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<center><h2>CUCC EXPEDITION TO AUSTRIA, 1997</h2>

<p><a href="../../smkridge/161/l/dh3-06.htm">
<img alt="Photo - 42k" width=188 height=125 hspace=10
src="../../smkridge/161/t/dh3-06.jpg"></a><br>
<i>Andrew Ketley at Penguin Falls, Puerile Humour Series</i></center>

<h3>Summary</h3>

<p>In July of this year, Cambridge University Caving Club (CUCC) embarked
upon its 10th annual expedition to the
<a href="../../smkridge/161/top.htm">Kaninchenh&ouml;hle</a> cave system in
the Totes Gebirge mountains of Austria. The club has been exploring
previously undiscovered caves in this area since accepting an invitation by
an Austrian club, (then the Sektion Ausseerland of LVfHO, now VfHO), in 1976.
During the intervening years several of these caves have grown to be of
international significance, this includes Kaninchenh&ouml;hle, the subject of
our current and ongoing expeditions.

<p>By the end of the 1996 expedition, the explored and surveyed length of
Kaninchenh&ouml;hle was 19.7 km with a total depth of just under 500m from
the highest entrance. There were many unexplored leads (almost 200) with the
known southern extremity of the cave reasonably close to the very large
Schwarzmoosk&ouml;geleish&ouml;hle-
<a href="../../smkridge/41/41.htm">Stellerwegh&ouml;hle</a> system. Many very
promising leads had also been left at the northern end of the cave. Due, not
only, to the length of trip required in order to investigate them, but also
the huge number of exciting finds much nearer to the
<a href="../../smkridge/161/sftotp.htm#161d">new entrance</a>, discovered at
the end of the 1995 expedition.

<p>Around 20 cavers took part in this year's trip, most with previous
experience of caving abroad, but also a number for whom this was their first
taste of expedition caving. Early discoveries were made in the far east of
the cave, below the area of huge passage discovered two years ago, known as
<a href="../../smkridge/161/triasp.htm#triasp">Triassic Park</a>. The large,
mostly horizontal development, was named
'<a href="../../smkridge/161/offtri.htm#lworld">The Lost World</a>', and is
interesting, in that it is lower than the previously known layers of
horizontal development in the cave. 'The Lost World' offers potential for
another entrance to be discovered due to its close proximity with the edge of
the mountain and its relation to surface features will provide further
insight as to the geological development of the area.

<p>Following a few years of neglect, some members of the expedition found new
enthusiasm for long trips to the North Western extremity of the cave, aptly
named
<a href="../../smkridge/161/sibria.htm#siberia">Siberia</a>. Many extremely
promising leads remained in this area and one such shaft, Somebody Else's
Problem, was explored to a depth of 434m below the top entrance level,
including a virtually free-hanging pitch of 70m!

<p>The main developments in the southern end of the cave took the shape of a
re-exploration of
<a href="../../smkridge/161/136.htm">Steinschlagschacht</a>, originally
explored by CUCC in 1983/4. In 1996, discovery of the
<a href="../../smkridge/161/fbland.htm#forbidden">Forbidden Land</a>, a very
large development to the south of an awkward and unsafe boulder-choke, had
revealed its close proximity to Steinschlagschacht. Improvements in equipment
and technique since the original exploration, in addition to determination in
the knowledge of a likely connection, eventually led to the two caves being
joined. Providing a safe route through to the Forbidden Land area and easing
access for the push towards the large
Schwarzmoosk&ouml;gel-Eish&ouml;hle-Stellerwegh&ouml;hle system only a couple
of hundred metres away to the South.

<p>By the end of the expedition, a further 2.4 km of cave had been surveyed
and the overall depth increased to just over 500m, owing to the slightly
higher entrance of Steinschlagschacht. There are still many promising leads,
with the exciting prospect of linking two, already world class, cave
systems. This gives us every reason to return again next year. 

