2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
|
|
|
<html lang="en">
|
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
|
|
<title>1988: Cambridge Underground 164 exploration</title>
|
2004-04-21 10:35:34 +01:00
|
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
|
<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1989 p 21</font>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Totes Gebirge, Schwarzmooskogel: 1623/164</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<h3>by Hugh Salter and Penny Reeves</h3></center>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>164 was located on a reconnaissance trip at the start of the 1988
|
|
|
|
|
expedition. It is located about 400m North and down-dip from the col between
|
|
|
|
|
the Bräuning Nase and the Vord. Schwarzmooskogel, on the line of a small
|
|
|
|
|
fault running North/South, and next to a large depression that is blocked.
|
|
|
|
|
This area is about 100m from 1977/11, essentially a 110m shaft<a
|
|
|
|
|
href="#ednote1">¹</a>, which indicated considerable potential for
|
|
|
|
|
initial depth, and is 200m from Camp 1. The shaft thus seemed a suitable
|
|
|
|
|
place for a gentle start to exploration.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The entrance pitch is a strongly draughting 10m shaft about 3m in diameter
|
|
|
|
|
which, when first found, had the remains of a snow plug. It carries a small
|
|
|
|
|
stream, possibly that which is used at Camp 1 for a water supply. The
|
|
|
|
|
entrance pitch was descended to find, as hoped for, a passage leading due
|
|
|
|
|
south along the fault. This leads quickly to the second pitch. This pitch
|
|
|
|
|
took a considerable time to rig, being topped by a large and hairy pile of
|
|
|
|
|
loose boulders. A bolt was eventually placed at -5m, in the only sound rock
|
|
|
|
|
available, where the warer has removed the loose rock. A 15m drop to a small
|
|
|
|
|
ledge and a further drop of 12m land in a low passage where the water sinks
|
|
|
|
|
into the floor. The floor at this point and for the remainder of the cave is
|
|
|
|
|
composed of very small and very sharp pieces of rock that are all too
|
|
|
|
|
obviously last year's roof, judging by the friability of the latter. These
|
|
|
|
|
are interspersed with large boulders of the same origin. The continuing
|
|
|
|
|
passage quickly rises to 4-5m in height and drops steeply at 45 degrees,
|
|
|
|
|
still heading due south for 30m, reaching a large and very unstable rock
|
|
|
|
|
bridge overlooking a sizeable chamber, with water again appearing for the
|
|
|
|
|
pitch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The loose rocks were cleared in the traditional way, and the usual bolts
|
|
|
|
|
placed with typical amounts of prayer. The standard technique is to hammer
|
|
|
|
|
hell out of the wall while tied on to something a little more supportive
|
|
|
|
|
(Penny plus a few large boulders) until the outer six inches or so fall
|
|
|
|
|
around your ears. The resultant cleanish wall can be bolted with some
|
|
|
|
|
confidence. A beautiful 10m free hanging pitch from the bridge was descended
|
|
|
|
|
to land in the centre of the chamber, where the stream sinks. The chamber
|
|
|
|
|
floor is basically oval, 15m by 7m, and has a number of ways on. To the East,
|
|
|
|
|
a scramble leads up to a shattered cross rift from a large shalf about 15m
|
|
|
|
|
long and 10m wide, which was too tight. A similar feature to the West up a 4m
|
|
|
|
|
climb becomes a low bedding plane with no way on negotiable. This cross-rift
|
|
|
|
|
is the obvious cause of the formation of the chamber. Due South are twin
|
|
|
|
|
passages, the rightmost one of the two leading off some 20m round a couple of
|
|
|
|
|
bends to a sandy choke that may bear future investigation. The other quickly
|
|
|
|
|
chokes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Unfortunately, none of these ways carry the considerable draught that
|
|
|
|
|
marks the cave up to this point. There is, however, a continuation of the
|
|
|
|
|
passage between the second and third pitches visible on the far side of the
|
|
|
|
|
chamber, at the same level. It is suggested that this is the continuation of
|
|
|
|
|
the cave along the line of the fault, and that this level was abandoned by
|
|
|
|
|
the cutting of the final chamber. This passage has not yet been entered due
|
|
|
|
|
to lack of time and the need to commit tackle elsewhere, but would involve a
|
|
|
|
|
bolted traverse on loose vertical rock from the top of the 4m climb mentioned
|
|
|
|
|
earlier. The passage has apparently the same dimensions as the passage from
|
|
|
|
|
the second pitch and could be a target of future expeditions wanting to
|
|
|
|
|
terrify themselves.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The cave has not been surveyed beyond Grade 2/3 due to a flood causing a
|
|
|
|
|
rather precipitous exit during the survey/derigging trip. Surface
|
|
|
|
|
observations of the entrance during a heavy rain shower show that it becomes
|
|
|
|
|
a major flood sink for the area, rising very quickly, hardly surprising
|
|
|
|
|
considering the virtual non-existence of surface vegetation. The upshot of
|
|
|
|
|
this, if you are unlucky enough to be underground at the time, is that the
|
|
|
|
|
innocuous looking stream on the second pitch becomes a considerable torrent
|
|
|
|
|
when it rains on the surface, causing a large number of boulders to fall
|
|
|
|
|
around one's ears. A good helmet is recommended. The cave now known as 164
|
|
|
|
|
would seem to be the entrance 1977/8<a href="#ednote2">²</a>, noted in
|
|
|
|
|
the 1977 logbook, which was blocked at the head of what is now the second
|
|
|
|
|
pitch. No paint marks were found at the entrance, although conversations with
|
|
|
|
|
Andy Waddington revealed that, if marked at all, it would have been marked
|
|
|
|
|
with dark green paint that after a few years was indistiguishable from
|
|
|
|
|
surrounding lichen, and descended on ladders leaving no bolt holes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><b>Webpage editor's notes</b>:<br>
|
|
|
|
|
(<a name="ednote1">1</a>) The cave referred to here
|
|
|
|
|
is actually <a href="../../plateau/198.htm">B11</a>, of 1976, and is a
|
|
|
|
|
straight 55m descent to a choke.
|
|
|
|
|
<p>(<a name="ednote2">2</a>) The cave referred to here is actually
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="../../plateau/197.htm">B8</a>, of 1976, but this is definitely
|
|
|
|
|
<b>not</b> the same cave as 164. It was (at the time this was written)
|
|
|
|
|
conceivable that 164 was <a href="../../plateau/190.htm">B9</a>, but this
|
|
|
|
|
too is now known to be elsewhere, though only a stone's throw away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
2004-04-29 16:24:54 +01:00
|
|
|
<hr />
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
2004-04-29 16:24:54 +01:00
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
|
<li>1623/164 <a href="../../plateau/164.htm">cave description</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li>Cambridge Underground 1989,
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="../../../jnl/1989/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li>1988 Expedition info:
|
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="index.htm">Index</a> (more detail than in this list)</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li>Cambridge Underground Expo Report:
|
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="report.htm">Austria 1988</a> expedition report</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="cavegd.htm">161 Description</a> to date (ie. 1988)</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="rover.htm">A Rover's return</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="to1989.htm">And so to 1989</a> work for 1989 expo to date</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1988">Index</a> to all publications</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
|
2004-04-30 22:56:57 +01:00
|
|
|
<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a></li>
|
2004-04-29 16:24:54 +01:00
|
|
|
</ul>
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
|
</html>
|
