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<head><title>CUCC Expo 2003</title></head>
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<h1>Expedition Report: CUCC Totes Gebirge 2003</h1>
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<p><i>This is the text that was submitted for publication in the January 2004
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issue of <a href="">Speleology</a> magazine.</i></p>
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<p>The 2003 Cambridge University Caving Club expedition to the Loser Plateau in
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Austria's Totes Gebirgewas a resounding success, with two major new horizontal
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levels discovered in Steinbrückenhöhle and nearly 2km of new passage
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discovered in total.</p>
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<h2>The story so far</h2>
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<p>This summer was CUCC's 27th annual expedition to the Loser plateau. All that
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effort has not exhausted the potential of an area less than 5km square, which
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now contains over 75km of surveyed passage.</p>
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<p>The majority of the passage found in the 1970's and 80's was towards the
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southern end of the plateau. The major caves are Schwarzmooskogel Eishöhle,
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which boasts the largest chamber in the area - Schneevulkanhalle, 115m across
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and stunningly decorated with ice formations - and Stellerweghöhle, the
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deepest cave in the area, descending to a sump at -898m. These were connected
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together by a French group (Groupe Sp\'el\'eologique de Clerval - Baume les
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Dames) in 1987, forming a composite system exceeding 20km.</p>
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<p>In 1988, a new entrance further to the north, Kaninchenhöhle, was
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discovered. This rapidly became the main focus of CUCC exploration, with 4km
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of passage discovered in the first two years alone; by 1999 it stood at 24km
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long and 534m deep. This included the huge passage of Chile, heading
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southwards towards Eishöhle; much effort was spent in the next few years
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seeking a connection, with the gap eventually narrowed to around 30m, but
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there was no breakthrough; a fault in the rock appeared to have stopped all
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development.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, further to the south a German group, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Höhle
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und Karst Grabenstetten e.V.~(ARGE), were exploring in the Stellerweg area;
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finally, in summer 2002 a group of muddy but elated Germans arrived at our
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camp with the news that their cave (still known by the name originally
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given to it by CUCC, Tony's Second Höhle) had dropped into an aven near the
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southern end of Chile, tying together Kaninchenhöhle and the southern caves
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to form the 54km long Schwarzmooskogelhöhlensystem.</p>
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<p>Since 1999 most of CUCC's exploration effort has focussed on the area around
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the Hinterer Schwarzmooskogel, the peak which lies above the northernmost
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reaches of Kaninchenhöhle; this was begun as an attempt to find an easier
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entrance to the remote northern reaches of Kaninchenhöhle, but gained a
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momentum of its own with the discovery of Steinbrückenhöhle.</p>
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<p>Exploration this year primarily focussed on Steinbrückenhöhle, 1623/204 in
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the Austrian 'Hoehlenkataster' (cave index), a cave towards the northern end
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of the plateau discovered by CUCC in 1999. Four years of exploration had
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already revealed 5.3km of passage, with a vertical range of 454m.</p>
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<p>This year's most major discoveries were in the horizontal levels of the
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system, in the 'Swings and Roundabouts' area. On one of the first caving trips
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of the expedition, Julian Haines spotted a passage leading off from the far
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side of 'Gaffer Tape' pitch (an imposing 80m deep and 20m wide shaft), and
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Julian and Earl Merson set out the next day to bolt across the yawning gulf.
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After some very airy traversing, they reached the entrance to this side
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passage only to find that although it drafted inwards strongly, it was choked
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with precarious boulders. Attempts to dislodge these proved rather
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hair-raising, as there was nowhere at all to stand, and were abandoned; the bolt
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traverse was removed, to allow another party to rig down the pitch into the
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Gaffered to the Walls series without being deluged with falling rocks. </p>
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<p>At this point, Earl and Julian headed off to investigate 'Dutch Beauty', a
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tight crawl leading off from the main Swings and Roundabouts passage slightly
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further north. Earl squeezed through, returning slightly later with tales of a
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spacious passage ('Rhino Rift') connecting to the far side of Julian's
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Gaffered boulder choke! The next day, Julian and Becka Lawson surveyed this,
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discovering in the process a short pitch ('Deviated Pitch') which led to yet
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more horizontal passage, stretching off several hundred metres to the
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north-west and carrying a substantial draught, with more leads branching off
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in all directions. Within five days 900m of passage had been surveyed in the
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new series, and there are still many leads awaiting exploration.</p>
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<p>The location of the new series is particularly interesting, as the area of
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plateau to the west of Steinbrückenhöhle has not been thoroughly explored, and
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beyond it lies the vast 78km system of Raucherkarhöhle. The ultimate dream of
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CUCC's work in the plateau is to connect Raucherkarhöhle to the
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Schwarzmooskogel system, which would result in a composite system in excess of
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130km long. This is a remote prospect as yet, but the westward trend of the
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new series is encouraging. Although the present end is in a boulder choke
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close to the surface, there are several undescended pitches which might lead
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to deeper levels of westward-trending passage, possibly intersecting caves in
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the unexplored region further west.</p>
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<p>There were also many discoveries elsewhere. The 'Gaffered to the Walls' pitch
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series, of which Gaffer Tape is the first pitch, had been explored last year
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to a depth of 207m. Only 26m further on, a new series of horizontal passages
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(known as the Underworld) was found, which is the deepest known phreatic
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development in Steinbrückenhöhle. According to Martin Green,
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<blockquote>"A complex series
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of horizontal passages were discovered intermingled with large shafts, with
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clean washed walls and floors, where pools of crystal clear water could be
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found. A number of the chambers were covered in a thin black layer of mud,
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which was broken though upon being trodden on into richer light brown
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sediment. Within some of the sediment were piles of bat bones, presumably
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washed down from higher levels, where bats are occasionally seen. To our great
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surprise we encountered several fine grottos of stalagmites, which are
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uncommon in our area. A grotto named the Sirens has bright white foot long
