig that pitch once more

Now mothers tell your children
Not to do the same as I
And spend your time in Fear & Loathing
In the cave of the witch's eye

The only thing a caver needs
Is carbide for his lamp
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's cold and damp

There is a cave in the Picos
They call the witch's eye
And it's been the ruin of many
Oxford Cavers such as I

It's a Long Way to Verdelluenga

 

It's a long way to Verdelluega
It's a long way to cave
But you can get there
If you're very hard and brave
Up Viagra Falls
Past Benedicks of Mayfair
It's a long, long way to Verdelluenga
But 2/7 goes there.

Pack up your Pit Set

(to be sung as a duet with "It's a Long Way")

Pack up your pit set in your tackle bag
And ab-seil down
While you've got carbide to light your way
There's no need to frown
What's the use of sunlight?
Mud can make you brown S
o, pack up your pit set in your tackle bag
And ab-seil down