expoweb/years/2012/SpeleoAustria.html

<h1>Cambridge University Caving Club: Totes Gebirge 2001--2011</h1>

<p><emph>by Anthony Day and Mark Shinwell</emph></p>

<p>Cambridge University Caving Club have been exploring in the Totes Gebirge since
1976.  An article in the "Speleo Austria 2001" publication gave a history of
these explorations up until the turn of the millenium.  Here we continue the
story with some of the highlights of the explorations between 2001 and 2011.</p>

<p>The area explored by CUCC lies around the Schwarzmooskogel ridge, a succession
of rounded peaks lying to the north-east of the Altaussee, and reached by
walking from the car park at the top of the Loser Panoramastrasse toll road.
Explorations both by CUCC (from 1976 onwards) and others have revealed several
large cave systems in the area including Stellerweghoehle, Kaninchenhoehle and
the long-known Schwarzmooskogeleishoehle famous for its towering ice
formations.  Further to the north-east lie the systems of Steinbrueckenhoehle
and the more recently-discovered Tunnockschacht, both of which have been the
major focus of CUCC expeditions in recent years.  Out to the north-west of the
Schwarzmooskogel ridge is a large "plateau"---only flat when seen on a large
scale, and pock-marked with grikes and jagged limestone---holding the entrances
to caves such as Eislufthoehle, one of CUCC's earliest discoveries.</p>

<p>The deepest known point out of all these systems lies at the bottom of the
Stellerweghoehle streamway, a remote location which has not now been visited
for many years, in turn lying above the level of the various resurgences in and
around Altaussee such as the Liagerhoehle.  The ramifications of
Stellerweghoehle extend north-eastwards under the Schwarzmooskogel, passing
entrances such as Schnellzughoehle, until they eventually join to the large
ice-bearing chambers of the Schwarzmooskogeleishoehle.  As of 2001 the passages
of the Eishoehle came close to the lower level of a cave explored by CUCC some
years earlier, Steinschlagschacht, whose entrance lies high on the flanks of
the Vorderer Schwarzmooskogel.  This cave in turn was connected some years
previously through a loose, faulted zone to the large system of
Kaninchenhoehle.  KH, as the cave is known informally, was one of CUCC's major
discoveries and now extends from near the Eishoehle right under the Hinterer
Schwarzmooskogel to the north-east.  However as of 2001 it did not actually
join to the Eishoehle, despite survey data showing it being possibly as close
as only twenty metres away, and a real focus of exploration at that time was
finding a connection between the two systems.  The combined system would be
over 50km long and 1000m deep.</p>

<p>In this article we tell the story of how this connection was forged and
describe the work in caves further to the north which has led CUCC to seek
another as yet undiscovered connection between Kaninchenhoehle and
Steinbrueckenhoehle.  Owing to the discovery of Tunnockschacht, a cave even
further to the north which was found in 2006 and connected to
Steinbrueckenhoehle in 2011, there is now the potential of a system which
stretches from the lowest sump in Stellerweghoehle right up almost to the
Nieder Augst-Eck.  The potential for further discoveries is vast.</p>

<p>The explorations of CUCC have always been subject to permission from the
Austrian Landesregierung, for whose past and continued support the club is very
grateful, and have been greatly assisted by the VFHO.  The German group ARGE
has and continues to be active in the area and CUCC are pleased to be engaged
in a mutually beneficial relationship.  Finally enormous thanks must go to the
Wilpernig family and their staff at Gasthof Staud'n wirt, which stands on the
road from Bad Aussee to Grundlsee, where since 1983 the expedition has had its
base camp.  The facilities and hospitality they provide each year are
invaluable.</p>

<h2>Steinbrueckenhoehle</h2>

<p>The entrance to Steinbrueckenhoehle, the cave which has seen the most
exploration by CUCC over the past ten years, was discovered in 1999 near the
col between the Hinterer Schwarzmooskogel and the Niederer Augst Eck.  The cave
takes its name from the prominent natural stone bridge that was spotted 30
seconds before the twin entrances to the cave itself, 1623/204a and b.  On
entering the cave, it rapidly became obvious that we had stumbled upon a major
find.  Descending two pitches leads to an extensive network of phreatic passages
on two levels separated by about 15m vertically.  These passages are generally
of modest proportions, at least relative to the major trunk routes in
Kaninchenhoehle and elsewhere, but carry a substantial draught into the cave
during the Summer months.  Almost immediately thoughts turned to a possible
connection to Kaninchenhoehle, though based on past experience we understood
that this would be a long-term project.  The caves were separated by a few
hundred metres and, given the broken nature of the limestone in this part of
Austria, we anticipated that many obstacles to cave development would be
encountered in the intervening distance.</p>