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stalagmites which were actively dripping water, suggesting that stalagmite
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formation is still active. Horizontal development is still going in the area
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and there are a number of shafts to explore, as well as avens to bolt up."</blockquote>
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</p>
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<p>There was also exploration at the deepest point of Steinbrückenhöhle, the
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streamway of 'Razordance', which is entered at around -350m and proceeds
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downwards at an average gradient of about 1:2, interrupted by occasional small
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pitches. Anthony Day, Mark Shinwell and myself explored a further 150m to
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reach a new deep point to the system 487m below the main entrace, putting the
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total vertical range at 510m. Much of the new passage is similar to the
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existing sections, an awkward, narrow, high rift; but this is interrupted by a
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sizeable boulder-filled chamber, 'God Loves a Drunk', formed by breakdown at a
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point where a small inlet streamway enters. This offers the first viable site
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for an underground camp, which may well be used in the planned further
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exploration of Razordance next year.</p>
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<p>Razordance has clearly carried an active stream for an extremely long time,
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which is unusual in the area (most of the known caves consist of fossil
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phreatic passages). This has given rise to hopes that it may lead to a
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significant deep system: over CUCC's 26 years of exploration in the Loser
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plateau, all but one of the deep pitch series that have been found terminate
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at a common level approximately 550m below the surface. The exception is
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Stellerweghöhle (1623/40), where a similar rift streamway apparently breaks
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through this layer and plunges down to -1030m. It is hoped that Razordance may
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do the same; since its entrance is significantly higher up than that of
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Stellerweghöhle, this would be a major discovery, and motivates plans to
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continue the exploration of Razordance next year (hopefully with a larger
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team).</p>
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<p>There were also discoveries outside Steinbrückenhöhle. Ten new entrances
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were explored; the majority of these lie on the eastern slopes of the
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Schwarzmooskogel ridge, where the plateau drops away sharply into a glaciated
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valley; it was hoped that this downcutting would have opened up entrances
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where it intersected levels of horizontal development. A number of such
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entrances have already been found further south, particularly the Eishöhle
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'portal row' which is a cluster of over a dozen entrances within a 100m
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radius.</p>
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<p>Our hopes of finding a new entrance to Kaninchenhöhle were fulfilled by
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2003-06, which rapidly led into the Iceland area; but this will not make too
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much difference to the ease of exploration of Kaninchenhöhle, as it is close
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to the existing 161e and f entrances. 2003-05, being further west, offered a
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chance to connect to the much deeper and more remote northwestern reaches of
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Kaninchenhöhle, but proved to be choked at only -50m.</p>
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<p>Further north lies 2003-02, where an awkward entrance rift gives access to a
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shaft. Rocks dropped down the shaft fall for two seconds, bounce off a ledge,
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then fall for a further four seconds, suggesting a pitch of impressive
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dimensions; this will be investigated next summer.</p>
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<p>Further west near the 204d entrance is 2003-09 (Weizeneishöhle); although
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quite short, this is well decorated with ice formations and has a strong
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inward draught. This draught can be followed to an unstable descending boulder
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slope, which was not followed downwards for safety reasons, but the original
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explorers have vowed to return next year with a crowbar! As this point is
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only 30m from the terminal choke of 'On a Mission', the northwestern extremity
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of the new Rhino Rift series in Steinbrückenhöhle; this choke draughts
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strongly outwards, so it is natural to suspect that they connect.</p>
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<p>All in all it was a most successful expedition, with the final tally at 1.9km
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of passage surveyed; and a great time was had by all the expedition's 14
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participants (including two expedition newbies). Planning has already begun in
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earnest for next summer's return visit; we can only hope for similar luck next
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year! Further information is available on CUCC's website at
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http://cucc.survex.com/, including a complete archive of expedition findings
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from 1976 to the present.
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<h3>Expedition members</h3>
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<p>Julia Bradshaw, Anthony Day, Martin Green, Julian Haines, Becka Lawson,
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David Loeffler (leader), Brian Outram, Olly Madge, Earl Merson, Tony
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Rooke, Mark Shinwell, Julian Todd, Frank Tully, Lucia Vittorini.</p>
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<h3>Acknowledgements</h3>
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<p>We would like to thank the following for their sponsorship of the
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expedition:</p>
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<ul>
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<li />Thomas Tunnock Ltd, for their generous donation of Tunnock Bars;
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<li />G. Costa + Co, UK distributors of Blue Dragon instant noodles, for
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supplying us with nearly a thousand packets of the latter;
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<li />The Ghar Parau Foundation, for their generous financial support.
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</ul>
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<p>We would also like to thank the management of the Loser Panoramastrasse toll
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road; the local caving authority, the Verein für Höhlenkunde in Obersteier;
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and, last but not least, Hilde, Karin and everyone else at the Gasthof
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Staud'nwirt in Bad Aussee (location of our base camp) for their hospitality.</p>
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<p style="font-style: italic; text-align: right">David Loeffler (dl267 - at - cam.ac.uk)<br />
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Expedition Leader 2003<br />
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Trinity College, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ, UK<br />
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11th January 2004</p>
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<hr>
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<!-- LINKS -->
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<p><img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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2003 Expedition info:<br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="index.htm">2003 index</a> (more detail than in this list)<br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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Expedition <a href="report.htm">Report</a> 2003<br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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Pre-expo <a href="goals.htm">mission statement</a><br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="../../pubs.htm#2003">Published accounts</a><br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../pubs.htm">Index</a> to all publications<br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../sponsr.htm">Current year's</a> sponsors<br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a><br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a>
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</body>
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