2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
|
|
|
<html lang="en">
|
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
|
|
<title>1626:LA34</title>
|
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
|
<center><table border=0 width=100%>
|
|
|
|
|
<tr><th align=left><font size=+2>LA34</font></th>
|
|
|
|
|
<th align=center><font size=+2>Ratselhöhle</font></th>
|
|
|
|
|
<th align=right><font size=+2>3/S +</font></th></tr>
|
|
|
|
|
</table></center>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><b>Altitude</b>: 1835m<br>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>Location</b>: 13° 50' 30" E, 47° 42' 20" N<br>
|
|
|
|
|
Slightly to the right of a hillock visible from Sternloch
|
|
|
|
|
(<a href="la12.htm"> LA12</a>) approx. 200m SE of
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="la11.htm">LA11</a>.<br> This is borderline 1626 or 1623
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Originally thought to be a choked shaft, it was noted as "worth
|
|
|
|
|
another look" in 1987, but was not relocated in 1988. Closer inspection
|
|
|
|
|
with a ladder revealed parallel slots in the rift and a noticeable draught.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The original entrance is a "walk-in" open shaft which leads on
|
|
|
|
|
to a twisted vertical pitch of 17m, <b>Parthos</b>, into a sizeable chamber
|
|
|
|
|
at the top of a rubble slope. The obvious small wriggle at the bottom of the
|
|
|
|
|
slope leads to the <b>Musketeers' Series</b>, while a bolted climb leads to
|
|
|
|
|
the main way on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The Musketeers' Series consists of stooping phreatic passages, with a 5m
|
|
|
|
|
pitch, then a couple of climbs to the head of an 11m pitch, <b>Aramis</b>,
|
|
|
|
|
into a chamber. At the far end, a further pitch, <b>Athos</b>, is 8m. The
|
|
|
|
|
way on is up a short climb to the head of a 5m+10m ramp, <b>Porthos</b>,
|
|
|
|
|
down to a phreatic tube with a silted up floor. Digging in the silt revealed
|
|
|
|
|
a tight rift rising up, but as this was too tight, the dig was abandoned.
|
|
|
|
|
The water from Aramis descends a tight rift in the base of the phreatic
|
|
|
|
|
tube, but after 3m, this too became too tight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The climb up before the Musketeers' Series leads quickly to a T-junction.
|
|
|
|
|
To the right, a winding ramp passage of decreasing size leads on and up with
|
|
|
|
|
several fallen blocks making progress awkward. This route ends at a small
|
|
|
|
|
chamber with an inlet dropping from the roof. Left from the T-junction leads
|
|
|
|
|
on down a gently sloping boulder ramp in stooping, then walking passage.
|
|
|
|
|
This increases in size and becomes steeper before emerging into the side of
|
|
|
|
|
an enormous boulder ramp, <b>Hillsborough Revisited</b>. The inlet passage
|
|
|
|
|
enters three quarters of the way up Hillsborough, which is 10m wide by 5m
|
|
|
|
|
high and drops a total of 40m at 40°. At the base of Hillsborough, an
|
|
|
|
|
aven rises to the surface and daylight can be seen reflecting off the sides
|
|
|
|
|
of this second entrance. A third entrance was discovered on the surface
|
|
|
|
|
which leads down a deep grike through a tight arch and into a small chamber.