<h3>Background</h3>

<p>The first CUCC expedition to the Totes Gebirge area of Austria took place
in the <a href="../1976/report.htm">summer of 1976</a> and, with the
exception of 1986, the club has returned every year since. In the early years
the expedition was based in the village of Altaussee, however since 1984 the
expedition has stayed at the Gasthof Staud'nwirt near Bad Aussee. There we
are annually made welcome by Karin Wilpernig and her family.

<p>Over the course of twenty-one years, CUCC has been responsible for the
discovery, exploration and survey of around 150 caves. Whilst many of these
are quite small, others have proved to be very significant and of these the
Stellerwegh&ouml;hle system is perhaps of most note. It was initially
explored to a depth of 200m by a German group and was subsequently explored
by CUCC from 1980 to 1982. CUCC found several new entrances to the system,
and a sump at 970m depth making it the deepest CUCC find to date. Since that
time other nearby caves (Larchenschacht, Schwabenschacht and Eish&ouml;hle)
have been linked into the system, by various groups. Another German club has
continued exploration of Stellerwegh&ouml;hle and the combined system length
is now believed to be over 25km.

<p>Kaninchenh&ouml;hle was found by CUCC in 1988, and has been the main focus
of our expeditions ever since. By 1990 three entrances had been discovered,
the total surveyed length was 6.5km and the deepest route to date had been
discovered, with a sump at -498m. Discoveries continued at a high rate and
the top of the cave quickly became a maze of parallel shafts and
interconnecting passages. By the early 90's, trips to the furthest reaches of
the cave were becoming increasingly long, with underground camps necessary on
occasion, in order to achieve efficient exploration. Although several deep
shaft series have subsequently been discovered, none have proved deeper than
the earliest found.

<p>By 1995, enthusiasm among club members for further exploration was much
diminished, mostly due to the long trips and lack of any prospect of
"completing" the project. However, toward the end of the '95 expedition, the
surprise discovery of a major new horizontal development, Triassic Park, with
over fifty new leads and a new entrance in the final week changed all that.
The 1996 expedition, coincidentally the 20th anniversary expedition of CUCC
in Austria, was by far the most successful expedition yet with over forty
people making their way to Austria at one time or another. Five kilometres of
cave was discovered and surveyed in one expedition, taking the total length
of the system to over 19km, although the depth remained still at 498m.

<h3>1997 Expedition Aims</h3>

<p>The success of the 1996 expedition had supplied many answers to the
structure and formation of the complex 3 dimensional maze of
Kaninchenh&ouml;hle, although as is now considered usual, it also provided as
many questions.

<p>A great many potential leads exist in Kaninchenh&ouml;hle and expedition
members are free to pursue any that are of interest to them. Often there is
common interest in a particular area, leading to the natural formation of
teams, which are vital to the efficiency and safety of a trip underground.
This approach allows individual freedom, whilst the unique feeling of
discovering previously unseen 'caverns measureless to man' ensures that
effort is not usually duplicated.

<p>At the Southern extremity, work in the Forbidden Land, so named because of
its unpleasant entrance through an unstable boulder choke, had revealed
significant horizontal developments. The close proximity of Eish&ouml;hle and
large number of leads made this area an extremely promising and exciting
place for further exploration this year.

<p>The North-eastern end of the cave had seen great progress during the
<a href="../1996/bcracc.htm">1996 expedition</a>, in the shape of the Puerile
Humour series, with approximately 2&frac12;-km of new cave and two new
entrances being found. This discovery had several key areas of interest
including <a href="../../smkridge/161/phnth.htm#wtwb">Where the Wind
Blows</a> and <a href="../../smkridge/161/icelnd.htm#iceland">Iceland</a>,
both of which were leading North into areas which, as yet, have no known cave
development. The first is a long relatively straight passage, heading
parallel to and above <a href="../../smkridge/161/farnth.htm#far2far">The Far
End</a>, formerly only reachable by very long trips from the main (original)
entrance. The prospect of connection in this area would significantly improve
access and undoubtedly renew interest in this inaccessible bit of cave.

