2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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<title>1980: Cambridge Underground report</title>
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2004-04-21 10:35:34 +01:00
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2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
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<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1981 pp 9-20</font>
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<h2>Austria 1980</h2></center>
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<p>Once again a Cambridge team raced across the German lowlands to a
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rendezvous with the Austrian alps, this time augmented by a number of
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able-bodied men from UBSS and NPC.
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<p>It was intended to cave in the Tennengebirge this year, but the sense of
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discomfort felt when we gathered on the first evening soon led to parties
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being despatched to Altaussee, pending confirmation of whether we would even
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be allowed onto the Tennengebirge.
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<p>Arriving at the familar campsite at Altaussee, the sun shining, the lake
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beckoning, the mountains soaring above and Fritz eagerly proferring free
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bottles of beer, our spirits were greatly raised and we set about organising
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ourselves for a renewed assault on the hidden depths of the Loser.
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<p>With many thanks to Karl and Gunther once again, we were able to arrange
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a vastly reduced rate for the toll road and garnered valuable hints as to
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possible sites to be examined. We are most grateful for their invaluable
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assistance, which has contributed to the success of our expeditions.
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<p>Despite the suggestion after last year's visit that it might be time to
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move to a new area, enthusiasm was rekindled by the liveliness of the 1980
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gathering and with a complete break for many of the older hands (visiting
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Greece and the Pyrenees this summer) a new drive should bring further
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advances in 1982, if the younger CUCC members don't do it all this year !
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<h2><a name="41">Stellerweghöhle</a></h2>
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<h3>Julian Griffiths</h3>
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<p>Originally explored by some Germans (Belgians ?), this pot had been
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ignored by us in previous years, partly because we had other things going and
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partly because it was some way away from the main area we were working in. We
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had once seen a survey of the place which showed a short length of horizontal
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passage ending abruptly at 200m+ of pitches and we knew the location of the
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entrance, but that was all.
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<p>An unfinished 200m deep pot was a tempting prospect but things didn't
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turn out quite as expected. The exploration comprised a strange mixture of
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excuses as to why the cave hadn't been pushed further and attempts to find a
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different (ie. easier) route down. Andy Waddington and Budge were first into
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the pot. There are two entrances, the lower of which is a draughting
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phreatic tube. This quickly ended at an ice slope which was rigged down to a
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large snow bank entering from the other entrance. A passage to the right was
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noted but the draught seemed to be coming from a passage across an ice
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traverse. This was negotiated and the continuing passage negotiated for
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about 50m.
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<p>Steve and Julian entered the cave later on the same day. Traversing
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across several steeply inclined bedding planes, the bottom of which
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disappeared into the gloom, they arrived at a 21m pitch. At its base they
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ignored a low bouldery passage heading down dip in favour of a climb up to
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and then down a steeply descending phreatic passage. This broke out onto
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another couple of traverses rigged with a handline as a precaution against a
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rather precipitous estimated 25m drop to one side. A large phreatic tube
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rose from the far side and crossed an immense inclined bedding plane passage
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(the largest yet) till it ended at another such passage. As there was no
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continuation at the far side of this the pair descended the bedding until
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they reached a greasy slope requiring a ladder. The same pair returned the
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following day and rigged the slope to the head of a sizeable pitch. A 15m
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drop ended at a two man ledge in a tremendous shaft. At this point, Steve's
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carbide packed up so we had to exit.
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<p>On the last couple of trips it became obvious that we were not following
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the German's route as their survey points ran out just inside the entrance,
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but as we were still following the draught it didn't particularly seem to
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matter. Julian and Nick returned to the pitch two days later. From the ledge
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a superb freehanging 55m pitch descended to a further ledge and from this a
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descent of 25m brought us to the bottom of the rift and a small streamway.
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We were now at -180m and things were beginning to look promising. The stream
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was lost after 3m but the passage continued for a further 90m to the head of
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a 10m pitch. Ben and Steve were following up behind, so it was decided to
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leave this for them.
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<p>Unfortunately, below this the pot went temporarily small, suggesting a
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continuation above the head of the pitch. Five short pitches alterately wet
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and tight, then along a small rift, up a couple of boulders and round a
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sharp corner suddenly gave into a huge rift 5m wide by 100m high. The short
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pitches had caught them somewhat by surprise and there had been some very
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uneconomical rigging, with the result that they had no rope left to descend
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the estimated 30m pitch that lay ahead. Clive and Tim had been meant to
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follow on, but a rather enthusiastic descent of the big pitch by Tim had led
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to a damaged coccyx. The pot was now 250m deep.