|
|
|
|
|
Digging boulders revealed a steeply inclined squeeze leading onto a pitch at
|
|
|
|
|
the top of the Hillsborough ramp. The base of this pitch leads onto an
|
|
|
|
|
inclined overhanging terrace with a hole at the back which drops 2m onto
|
|
|
|
|
another inclined overhanging terrace. A 4m climb down from this ledge ends
|
|
|
|
|
at the top of the boulder ramp of Hillsborough.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The base of Hillsborough was blind until a dig in unstable boulders on
|
|
|
|
|
the left hand side revealed a tight drop between two wedged boulders into
|
|
|
|
|
another very sizeable ramp, <b>Penistone Road</b>. This ramp is convoluted
|
|
|
|
|
and twists around open shafts and roof collapse to end in a huge chamber
|
|
|
|
|
with a small muddy hole in the floor, <b>The Hole in the Road</b>. This way
|
|
|
|
|
on is blind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>An alternative route from the main ramp of Penistone Road leads down an
|
|
|
|
|
old phreatic tube decorated with calcite frost and numerous small helictites
|
|
|
|
|
to a flat-out crawl to a 25m blind pitch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Near the bottom of the Hole in the Road, a 6m rope climb up the eastern
|
|
|
|
|
wall, <b>The Escalator</b>, leads to a series of solution tubes. A 1m
|
|
|
|
|
diameter tube drops NE into <b>The Broadwalk</b>, a sizeable mud-floored
|
|
|
|
|
phreatic passage. Here, following a strong draught, the passage opens up,
|
|
|
|
|
becoming very high with a number of avens cutting down into the passage. A
|
|
|
|
|
4m rope climb drops down to the head of a pitch, <b>Reason to Believe?</b>.
|
|
|
|
|
This dry shaft is disjointed and 144m deep, broken at approximately half
|
|
|
|
|
depth by a 'saddle'. A further short pitch lands on a slope before the final
|
|
|
|
|
drop into a sizeable chamber. The only exit from this chamber is to the east
|
|
|
|
|
and is a muddy rift passage traversed at various levels. This leads to the
|
|
|
|
|
head of a further series of disjointed shafts and the wet 77m pitch <b>More
|
|
|
|
|
than a Feeling</b>. Here a 57m drop lands on a spray-lashed ledge and a
|
|
|
|
|
further 20m drop gives way to a large boulder slope. Two wet 2m climbs lead
|
|
|
|
|
up to the head of a 7m pitch which leads to the base of the shaft.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Through the small passage across the base of the shaft, a climb down
|
|
|
|
|
through boulders leads to a rift streamway. Only a short way down is an 11m
|
|
|
|
|
pitch followed immediately by a 17m pitch, <b>Leonie's Birthday Leap</b>.
|
|
|
|
|
The stream leads on once more until it cuts away and a traverse along a
|
|
|
|
|
muddy rift passage leads to the head of a fault collapse chamber running
|
|
|
|
|
away at an angle of 70°. Over 20m above the stream a distinctly dodgy
|
|
|
|
|
rope climb/abseil leads to a point where a climb back around rejoins the
|
|
|
|
|
stream. A further 8m rope climb leads to the last 19m pitch which drops into
|
|
|
|
|
a sump at a depth of 425m.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><b>Exploration</b>: <a href="../others/luss/index.htm">LUSS</a> 1987,1989
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><b>References :</b>
|
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
|
|
|
<dt>87.1514<dd><cite>Austria Reconnaissance Expedition 1987, Lancaster University Speleological Society</cite>
|
|
|
|
|
<dt>90.1341<dd><cite>Dead Mountains Expedition, Ian Rolland, Underground October 1989 pp 4-9 (Army Caving Association)</cite>
|
|
|
|
|
<dt>90.1342<dd><cite>Dead Mountains Expedition 1989, Ian Rolland, Chelsea Speleological Society Newsletter 32(5) pp 56-9</cite>
|
|
|
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
|
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<a href="index.htm#la34">Index</a> and overview of 1626.<br>
|
2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
|
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<a href="../others/luss/index.htm">LUSS</a> explorations
|
2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
|
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<a href="../indxal.htm">Full Index to 1623</a><br>
|
2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
|
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<a href="../areas.htm">1623 Area/Subarea description</a><br>
|
2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
|
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<a href="../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a>
|
2001-08-16 13:43:09 +01:00
|
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
2001-08-15 19:29:27 +01:00
|
|
|
<a href="../../index.htm">CUCC Home page</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
|
</html>
|