<p>Other leads for which there was particular interest in revisiting this
year, were in the areas of
<a href="../../smkridge/161/offtri.htm#wheelca">Wheelchair Access</a>,
discovered in 1996 descending from the major trunk route of Triassic Park,
and also in <a href="../../smkridge/161/sibria.htm#siberia">Siberia</a>,
discovered in 1995 at the North-Western corner of Kaninchenh&ouml;hle.

<h3>Steinschlagschacht and the quest for Eish&ouml;hle</h3>

<p>Whilst some of the most interesting exploration was promised by the
<a href="../../smkridge/161/fbland.htm#forbidden">Forbidden Land</a>, the
extremely unpleasant boulder choke entrance to this area made the prospect of
a significant number of trips here unappealing to the majority, if not all,
of this year's expedition cavers. For this reason a great deal of interest
was shown in <a href="../../smkridge/161/136.htm">Steinschlagschacht</a>
(1623/136), originally explored by CUCC in 1983/4, which we knew from the
survey to be extremely close to connection with the Forbidden Land. Thus, the
possibility of a new, safer route into this area was considered sufficiently
likely to warrant a re-exploration of this cave. Old log book accounts talked
of "phreatic ramps" at around -150m, although the exact nature of these was
unclear, as was the exact depth of them. The original exploration had not
produced a drawn-up survey and it was by no means certain that such data as
existed was connected correctly to the Kaninchenh&ouml;hle survey.

<p>So with considerable anticipation tempered by a little wariness of the
cave's name, (which translates to Stonefall Shaft) a party of two began the
re-exploration. The origin of the name quickly became apparent as the
entrance consists of a steep (45-degree), loose boulder slope opening
directly onto the first pitch! Extensive use was made of the battery-operated
drill in re-rigging the pitch in a fashion that avoided the worst of the
stonefall. The entrance pitch is a fine 35m shaft, at the foot of which, was
found a small connection to a large boulder strewn chamber. The original
route was ignored at this point, despite being apparent from the presence of
an old spit (rock anchor), since a more convincing shaft was also present.
However, after a little more rigging further spits were found, indicating
that we'd merely taken the direct descent whereas originally a more
circuitous route was followed. Owing to the presence of the old spits,
rigging was swift with only a small number of additional anchors being
required, until a divergence was reached at around -150m.

<p><i>Andrew Atkinson approaching the<br>
Theatre, Steinschlagschacht</i><br>
<a href="../../smkridge/161/l/jh9719.htm">
<img alt="Photo - 39k" width=150 height=200 align=left hspace=10 vspace=10
src="../../smkridge/161/t/jh9719.jpg"></a><br>
Interest grew among others on the expedition, as it soon became apparent
that there was plenty to explore in Steinschlagschacht and that it was
actually much safer than the name suggested. Further trips followed. The
original route had continued straight down from the divergence discovered
earlier, however that looked a bit wet and uninviting so the tangential
Eyehole Route was pushed instead. It was unclear as to why this was not
explored previously; it's possible that the eyehole had not been noticed
previously (lights were typically poorer in 1983) or simply that depth was
the main goal. Either way, after another couple of trips and a lot more
rigging with a further 200m of rope, an enormous chamber was discovered. This
was later named the Theatre due to the spectacular views afforded from near
the ceiling on later trips. The Theatre is roughly 10m by 20m at the floor,
with near vertical walls rising up to the ceiling at an estimated height of
around 60m!

<p>Early delight at having discovered such a magnificent chamber was quickly
followed by disappointment at the lack of ways on from the bottom. The floor
was a huge pile of boulders with a low connection through to a much smaller
chamber in one corner. Here there were a number of small wet avens (shafts
entering from the ceiling), clear pools of water and some mud, much like
elsewhere in Kaninchenh&ouml;hle. Back in the main chamber was a nasty and
unrewarding climb down through the boulders in the floor and an obvious black
space some distance up the walls at either end, but no obvious continuation.
Much surveying was done and a retreat beaten to base camp to ponder on what
to do next.