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<p><a name="german">Deciding that</a> the German route might provide an
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easier path to glory, Nick and Budge turned right just past where the other
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entrance comes in and found a large passage, which, if it hadn't been for the
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snow bank, would have been the obvious way on. Past a traverse, this ended at
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the head of a large shaft. The start of 200m+ of pitches, thought they. So
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did Julian, until he had got down the first pitch, split 6m and 18m, with
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Nick the next day. This led on to a short 2m climb, a 12m pitch and 14m
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pitch, and then a nasty sloping traverse down a canyon passage. A left turn
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(the canyon continued on small) and a muddy climb of 10m gave a low crawl
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that looked suspiciously like a dried out sump. All this showed signs of
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previous human occupation as there was survey cotton all over the place. The
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crawl continued past the 'sump' and a window to the right gave onto another
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climb down, a traverse across a hole and a slope to the head of a pitch. This
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was 14m into a 'biggish' chamber. Suspicions as to the accuracy of the survey
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were voiced and an exit made. An alternative pitch of 20m at the base of the
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first pitch was looked at but the exit to the chamber at the bottom was tiny.
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<p>Ben and Steve continued the headbanging later the same day. A traverse
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along a rift, down an awkward step and two pitches of 8 and 12m reached a
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floor. The rift became smaller and a further 6m pitch dropped into a small
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stream. After a tight and awkward thrutch along, a tight drop wasn't rigged
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as things were becoming a little silly. As Ben commented, "no stone to
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drop down it and we were buggered if we were going down to pick any up".
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Estimated depth beneath the start of the pitches was 140m and we reckoned
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that we were 60m below where the Germans got to, so where the rumour of 200m+
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of pitches came from we can't quite understand. This route was derigged the
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next day and we returned to the "proper" route. The place had now
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become known, somewhat uncharitably, as Stalaglufthöhle.
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<p>Clive and Julian wanged in a bolt to descend the next pitch. 30m later
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rope became scarce so we had to pendule across to a place where it was
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possible to jam across the rift. Noch ein bolt and a 10m pitch to a boulder
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floor then a 7m freeclimb down gave the head of another pitch. Rope became
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extinct (we had forgotten one of the tackle bags) so Clive was hung over the
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edge on a piece of string to put a bolt in. Back at exactly the same place
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two days later with masses of rope, Steve and Julian were hit by a (the ?)
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flood pulse which converted the next pitch into something of a turbine. Not
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wanting to see how long floods could last in this part of the world, the
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pair beat a very hasty, cold and wet retreat. Ben and Clive finally
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descended this pitch two days later when things had quietened down a little.
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The 16m drop was followed by drops of 5m and 10m and a bolt was put in at
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the head of another pitch before an exit was made.
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<p>And so to the final mega- pushing, surveying and derigging trip. We
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didn't do much pushing, descending two 17m pitches before calling it a day
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at a further pitch; the survey was extended from the bottom of the big pitch
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to the head of the big rift and all the tackle was removed to the head of
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the big pitch. Steve, Tim, Andy W. and Julian emerged in the early hours of
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the morning after a 13 hour trip feeling somewhat tired.
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<p>On reflection, we weren't quite sure why it had taken us so long to get
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down to 350m. It wasn't an easy pot, but then it is probably no more
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difficult than a lot of continental pots. The last couple of pitches are wet
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and hence exploration beyond this point should be done in settled weather.
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However there seems no reason why this pot shouldn't go to 600 or 700m,
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especially if a connection is made with entrances further up the hill.
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<h2><a name="87">87</a></h2>
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<h3>Ben van Millingen</h3>
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<p>Getting bored with looking for Stellerweg, Nick and Ben wandered off
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further down the path. About 200m from the climb up to Stellerweghöhle
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they found a gully full of boulders with a draught blowing out. Climbing up
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the gully, a hole was found at the base of a small cliff with the same strong
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draught. A short peaty slope descended to the head of a pitch the other side
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of which was a rock bridge leading to a larger version of the same pitch.
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<p>The first pitch was descended to a steeply sloping floor under the rock
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bridge. Uphill was choked by boulders seen above ground in the gully,
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downslope led into the larger shaft. This was particularly classy, but due
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to the disappearance of all bolt drivers, the trip was abandoned for more
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beer.
