2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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1623:113
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</head>
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<body>
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<center><table border=0 width=100%>
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<tr><th align=left><font size=+2>113</font></th>
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<th align=center><font size=+2>Sonnenstrahlhöhle</font></th>
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<th align=right><font size=+2>4/S/T +</font></th></tr>
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</table></center>
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<p><b>Altitude:</b> 1642m, depth 330m approx.<br>
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<b>Position:</b> E 36250.6, N (52)81340.4, H 1642.0 (entrance bolt)<br>
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<b>Marking:</b> Orange painted number on north-facing wall above shaft
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<p><b>Location:</b> Follow Stögerweg (path 201) well past turn off for
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<a href="41.htm">Stellerweghöhle</a>. This involves a steep descent,
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then a long horizontal stretch, crossing the dry valley containing Kat.
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<a href="87.htm">87a</a>. After quite a way, there is an orange paint flash
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on the left, more easily seen when coming the other way. This is just a few
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metres before you turn left and start hacking up the hillside. Further orange
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paint marks the route, which goes up a dry valley and over the entrance
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<a href="109.htm">109</a>. Eventually, a scrub-free area is reached, go right
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and then scramble up rock towards a tree. Don<6F>t rush beyond the tree or
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you'll fall a long way.
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<p><center><a href="others/l/113ac.htm"><img src="others/t/113ac.jpg"
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alt="(photo (67k jpeg))" width=124 height=184></a> Andy Connolly on
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entrance, 1980 <a href="others/l/113ent.htm"><img src="others/t/113ent.jpg"
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alt="(photo (53k jpeg))" width=131 height=165></a></center>
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<p>Entrance is <b>huge</b>. A sizeable dry valley develops into a canyon
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which is full of snow. The canyon ends downstream in a solid wall, where the
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rigging point for the entrance pitch starts by the aforementioned tree. A
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short drop leads to a ledge where a stretch to the left (facing the rock)
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reaches a rebelay in a fine position on the impending wall. From here, drop
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21m onto a large snow slope, then 10m further to the flat snow floor of a
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large chamber lit from above by the shaft.
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<p><center><a href="others/l/113day.htm"><img src="others/t/113day.jpg"
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alt="(photo (23k jpeg))" width=130 height=200></a></center>
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<p>The way on is up a climb of 3m to a horizontal passage. There is an area
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of hading rifts, not fully explored. The first hole descends a ramp over
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treacherous ice and rubble for 30m to the head of a pitch, <b>Ibbeth Perilous
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Pot</b>. A second parallel ramp connects to the same point. Both these ramps
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suffer from loose rock and are best tackled with a handline. The main pitch
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drops for 20m in a series of steps, best rigged. A final 13m drop then lands
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on a rock/ice blockage <b>Marathon Ledge</b>, which at one time contained the
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original explorer's helmet and lights, dropped from the head of the pitch. A
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hammered route past the blockage leads to two short drops, then a 6m pitch
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into the Opera House (see below).
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<p>A descent of the second major hole from the entrance is the normal route
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and leads to a ramp down, traverse across and the head of <b>Point Five
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Gully</b>. The gully is decorated with ice formations early in the season,
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as are all the useful hand- and footholds on the following ramp, so a rope
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is recommended to descend <b>Fox's Glacier</b>. At the foot, about 60m
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below the entrance chamber, is a low bouldery chamber, and a low arch leads
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to a larger chamber, <b>Barnsley Methodist Chapel</b>, which is 20m high
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and 30m long.
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<p>The Chapel is floored with large boulders at one end, but an obvious low
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sandy passage to the left leads to the head of a 14m dry rift pitch with a
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bouldery takeoff. The pitch is free-hanging after the first two metres, to a
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gravel-floored chamber opening off the rift. Water entering high on the
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right takes a floor trench 10m deep which may be traversed above to gain the
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<b>Balcony</b> of the <b>Opera House</b>, an impressive 20m diameter,
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roughly circular chamber. A 12.5m pitch (awkward takeoff as rigged in 1980)
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gains the bouldery, sloping floor. A scramble down boulders and a further 7m
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pitch over a very large boulder leads into a rift, where an awkward 10m
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pitch with natural belays and joke bolts leads to a flat mud floor at a
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larger section at the head of a pitch. At this point the draught changes
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direction, the cave becomes clean, and a stream is met falling from an
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inaccessible (and out of sight) passage, apparently at the same level as the
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pitch head.