<p>After entering the data into the computer, the survey software showed that
although we'd not connected we were within 25m horizontally and 30m or so
below a potential connection with the Forbidden Land. The implication of this
was that the connection, if there was one, lay about halfway up The Theatre
on the opposite wall from which we'd originally entered the chamber - not at
all an easy place to reach! However, the temptation to attempt a connection
was too great to resist, so a party of two left base camp early on the
morning following the expedition dinner with the intention of doing just
that. A considerable amount of effort was needed since a near horizontal
traverse had to be rigged around the wall, a little below the ceiling of the
Theatre, 40m above the nearest floor. The drill again proved invaluable and
it is doubtful as to whether such a traverse would have been rigged without
it. Eventually a suitable place was found to descend first to an eyehole and
then to a ledge way above the floor of The Theatre. Here was the much hoped
for connection to the Forbidden Land, although in a different place to that
anticipated at the beginning of the expedition and certainly by different
means!

<p>So, what of Eish&ouml;hle? The main rationale for the re-exploration of
Steinschlagschacht was to provide an easy and safe route to the Forbidden
Land, believed to be the nearest point to Eish&ouml;hle. The new route is
certainly much safer although since it involves 230m of ascent to exit it is
not so much easier as had been hoped. It had been assumed that the Forbidden
Land, due to the large number of unexplored leads reported previously, would
be the obvious route to Eish&ouml;hle. All of these leads were re-evaluated
this year but with the exception of the Gravel Pit, which ended in a boulder
choke, none was pushed seriously due both to lack of time and dubious
prospect. By this time The Theatre was now the closest point to
Eish&ouml;hle, perhaps 40m closer than the known extremity at the start of
the expedition.

<p>The survey was examined once again and a plan concocted. It was apparent
that <a href="../../smkridge/161/fbland.htm#ealgor">Elin Algor</a>, a long
straight passage in the Forbidden Land, was roughly co-linear with the main
wall of The Theatre and apparently all one development in the formation of
the cave. Since there had been a horizontal connection at one end of The
Theatre, it was surmised that there ought to be another at a similar height
but at the opposite end of the chamber, continuing in the direction of
Eish&ouml;hle. Some required more than a little persuasion that this was a
realistic possibility, but eventually a number of trips were made with a view
to finding said passage. More, hair-raising rigging followed in order to
traverse in the opposite direction around the wall of The Theatre and
eventually a hole in the wall was found at about the expected elevation.
Unfortunately, this rapidly turned into a parallel shaft series, eventually
connecting at the floor of The Theatre and with no further obvious leads.

<p>So, for the time being the connection to Eish&ouml;hle remains elusive. At
the end of this year's expedition it was very unclear as to how to approach
the problem next year. However new information has recently come to light.
Our Austrian contacts have since carried out a partial re-survey of the
Eish&ouml;hle system which suggests that we are now within 130m of a
connection and that the main chamber in Eish&ouml;hle is around 20m above
floor level in The Theatre. Prospects in this area for next year now look
extremely good, and the best chance of a connection may be to re-explore and
push northward trending leads in Eish&ouml;hle, in the hope of a passage
dropping in to The Theatre from above.

<h3>Triassic Park - the sequel</h3>

<p>The massive trunk passage of
<a href="../../smkridge/161/triasp.htm#triasp">Triassic Park</a> was
discovered towards the end of the 1995 expedition as a continuation of the
'<a href="../../smkridge/161/france.htm#france">France</a>' area of
Kaninchenh&ouml;hle, and soon led to the discovery of the
<a href="../../smkridge/161/sftotp.htm#161d">Scarface</a> (161d) entrance.
The new entrance provided much improved access to this important section of
cave and in 1996 it received considerable attention. The main passage turns
from trending North-East to North-West at one point and it was around this
area that a lead in the floor was pushed a little last year.