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<p>The next day a short swing reached the rock bridge from where a rope was
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rigged into the larger shaft. This reached a sloping floor at 20m The way on
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was down a small steep tube in the corner. The draught blowing out of this
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was strong enough to extinguish a carbide. A very cold bolting session
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secured the rope for the second pitch (16m) in the tube. The pitch opened
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into a roomy chamber with the head of the third pitch in the floor. Climbing
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out over boulders, the rope was rigged (17m)
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<p>The fourth followed immediately. A 38m drop landed in a chamber. On the
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other side, a slice of wall, 15m high and 4m thick had slumped. A crawl
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under this block choked with no noticeable draught. There was no other way
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on at the bottom of the chamber, so on the way out a pendulum reached the
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top of the block, where it was found that the gap between the block and the
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wall was choked with rocks. A large inlet high up on the wall in the chamber
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was noticed, but would require bolting up to reach. The draught does not
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come from beneath or on top of the block so is presumed to come from the
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inlet. Considering the size of the draught at the entrance and the top of
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the second pitch it was disappointing to find the cave end in such a manner.
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<p>AERW helped (or was it hindered) on the derigging, failing to take a
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successful picture of the entrance pitch which was superbly lit by sunlight.
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Unfortunately, Nick's water bottle took a walk under the boulders near the
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entrance, never to be seen again, but he doesn't need that now anyway.
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<p>87 is one of the more pleasant caves we have found in Austria, with
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large, roomy, straightforward pitches, and would make an excellent Yorkshire
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Sunday afternoon trip after the pub.
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<h2><a name="115">115 Gemsescheisenhöhle</a></h2>
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<h3>Simon Kellet</h3>
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<p>A prospecting team consisting of Ken Baker, the Terrible Twins and Simon
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Kellet found 115 roughly below 32 (an obvious draughting hole on the Stoger
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Weg) some 50m from the pathway. It was the most promising of several holes
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looked at. The entrance is a railway tunnel emerging from the hillside. A
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slope down after 20m led to a steeply descending crawl which was blocked by
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loose stones. A howling gale issued forth - certain extinction for stinkies
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- inspiring us to begin excavations.
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<p>These were completed next day, and after pausing for refreshments (a UBSS
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innovation to bring civilisation to CUCC), Clive wriggled through a 10m
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crawl into a large passage. A climb down a boulder pile led to a 7m pitch,
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followed by a scramble down piles of loose stones to a hopeless choke at
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-50m.
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<p>It was decided that the draught was coming from a hole opposite the pitch
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head. It wasn't. However this didn't stop us making two trips to bolt a way
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across to it, to find that it didn't go anywhere interesting. Clive found
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the real way on. A climb up led to a strongly draughting phreatic tube in
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the roof. Hands and knees crawling led to a chamber with a 20m pitch
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dropping into a second chamber. A climb into a thrutchy sharp-sided rift
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followed, with one squeeze, breaking out into a large phreatic tube. The two
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branches of this system all ended in pitches, one of which draughted.
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<p>Progress was then halted when Simon and Ken bungled, not being able to
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find the rather obvious way on. The pitch led to a nasty rift with no
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draught, but Simon failed to notice an obvious traverse some 10m below the
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pitch head, despite dangling there while fiddling with protectors. An
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attempt was made to entomb Ken, when someone prusiked up a pitch with all
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his gear and then showered him with assorted lumps of metal.
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<p>Allegiance was, as a result, transferred to other systems, and only on
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the derigging trip was further progress made. The traverse led to a very big
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phreatic tube with a ramp sloping down at about thirty degrees to a pitch
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estimated at 20m, but undescended. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth
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ensued. There was no time left to plunge on into what looks like a very
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promising cave. Bolts, and a rope on the bolt traverse, were left in place.
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1981 will see a renewed attack.
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<h2><a name="113">1623/113 Sonnenstrahlhöhle</a></h2>
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<h3>Andy Connolly</h3>
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<p>'Team Sunbeam' (Sonnenstrahl) - Tony (pilot), Andy (co-pilot) and John
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(Cheese sandwich maker) - having established a record time to Salzburg,
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decided that a similarly speedy exploration of a pot would be the only way
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to keep their reputation up. 113 was pushed to a conclusion at -330m in
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under a week, due to the straightforward nature of the pot.
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<p>Dreaming of enormous caverns with underground lakes (courtesy of John)
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the three set off to the northern end of the Loser plateau beyond Wildensee
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- a region that Cambridge had not previously explored in the past because of
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the long walk of over six hours required to get there. No caving gear was
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taken as it was designed to be purely exploratory. The original intention
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had been to camp, but a party of teenage girls offered us a place in the
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Wildensee Hut, an offer that could hardly be refused.