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<p>Down the pitch, a rebelay (which is a very long stretch to rig unless
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you're very tall) avoids the worst of the water on <b>Purple Pit</b>. Quite
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possibly this could be rigged as a deviation (we didn't do these in 1980).
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There is a long section to a large ledge, from where the pitch leaves the
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fault it has been following and heads down a series of short steps with
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rebelays a few metres apart. At the bottom of this section, 60m below the
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start, a further fault is met at right angles, with twin holes in the floor.
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The first one is wet and nasty, while the second is tolerable. Both unite and
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go off to the left in a diminutive streamway. To the right above the holes is
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the entry point from <a href="152.htm">Bananehöhle</a>(152), explored in
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1985.
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<p><center><a name="ppitbot" href="others/l/purple.htm">
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<img src="others/t/purple.jpg" alt="(B/W photo (58k jpeg))" width=134
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height=200 align=left></a>
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Simon Kellet at the top of the short dry pitch below Purple Pit
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<br clear=all></center>
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<p>The diminutive streamway ends shortly in a tight sump, but before this, a
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climb up leads unobviously to a traverse and then a crawl trending back over
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the entry point, <b>Müsli Crawl</b>. A number of acute bends are
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disorientating, then a short drop leads to a final rift and a pitch head.
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This is a thrutch to start, then drops 10m to where the water reenters. A
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series of drops, <b>Sprucy Wind</b>, follows, and some of the bolts (1980
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vintage, greased in 1982) are easily missed, which makes the pitches wetter.
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There is a branch shaft at one point which is unexplored, but appears to
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reunite somewhat lower down. The pitches of 8, 26, 12, 10, 10, 20, 5 and 9m
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drop to a final rift chamber where an inlet from up on the left doubles the
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size of the stream on a rocky floor. This inlet responds to floods about an
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hour faster than the main water. The combined waters fall down a 6m drop and
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sink in a gravel-choked pool.
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<p>Climbing up opposite the inlet, a dry rift is a little tight but pops out
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into a series of dry passages, apparently quite unrelated to the rift
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pitches. This area, <b>The Crematorium</b>, is a good place to wait when the
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pitches flood. There is a large horizontal passage ending in a chamber with
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various bedding crawl extensions. Avens in the roof are hard to reach (one
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bolt used for aid) and don't seem to go anywhere. A narrow rift in the floor
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contains the stream, and a climb down can be made at one point where it is
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just wide enough. Thrutching forward in a traverse cum crawl a short way
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above the water, a couple more diminutive drops reach a place where to
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continue would be just plain stupid, since it is small and wet. The cave was
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rigged in 1982 just to go and push the end. It didn't go.
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<p>There is potential for further extension by traversing over down-ramps in
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the entrance area, and by gaining access to the source of the water (and
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route of the draught) at the top of Purple Pit. Apparently the Point Five
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Gully and Fox's Glacier Ramp was traversed over in 1987, and another ramp
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descended, but this seems to have rejoined the main route somewhere near
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Barnsley Methodist Chapel. This route was not surveyed.
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<p><b>Exploration:</b> CUCC 1980 (Team Sunbeam) to bottom; 1982 to push
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bottom, but no new passage found. Entered from 152 in 1985, Ibbeth Perilous
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Pot route connected 1987
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<hr>
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<!-- LINKS -->
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2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
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<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
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2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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<a href="index.htm#113">Schwarzmooskogel ridge area</a><br>
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2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
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<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
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2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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<a href="../indxal.htm">Full Index</a><br>
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2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
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<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
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2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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<a href="../areas.htm">Other Areas</a><br>
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2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
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<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
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2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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<a href="../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a>
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