<p>Named "<a href="../../smkridge/161/offtri.htm#wheelca">Wheelchair
Access</a>" (in recognition of a steep ramp that has to be negotiated and the
relative age of the explorers) this was an immediate target for the beginning
of the expedition in 1997, due to the ease of access and limited need for
resources to push the cave further. Initial exploration concentrated on two
parallel rifts partially explored at the end of the 1996 expedition.
Investigation of the series to the left was not promising, with difficult
traversing leading to blind pits, and success in the other right hand rift
series soon diverted attention. Initially an awkward, constricted, steeply
descending rift passage with mud concealing sharp calcite formations, the
passage quickly earned a bit of a reputation amongst the explorers, and
continuing the Wheelchair theme was named "Kein Zimmer rift" (No Room
Rift&nbsp;!) Perseverance paid off however, as just past a tight vertical
section, the ramp broke out into a larger free hanging drop, at the bottom of
which, some small horizontal tubes led off. Excitement mounted as a last
short drop of 5m landed the explorers in a large trunk passage, 4m in
diameter, with a small stream in the floor heading roughly North / South. It
was inevitable this would become known as the Lost World and was obviously a
major and important piece of cave. It is the discovery of such passage that
drives cavers to endure the hardships of an expedition such as ours in the
remote mountain areas of the world.

<p>Exploration continued over several more trips: - Upstream, a couple of big
phreatic passages met in a large chamber in which were found several bat
skeletons - this would suggest another route in from the surface, though
whether this is accessible to cavers is another matter! Beyond the chamber
several routes unite at a 3m climb up, then down, into a magnificent tall
canyon passage over 7m wide. This had a dark pristine flat mud floor and led
to a large, old sump pool, now devoid of water, again with a beautiful,
cracked mud floor and the old water level clearly defined by the dark mud on
the white limestone walls. With reluctance, we headed carefully (to minimize
the damage to the delicate mud formations) over the mud lake, and a 2m drop
down a mud bank led to a downstream continuation passage. This had obviously
been completely under water at some stage in its history and probably lies
just below the level of the current valley beneath the cliff in which the
Scarface entrance is situated. The passage continues down, with the current
small stream weaving its way through bizarre mud formations and ending at a
small chamber with choked outlets and no easily accessible way on.

<p><i>Mud lake in the Lost World</i><br>
<a href="../../smkridge/161/l/dh1-29.htm">
<img alt="Photo - 42k" width=188 height=125 align=left hspace=10 vspace=10
src="../../smkridge/161/t/dh1-29.jpg"></a><br>
Downstream from the initial pitch in, the exploration was aided partially
by some German cavers from Stuttgart who were also on expedition in the area
continuing the exploration of the old CUCC find, Stellerwegh&ouml;hle. We are
on good terms with other cavers in the area and exchange trips improve
relations and increase the knowledge base about caves in the area.

<p>The downstream end was less complex with a single passage leading to a
pitch opening out over a large chamber with a boulder-strewn floor. A route
down through the boulders gained the true floor of the chamber where the
water disappeared into an impenetrable passage. Leading up from this is a
larger passage ending at a mud and cobble choke. This may be associated with
similar choked passages in the upstream end of the Lost World.

<p>The passages were surveyed and photographed and all of the obvious leads
pushed to a conclusion, so for the time being the Lost World may be left
whilst more fruitful projects are pursued. However due to its location it is
almost certain that other sections of cave will connect through and perhaps
provide ways around the current limits of exploration at either end of what
is obviously only a small part of the original passage.

<h3>Siberia</h3>

<p><a href="../../smkridge/161/sibria.htm#siberia">Siberia</a> is situated at
roughly the most northerly point of Kaninchenh&ouml;hle. It was discovered in
1994 and was known to have many potentially good leads. Unfortunately by the
original route it was an extremely long and arduous trip just to get to the
pushing front, including around 250m of descent, 500m of generally horizontal
passage and a tyrolean traverse. Since the discovery of the Scarface entrance
(161d) in 1995 and due mostly to the large number of going leads near to the
new entrance, Siberia has received little attention up to now. However, this
year new enthusiasm was found by a small group of expedition members, of whom
none had ever been to this area of the cave before. This highlights the
importance of painstakingly surveying and documenting the cave, as often an
area may be left several years until a good reason is found to revisit it,
more often than not, by a completely different group of people. Much effort
could be wasted if previously visited cave has to be re-explored &amp;
re-surveyed.