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<p>An early start saw us prospecting by mid-morning - several promising
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leads were noted, detailed elsewhere (1). The return to Altaussee was made
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at a speed which resulted in the near extinction of the 'Barnsley School' of
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architects - however the wise inclusion of an iron lung in his pack saved
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the day ! We were somewhat disheartened to find that everyone else had found
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"lots of holes with massive draughts howling out of them" - the
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classic Loser success formula.
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<p>After much mature consideration, Team S. turned their attention to the
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Stellerwand area next day. Several nasty 'grots' were entered with little
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success. The lunchtime sardines set the seal of failure on the rest of the
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day. Tony's late find of a "promising hole" descending at an angle
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of forty five degrees turned out to be a dead end, after a short pitch, as
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was verified the next day.
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<p>Exploration in a substantial dry valley above this find led to a sizeable
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hole in the ground (18m x 8m) surrounded on three sides by vegetation and
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having a large descending snowbank on the fourth. A return was made to this
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the next day. John, in shorts, T-shirt and wellies, placed a rebelay while
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dangling on the end of "a rope I picked up cheap - I think its for
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SRT!" Descending to the floor of a snow-filled chamber, a ramp, hading
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down at about forty degrees, was followed. A spate of naming, not always
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inspired, resulted in the creation of Barnsley Methodist Chapel and The
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Purple Pit !
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<p>A further day's work gained the bottom of the Purple Pit and an area of
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abandoned phreas with no way on. AERW, dressed in his usual odd assortment
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of 'fun-fur' garments, had planned to descend 113 to have a look around, but
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as usual had forgotten to get directions regarding the way on from the
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bottom of the entrance pitch. He proceeded to blunder off down an unexplored
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section of ramp, and foolishly looking down into a large black space, his
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helmet and complete lighting system plunged into the unknown. A four hour
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search revealed his whereabouts and he was hauled with many dark mutterings
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to the surface.
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<p>A survey trip was made to the base of the Purple Pit, measuring pitch
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lengths only as the compasses were found to be somewhat untruthful,
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indicating a direction of SE for magnetic north ! Due to AERW forgetting to
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bring pencils and slate, the survey was given up as a bad job and a further
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search of the abandoned phreas at the bottom of the pitch was started. Five
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minutes search revealed a further pitch of 50m. A retreat was made for more
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gear.
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<p>The next two days saw a descent of a 100m shaft in steps to a point where
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vertical development stopped and horizontal development became tight. Nick
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offered his services for the final push.
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<p>AERW, John and Tony descended to the bottom to survey out and derig, a
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few minutes ahead of a flood pulse caused by a freak thunderstorm. Tim,
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Clive and Ken met the pulse at the Purple Pit and got out quick, arriving
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back at base camp a bit concerned for the others. Nick and Andy, ably
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assisted by Team Cordon Bleu (messrs Kellet and Burgess - Ambrosia creamed
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rice burnt to taste) descended to find the others safe, but cold, having
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found some more passage.
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<p>Two days later the derig was complete and the only job remaining was for
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John to give various features esoteric or just plain stupid names. (Vielen
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Dank MGP 69 V)
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<p>References :
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<p>(1) <a href="log.htm">1980 expedition logbook</a>.
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<h2><a name="113report">1623/113 Sonnenstrahlhöhle</a>
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Stellerwand, Totes Gebirge, Austria</h2>
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<h3>Explored 1980, ExCS</h3>
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<p>The 113 entrance pitch, belayed to two substantial pine trees at the lip
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and rebelayed 5m further down to give a 21m free hang, lands on a snow ramp
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which is descended to the floor of the entrance chamber. Two ways on exist :
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parallel to the dip, a passage communicates with two further surface
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openings, 113A and 113B. Down dip, a 1m climb over boulders leads to a series
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of ramps hading down at about 40 degrees. The first of these ramps descends
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for 30m over a treacherous surface of ice and rubble to a drop not descended
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(Ibbeth Perilous Pot). The second ramp, which communicates in places with the
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first, descends for 60m to a chamber 20m high and 30m long (Barnsley
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Methodist Chapel). This is floored with large boulders at one end. The
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obvious low, sandy side passage to the left leads onto the head of a 14m dry
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rift pitch with a bouldery takeoff. The pitch is free hanging after the first
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2m, to a gravel floored chamber opening off the rift. Water entering high on
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the right takes a floor trench 10m deep which may be traversed above to gain
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the balcony of the Opera House, an impressive 20m, roughly circular chamber.
