Descent (302), February 2025

Extreme Weather at Big CHECC
Descent’s new CHECC/Youth correspondent, Polly Judd, reports on the biggest – and in this case, wettest – event in the student caving calendar.

The Aka Diaries
Chris Scaife and George North begin a two-part article on the exploration of a fine new pothole in the Yorkshire Dales, with diary entries from many of the core digging team.

Beyond the Shrines
Craig Holdstock reports on an expedition to Thailand, where caves are a big part of the culture, often with religious significance.

Finding the Marble River
Redhouse Lane Swallet, in the Forest of Dean, has been producing the goods somewhat in recent months. As 2024 drew to a close, there were just a couple more opportunities to visit and, as Tim Nichols writes, these resulted in yet more great finds.

Back to Buda
Carolina Smith reports on an expedition to Gunung Buda National Park, a limestone region to the north of Mulu in Malaysian Borneo that has seen little attention from cavers in recent years.

Ascent of the 8,000ers
The Draughting Hole-Missed Pot system in the North Pennines has now exceeded 8,000m in length and the recent finds have been nothing short of spectacular, writes Fleur Loveridge.

OWPG Portfolio
We present the high quality images that recently won Chris Howes the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild award for photography.

PNG ‘73
Howard Beck remembers some adventurous exploits from Papua New Guinea over half a century ago.

Winners
From the feedback we had about the crossword in Descent 301, it was our hardest one yet. We can now reveal the correct answers and the name of the winner. We also reveal the results of our caving video competition, run in collaboration with CHECC.

Cover: Jess Tomlinson and Fleur Loveridge in Annapurna, Missed Pot. Photo: Paul ‘Beardy Swire

Back Cover: Malcolm Foyle by the impressive ribbon formation in Tham Satchatham, Thailand. Photo: Craig Holdstock