<p>The Scarface entrance and connection of Triassic Park with Knossos in 1996
reduced the journey time to Siberia by probably a couple of hours for
moderately experienced cavers. However, owing to some reluctance to re-rig
the tyrolean traverse
(<a href="../../smkridge/161/farnth.htm#strangea">Strange Acrossfall</a>),
which would have been a long trip in its own right, all of this year's trips
took the more awkward and slower route through the Burble Crawl instead. For
a number of reasons it took three trips before the pushing front, the top of
a very large shaft called Somebody Else's Problem, was reached. Since all
members of the party were new to the area, route finding (still difficult
despite the existing surveys) was certainly an issue and dragging tackle
through the 100m Burble Crawl, hard work. En route,
<a href="../../smkridge/161/sibria.htm#vomp">Vom Pitch</a> had not been
rigged for several years and complications due to the loose rock in this area
caused a certain amount of re-rigging to be necessary (a flake previously
used as a rebelay had fallen off in 1995). Unfortunately having eventually
reached the shaft and placed a number of bolts, it quickly became apparent
that the shaft was much deeper than had been anticipated and the rope was too
short!

<p>The fourth trip was more successful. Enough rope was carried that it was
relatively straightforward, although slow, to rig the pitch. A 75m, almost
free-hanging pitch, was found in a large shaft with a strong breeze blowing
up it, this suggests an as yet unknown cave system driving such an airflow.
At the foot of the pitch were a couple of climbs, one leading to a crawl and
another to a 15m pitch with strong upwards breeze. This 15m pitch was later
descended and found to connect to a phreatic passage with an undescended
climb at the end of it, accompanied by the now ever present gale. In the
interests of maintaining reliable documentation, no further exploration was
carried out in this area, since there was already plenty of surveying
required! This was duly completed, including numerous side passages in
Siberia, which had only received cursory attention previously.

<h3 align=center>Other Work</h3>

<h4>Puerile Humour Series</h4>

<p>By the end of the 1996 expedition it was clear that
<a href="../../smkridge/161/phnth.htm#wtwb">Where the Wind Blows</a>,
one of the Northward trending passages in the
<a href="../../smkridge/161/phnear.htm#phumour">Puerile Humour series</a>,
could potentially provide a significantly easier route to The Far End due to
it's close proximity at the 1996 exploration limit. Thus, this was an obvious
question mark to return to at the beginning of this year's expedition. The
end of the passage was draughting from three separate places, suggesting
significant cave beyond, through which the air was being driven. The nature
of the passage suggested that the end was merely a collapse area in an
ongoing passage.

<p><i>Andrew Ketley, Puerile Humour Series</i><br>
<a href="../../smkridge/161/l/dh3-11.htm">
<img alt="Photo - 12k" width=223 height=134 hspace=10
src="../../smkridge/161/t/dh3-11.jpg"></a><br>
A small hole in the mud floor was found to lead to a large
aven above, and an ongoing pitch series below. However progress down was
stopped by a too tight constriction. Continuing horizontally, the passage
quickly chokes at a boulder collapse, probably associated with the aven /
shaft series already mentioned. Some effort was made to dig through the choke
but concerns over the stability of the excavated passage soon halted
exploration. This remains an interesting area, but further progress may
require somebody experienced in the digging and shoring techniques required
to pass such a boulder choke safely. A few other leads were tidied up in the
area, none of which led to anything significant

<h4>Moomintroll</h4>

<p>In another series of passages leading off from Triassic Park, just beyond
an impressive aven, known as Zebedee, is a climb named
<a href="../../smkridge/161/offtri.htm#moomin">Moomintroll</a>. It was
discovered last year and noted because: - it looked to be not too difficult
and a large black space (often indicative of a higher level continuation) was
visible at the top. The first party to attempt the climb this year
considered, after putting in a few bolts by hand, that it would be a much
easier prospect using the drill. As a justification to commandeer this
important expedition resource, they claimed that the shaft on the hammer of
the hand bolting kit had snapped (albeit by accident?!) and thus they were
unable to do anything but return to the surface to collect the drill. The
second party had more success, despite being unable to use the drill because
the battery appeared flat, and after a bold attempt at climbing, the top was
reached. Another 30' shaft was found and the sound of water ahead.
Unfortunately it was by now time to derig, so further exploration must once
again wait for next year.