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A 12.5m pitch gains the bouldery, sloping floor of this chamber. A further 7m
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ladder climb, followed by a 10m pitch down a rift, leads to a 6m x 2m x 2m
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high gravel floored chamber with a 1m diameter hole at one end. This is the
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takeoff for a series of pitches (the Purple Pit) which corkscrew down a fine
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clean-washed pot for 60m. This pitch system lands in an extensive area of
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abandoned phreas; a short 6m pitch down the obvious hole in the floor leads
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to a narrow rift. A 3m climb up and a short traverse lead to the entrance to
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a sandy phreatic tube (Muesli Crawl). At the end of this passage is the
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takeoff for a 100m shaft system which descends in steps of 8m, 26m, 12m, 10m,
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20m, 5m and 9m to a rocky floor. A 6m drop lands on a gravel floor, with a
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small streamway disappearing down a tight slot in the floor. Back at the base
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of the 100m shaft a tight abandoned side passage leads to the Crematorium, a
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complex of dry rifts and gravelly chambers becoming too tight at a depth of
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approximately 330m.
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<h2>"<a name="rescue80">But we didn't mean to be rescued</a>"</h2>
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<h3>John Bowers</h3>
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<p>The expedition was settling down into a pleasant routine. The days began
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with the early morning mist clearing from the lake, the cheery sound of Ken
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swearing as he brought round the tea, and Ben cough-starting his lungs. A
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leisurely breakfast, a cooling swim and a quick drive up to the plateau -
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not too hard really. All you had to do was pick up a pile of rope, abb down
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and add another 100m to the pot. Then out in plenty of time to enjoy a long
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evening guzzling lager and gooey cakes. But then it all went very wrong.
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<p>Competition between Stellerweg and Sonnenstrahl was intense. Sonnenstrahl
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was deeper but it looked like stopping - would this trip find a way on and
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keep the lead over Stellerweg ? Parties were down each pot, leaving just
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three heroes to sunbathe, drink and tidy up the remains of last week's
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breakfast. The drinking was successful and they even washed up a pan, but
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the sunbathing was a total failure as the skies clouded over and rain
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crashed down. Thoughts turned to their poor comrades deep beneath the
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Austrian limestone. As the day passed, more rain fell. Some of their friends
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returned wet and cold, telling of icy dark prusiks up crashing waterfalls.
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Night fell and still Andy, Tony and John were missing. What had happened ?
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Were they dangling helpless from a rope ? Were they huddled in a narrow,
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draughty rift with the flood waters rising around them ?
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<p>Well, no. Eating apricots - that's what they were doing. Happily sitting
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in a spacious, warm, dry chamber stuffing themselves with marzipan and
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apricots. Just before the flood pulse arrived, they happened to notice a
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slit in the wall above the final pitch. Thinking it could lead to a bypass,
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Tony was forced through to find an abandoned phreatic series. When the flood
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pulse came, the prospect of 200m of wet prusiking didn't appeal too much to
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these geriatrics and so they decided to stay warm and dry, waiting for the
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waters to subside. The chamber was thoroughly explored and surveyed (its the
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most accurate part of the whole survey). A dig was started, and for want of
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any more lively entertainment they built dry stone walls up and down the
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chamber. But slowly our reluctant heroes were getting cold, and despite an
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imaginative game of I-spy played without light, they were beginning to wish
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they were somewhere else.
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<p>Then the waters parted and Nick and Andy Connolly descended - using racks
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rather than wings. "Who are you looking for ?... What us ? ... alright,
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we'll come out now..." and at 3.00 am, five wet, tattered figures
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|
emerged to be greeted by a cold drizzle and a pot of burnt rice pudding.
|
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|
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><a href="../../../jnl/1981/index.htm">Table of Contents</a>
|
|
|
|
|
for Cambridge Underground 1981</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><b>1980 Expedition info</b>:
|
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a><br>
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- <li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a><br> -->
|
|
|
|
|
<li>Stellerweghöhle - <a href="descnt.htm">from Descent 49</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li>Austria 1980 - from <a href="npcpub.htm">NPC Newsletter</a></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="song.htm">Another Kick in the Balls</a> (expedition song)</li>
|
|
|
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1980">Index</a> to all publications</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
|
|
|
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|
<li><a href="../../../jnl/index.htm">Index</a> to Cambridge Underground</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a>
|
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
</body>
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</html>
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