2005-06-12 16:49:59 +01:00
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2022-06-22 22:59:33 +01:00
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2005-06-12 16:49:59 +01:00
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<title>1623:76 -- 1970's Route</title>
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<table id="cavepage">
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<tr><th id="kat_no">76 - main a b</th><th id="name">Eislufthöhle</th><th id="status">5/S/E +</th></tr>
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</table>
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2014-07-02 18:18:41 +01:00
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<h1>1970's Route</h1>
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2005-06-12 16:49:59 +01:00
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2014-07-02 18:18:41 +01:00
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<p>A further 13m pitch, <b>Saved
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Shaft</b>, into a smaller aven chamber, <b>Boulder Chamber</b>, leads
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to an apparent end, but thrutch through boulders into top of rift/canyon.
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Hole in floor is 32m pitch into <b>Keg Series</b> (no draught) with
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further unexplored pitch below. Continuing traverse leads to climbs
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down then split pitch of 19m and 14m, <b>Follow-through Shaft</b>,
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dropping into side of abandoned canyon. Upstream to the left ends
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immediately while down canyon leads to head of a chamber, The Taproom,
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with a 5m climb down a big boulder under heavy drip/spray (handline
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useful). Also from the head of the chamber, passage leads back to
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a large unexplored hole in floor with lots of water entering from
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a high aven. 1977 terminus at -150m.</p>
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<p>From chamber, scramble
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down in rift (rope useful owing to greasy rock and 120 metre drop)
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to reach head of large rift pitch below jammed boulder. Pitch drops
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in two sections of 10m and 35m, with stream out of reach in canyon,
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to ledge where stream bed is crossed (traverse line). Further pitch
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of 10m leads to straddle climb up to rocking boulder, then traverse
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forward to good belays for 48m pitch. This lands on <b>The Balcony</b>
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where water runs away from obvious way on into a tight immature drain.</p>
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<div class="centre"><a name="hgk" href="l/hotgk.htm"><img src="t/hotgk.jpg"
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2005-06-12 17:03:16 +01:00
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width="151" height="116" alt="HotGK.jpg (69k)" /></a><p>Ben
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with the Greene King pennant on the Balcony</p></div>
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<p>From the
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Balcony a 7m pitch drops into the <b>Hall of the Greene King</b>,
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a huge soaring aven chamber. The way on over a boulder floor leads
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under suspended boulders, one of immense size, to a 5m pitch down
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off the edge of a boulder. In the floor is a sharp canyon that loops
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round to a junction. Left leads to <b>Gents' Pitch</b> route, while
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right leads to a dry passage. After a few metres in the dry passage,
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there is a rift in the floor to the left, which is a muddy, broken
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pitch with sections of 3m, 12m and 18m into the main canyon (1978
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route). Another few metres ahead, a bold step across the canyon leads
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to further passage which eventually degenerates and rejoins the main
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canyon upstream (right) of the bold step.</p>
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<div class="centre"><a
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name="p16" href="l/p16.htm"><img src="t/p16.jpg" width="143"
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height="170" alt="p16.jpg (58k)" /></a> <a href="l/gents.htm"><img
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src="t/gents.jpg" width="143" height="170" alt="Gents.jpg
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(36k)" /></a><p>Julian Griffiths abseiling the 16.5m and Gents'
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pitches on the bottoming trip in 1979</p></div>
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<p>The 1979 route
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from the junction leads to a pitch of 16.5m, free hanging just clear
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of the wall, with an excellent takeoff. However the rope gets muddy
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from mud on clothing in a couple of trips, so care is required. Next
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drop is the Gents' pitch of 9.5m, which leads to a short streamway
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rejoining the main canyon from the 1978 route. The bottom of this
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pitch is a good place for cavers to perform ablutions with the mud
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on their ascenders, hence the name (all the explorers were male).
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The main passage now leads on with stream in floor and muddy ledges
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above until the <b>Fiesta Run</b> is reached. This awkward slanting
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rift pitch of 28m is so muddy that ladders are <b><i>de rigeur</i></b>.
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The name derives from the car crash which terminated exploration
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at this point in 1978.</p>
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<p>A traverse forward on muddy ledges leads
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out over a huge shaft with the ominous sound of a waterfall below.
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Traversing further eventually leads to a further pitch of 5m to a
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col. Down another 10m on the side away from the main shaft lands
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on a solid floor in an abandoned rift. From a large chamber, a
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short free-climb leads down to an ante-chamber with an interesting
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hole up in the left wall. Forward leads through narrow passage with
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sharp rock to a point where thrutchy descending traversing is necessary
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to make further progress. A 23m broken pitch in sharp rock, with
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very bad rub points leads only to a tight crawl. Only two trips
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reached this point, both with solo explorers well away from their
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backup in the main route. The crawl was pushed only by Julian Griffiths
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on hte first visit, to emerge at a drop with a large aven above,
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which remains unexplored at about -395m depth. This route does not
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appear to carry the draught which is lost before the deep point of
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the main route.</p>
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<p>The main way on, however, is not to traverse onwards, but drop
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back into canyon towards the ominous hiss
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of water in a very wide pitch where the stream seems to have hit
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a fault at right angles to the arriving passage direction. The middle
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section of this 28m pitch is huge, before narrowing to a ledge parallel
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to the new fault, and 'downstream' from the original direction of
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stream flow. From the ledge, a smaller shaft of 33m drops down the
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new fault rift to a boulder floor where the water sinks. The fault
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rift, <b>Madlmeier Schacht</b>, now drops in sections of 24 and 19m
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to the end of the rope in 1979. Here an exposed freeclimb of 5m with
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icy water flowing over the handholds is not really recommended -
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take a longer rope. Next pitch of 24m picks up the main water again
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10m down, and final pitch of 17m from ledge drops to floor of rift
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chamber, but mud on floor precedes final muddy 10m pitch down a boulder
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2014-07-02 18:18:41 +01:00
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wall to a deep and terminal rift sump at -506m. This whole bottom
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section is steamy and it is clear that the draught was lost some way
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above.</p>
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<p><a name="penult"
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2005-06-12 17:03:16 +01:00
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href="l/penult.htm"><img src="t/penult.jpg" width="123" height="184"
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alt="Penult.jpg (87k)" class="aligntop" /></a> Simon Farrow on
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the last 17m pitch of Madlmeier Schacht</p><p><a href="l/sump.htm"><img
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src="t/sump.jpg" width="121" height="187" alt="Sump.jpg (37k)"
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class="aligntop" /></a> Julian Griffiths at the final sump - 1979</p>
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<p>There
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are a number of going leads in this cave and you're welcome to them.</p>
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2005-06-12 16:49:59 +01:00
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<!-- LINKS -->
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<hr /><ul>
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2005-11-07 15:03:35 +00:00
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<li><a href="76.htm">Back to 76 index page</a></li>
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2015-04-07 05:01:27 +01:00
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<li><a href="../../plateau.html#id76">Plateau area index and description</a></li>
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2005-06-12 16:49:59 +01:00
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<li><a href="../../indxal.htm#id76">Full Index of 1623 Caves</a></li><li><a href="../../areas.htm">Other Areas</a></li>
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<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a></li>
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<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a></li>
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</ul>
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