<h4>Alternative Universe</h4>

<p>Again, <a href="../../smkridge/161/offtri.htm#altuni">this passage</a> is
an offshoot from the large Triassic Park trunk route, and being only 10
minutes from the Scarface entrance was an obvious target for further
exploration. Work concentrated on a descending shaft series, wet in places,
making this a potentially serious proposition since the average air
temperature in the cave is only just above freezing. The series descended
100m down, over several pitches, but ended in a tight, committing rift and a
further very tight descent which was abandoned due to the lack of a
sufficiently thin backup team member!!

<h4>Surface Work</h4>

<p>As a background activity CUCC are always on the look out for other
possible entrances to either Kaninchenh&ouml;hle or as-yet undiscovered
caves. The limestone plateau is riddled with holes, most of which go to an
insignificant depth, but also some quite large holes which are still to be
found and investigated. This surface prospecting work is essential not only
to further understanding of the cave systems in the area but also in
sustaining interest in the area for future generations of CUCC members. Over
the past 20 years we have discovered a great many such entrances and shafts,
however until recently documentation and labeling of such finds has been
sporadic. Over the last few years and indeed on this year's expedition this
problem has been addressed by the use of stamped aluminium tags that are
fixed to the cave entrances, these bearing numbers assigned by the Austrian
clubs who maintain records of all known caves in the area. To complement this
work, all, important entrances are being located and mapped with the aid of
G.P.S. technology, backed up with more accurate surface surveys. This ensures
that re-exploration of caves is minimised and has proved an essential tool in
the investigation of possible connections between existing cave systems.

<h4>Documentation</h4>

<p>All of the cave exploration carried out by CUCC in Kaninchenh&ouml;hle is
a step into the unknown, in that we are the first (and possibly the last)
people to visit its complex passages. It is therefore important that we
document what we find, otherwise the information will slowly be lost through
natural turnover of club members. Since day one we have been surveying
everything that we find and this year was no exception with over 2.5 km of
"new" cave surveyed. Results are processed and plotted up on the spot using
"SURVEX" software developed by CUCC members, originally for our own use, but
now used by cavers worldwide. The data, along with final, hand drawn, plan
and elevation surveys are passed to the Austrian club as well as being
published in the caving press in this country and abroad. The value of
surveys cannot be overstated. They are important as a map in the event of an
emergency or route finding for the uninitiated, in assessing the geology of
the area, and indeed, to assist with the discovery of connections between
adjacent systems.

<p>In addition to surveying new finds we also aim to photograph as much as is
reasonably practicable of the discoveries. Cave photography can be extremely
difficult due not only to the extremely hostile environment into which
delicate camera equipment must be taken, but also because of the difficulty
of lighting subjects adequately. CUCC has a number of members with a keen
interest in underground photography and this year over one hundred
photographs were taken underground on several photographic trips. It is hoped
that some of these will also be published in the national caving press and
additionally on our web site, which is maintained as a full library of our
expedition history, information and data.

<h4>Our Thanks</h4>

<p>The expedition is funded entirely by its members and support and
sponsorship such as has been provided by yourselves is a considerable help.
The continued success of the expedition in the training of new members and in
pushing back the boundaries of human experience and knowledge is with thanks
to you.

<p><center><a href="../../smkridge/161/l/godst.htm">
<img alt="Photo - 48k" width=150 height=200 align=left hspace=10 vspace=10
src="../../smkridge/161/t/godst.jpg"></a><br>
<i>Traverse of the Gods, Steinschlagschacht</i></center><br clear=all>

<p><a href="../../smkridge/161/fullsize/lostw.png">
<img alt="Lost World survey - link to 1830 pixel wide version" width=915
height=352 hspace=10 vspace=10
src="../../smkridge/161/inline/lostw.png"></a>

<hr />

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