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< title > 1623: CUCC's high camps< / title >
< META name = "author" content = "A.E.R.Waddington" >
< META name = "date" content = "2000-09-07" >
< META name = "description" content = "Cambridge University Caving Club ' s
Advanced expedition camps on the Loser Plateau">
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< h1 > CUCC's high camps on < span lang = "de-at" > Loser< / span > < / h1 >
< p > Over the couple of decades for which CUCC have been visiting the
< span lang = "de-at" > Loser-AugstEck< / span > plateau, they have found it
essential to camp nearer the caves than the base camps in
< span lang = "de-at" > Altaussee< / span > (1976-82) and
< span lang = "de-at" > Grundlsee< / span > (1983 to present). The
< a href = "years/1978/log.htm#driveroty" > 1978 accident< / a > demonstrated the
foolishness of trying to conduct long explorations without a high camp.
Several people have been benighted on the plateau over the years and the two
rescues in 1989 show the value of rapid assistance from Top Camp in the event
of a mishap underground. Numerous people have been assisted quickly by cavers
based at Top Camp in the years since, thus avoiding any more serious
incidents.
< p > The terminology of these camps has sometimes become confused, as better
campsites were found by people who did not even know of the existence of the
previous ones. At some time, virtually every camp has been called "Camp
1" by someone or other ! Note that camping is not allowed without
permission, and we have recently been informed that since 1993 it has been
< b > illegal< / b > to camp at all, within the Nature Reserve
< span lang = "de" > (Naturschutzgebiet)< / span > area.
< h3 > < a name = "1977camp" > 1977< / a > Advance Camp< / h3 >
< p > CUCC's first high camp was set up in 1977, on a site identified on the
first visit in 1976. This was on an area of pasture above a small limestone
scar from < a href = "br-alm/index.htm" > < span lang = "de-at" > Brä uning
Alm< / span > < / a > . At the time, the springs in the valley here were the only
reliable water supply we had discovered. There were caves nearby, as well as
ones on the plateau to explore, so the site proved very pleasant, until
washed out in one (of many) mega-thunderstorm.
< p > < center > < a href = "br-alm/l/tc1977.htm" >
< img src = "br-alm/t/tc1977.jpg" align = middle width = 158 height = 108
alt="Camp 1977">< / a > < a href = "br-alm/l/tc77a.htm" >
< img src = "br-alm/t/tc77a.jpg" align = middle width = 138 height = 103
alt="Camp 1977">< / a > < a href = "br-alm/l/tc77b.htm" >
< img src = "br-alm/t/tc77b.jpg" align = middle width = 151 height = 88
alt="Camp 1977">< / a > < / center >
< br > < center > 1977 Advance camp.< / center >
< h3 > < a name = "1979camp" > < span lang = "de-at" > Schwarzmoossattel< / span > < / a >
bivouac< / h3 >
< p > Once most exploration was centred on the plateau, the camp at
< span lang = "de-at" > Brä uning Alm< / span > proved of little real value, and
all exploration was conducted by driving up from the valley. The difficulties
and dangers of returning across the plateau in the dark led to some cavers
doing "overnight" trips, in which the cave was descended in daylight, and
exitted in daylight the next day. The risk associated with this approach was
that of < a href = "years/1978/log.htm#driveroty" > falling asleep< / a > on the
drive down, as Julian Griffiths demonstrated. Having stayed awake down all
the seriously fatal hairpin bends, the car drove itself through a fence and
down a 10m drop in the valley below. The mangled steering wheel, bent by a
tree-sized piece of fence coming through the windscreen, became CUCC's
"Driver of the Year" award at subsequent dinners.
< p > It was realised that for overnight trips to work, there had to be at least
a bivouac of some sort near the plateau. A tiny trickle of water was found,
which could be used to fill a water container buried in the ground, and a
single tent established just to the south of
< span lang = "de-at" > Schwarzmoossattel< / span > ("The Col") in 1979. This never
really deserved the title "camp". It was never used again, as exploration in
1980 switched to the < span lang = "de-at" > Stellerweghö hle< / span > area, and
neither of the previous high camps were really of any use.
< h3 > < a name = "topcamp" > Top Camp< / a > < / h3 >
< p > < a href = "piclinks/tpcamp.htm" >
< img src = "tinypix/tpcamp.jpg" align = middle width = 166 height = 114
alt="Top Camp">< / a > Top Camp on upper site, 1993
< p > < a href = "piclinks/tc1996.htm" > < img align = middle width = 200 height = 134
src="tinypix/tc1996.jpg">< / a > 1996 Top Camp on lower site.
< p > More recently, a really good permanent spring was found in a small
climbable shaft a short way beyond
< span lang = "de-at" > Schwarzmoossattel< / span > ("The Col").
As this was adjacent to one of the very few flat areas of grass, and right
next to the path as well, this has made an ideal camp site, and has become
the normal Top Camp since 1988. Logbooks and Journal accounts at the time
referred to this as "Camp I", despite its not being the first high
camp. A few references are to "Camp 3", which tried to reflect the
chronology. More recently it has been known just as "Top Camp". In
fact, to minimise the impact on grassy areas, the camp has alternated between
the small site immediately adjacent to the spring and a larger (but boggier)
area a little lower (used in 1994, 1996, 1998 etc.).
< center > < p > < a href = "piclinks/tc-161.htm" >
< img src = "tinypix/tc-161.jpg" align = bottom width = 181 height = 123
alt="Top Camp de 161">< / a > < / center > < br >
< center > Top Camp below the < span lang = "de" > Brä uning< / span > wall, from
the walk to < span lang = "de" > Kaninchenhö hle.< / span > < / center >
< h3 > < a name = "vd1camp" > VD1 Camp< / a > < / h3 >
< p > In 1988, and again in 1989, there was a small advance
camp much nearer to the < span lang = "de" > Kaninchenhö hle< / span > entrance, again to overcome the trials of crossing the very rough plateau in the dark.
This was on a relatively flat area of low bunde (dwarf pine) just on the east
side of the flat area of limestone on which the permanent survey station
"VD1" is located, on the normal walk up to the 161 entrances on the col
between the < span lang = "de-at" > Vorderer< / span > and
< span lang = "de-at" > Hinterer Schwarzmooskogels.< / span > This was variously
known as 'far campsite' or 'Camp 2', in the logbooks. A lack of water,
sanitation, space and comfort led to this camp being abandoned.
< h3 > Scarface Camp< / h3 >
< p > It was hoped that in 1996, a new Top Camp would be established somewhere
where access to the 161d, 'Scarface' entrance to
< span lang = "de" > Kaninchenhö hle< / span > would be easier, as all trips
used this new entrance, giving rapid access to the majority of current
question marks in the cave. Unfortunately, access via the
< span lang = "de-at" > Stogerweg< / span > proved to be more strenuous
than from the old plateau top camp, and no usable water supply was
found, so this campsite never came into existence. If work to link
< span lang = "de" > Kaninchenhö hle< / span > to the
< span lang = "de-at" > Schwarzmooskogel< / span > systems means a lot of caving in
places such as < span lang = "de" > Schneevulkanhalle,< / span > it may yet be
practical and necessary to establish a bivouac site somewhere near the 201
< span lang = "de-at" > Stogerweg< / span > path. However, a reasonably good route
was established from Top Camp to the < span lang = "de-at" > Eishö hle< / span >
area in 1998 and there seems little need now to establish a new high camp.
< hr >
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List of (links to) < a href = "pubs.htm" > published reports and logbooks< / a >
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