<p>By the end of the 1999 expedition, Steinbrueckenhoehle had been explored to a
length of 1365m with a number of promising unexplored leads.  This ensured that
exploration of Steinbrueckenhoehle would be one of the primary objectives of
CUCC expeditions from 2000 onwards.  Near the end of the 2000 expedition it
appeared that the major horizontal development had all been discovered and only
smaller passages remained to be explored.  However, some new expedition members
were undeterred and proceeded to systematically explore all the crawling sized
leads they could find.  This dogged persistence was rewarded late in the
expedition with the discovery of a major trunk passage, Treeumphant Passage,
of considerably larger proportions than those near the entrance.  Over the
course of subsequent years this horizontal development was explored and found
to extend in all directions.  The local bedding dips gently to the south, so
exploration of north-trending passages tended to involve going uphill such that
the northernmost extremity of the system is at a higher altitude than the
initial entrance.</p>

<p>The intense exploration in Steinbreuckenhoehle stimulated interest in the
surrounding area of the mountain, which had previously been thought remote, and
it soon became apparent that the area was rich in cave entrances.  A number of
minor caves were explored in this period and it was inevitable that some of
these entrances would lead to the Steinbrueckenhoehle system.  On one occasion,
a party arrived at a previously-discovered aven to find a rope hanging out of
it and a caver standing at the bottom.  This caver had correctly identified the
corresponding hole on the surface using a GPS location, and so the 1623/204c
entrance was found.  1623/204d was discovered by a group following a large
horizontal passage who suddenly found themselves at the bottom of a bouldery
climb with daylight streaming down.  One of the many horizontal surface holes
was found to quickly lead to a pitch directly into the main horizontal level.
This entrance, 1623/204e, has proved to be the most convenient route into most
parts of the system, since it avoids the crawling passages via which the main
trunk passages were initially found.  Finally, in 2005 a significant extension
to the northwest was discovered leading to three new entrances.  This made
nine entrances in total, with many other places where it is clear that the
surface is not far away.</p>

<p>Whilst all these finds were exciting of themselves and extended the area of
known cave development into virgin areas, we were still no nearer finding a
connection to Kaninchenhoehle and the major systems to the south.  There
appeared to be some geological barrier to cave development at the southern
extremity of the known system at this time.  None of the horizontal trunk
passages went past this apparent barrier and it was unclear which route
the significant draught in the upper level passages followed.</p>

<h2>Razor Dance</h2>

<p>The only possible leads in the vicinity of the geological barrier, given the
absence of horizontal passages, appeared to be various shafts.  Some of these
were of significant proportions but many lead to no significant finds.  A
notable exception was the earliest to be explored, starting in 1999, was named
the Ariston Series.  This went on and on down five pitches reaching a small
phreatic level at about 200m depth.  All continuations of the phreatic passage
were found to be choked with sand but another pitch series continuing from this
level, Kiwi Suit, was descended in 2000 to a depth of 330m.  At this point a
modest streamway was encountered flowing into a tall, narrow rift passage,
named Razor Dance.  Following this streamway became something of a war of
attrition over the course of the next few years.  The draughty rift is
generally quite awkward necessitating frequent changes of level to find the
most convenient traverse level, and is interspersed with numerous small
pitches, so the relatively small exploration teams made only modest progress.
However, the passage was heading in an interesting direction, having passed
beyond the apparent barrier to horizontal development, albeit much deeper than
any of the known horizontal levels in Kaninchenhoehle.  Although the rift is
locally quite sinuous, over almost its entire length it generally follows a
bearing of 235 degrees.  When superimposed on the surface topography, Razor
Dance follows the line of a prominent surface gully suggesting that it exploits
the same geological feature hundreds of metres below.  Eventually, in 2007 a
strong team was assembled to try to complete the exploration and a sump was
found at an altitude of 1220m, some 600m below the 1623/204a entrance.  Razor
Dance is one of the longest active stream passages discovered by CUCC in
Austria -- perhaps second only to the Stellerweghoehle streamway.</p>

<p>However, the discovery of the sump did not mark the end of the exploration in
this area.  A bolt traverse was installed over the sump pool to gain access to
another inlet stream oriented at right angles to Razor Dance, which was
followed upstream for about 100m.  When the trend of this passage is
extrapolated up-dip it intersects the bottom of Rasputin, the northwestern
extremity of Kaninchenhoehle and the deepest point in the main part of this
system.</p>

<p>At this location a small stream had been discovered draining into a mud choke
in 1998.  The separation between the two systems at this point is only 150m.
Even more exciting, a series of climbs up dry cascades were conquered to emerge
in a large chamber some 120m above the level of the sump.  From here a number
of phreatic passages lead off, some of considerable dimensions.  Evidence of
substantial phreatic development at a similar altitude had been observed in
Kaninchenhoehle in 1998, though it was thought to be completely choked with
mud.</p>

<p>These finds at the end of Razor Dance provided the first firm evidence of a
possible connection between Steinbrueckenhoehle and Kaninchenhoehle.  However,
it was also clear that any connection in this area was likely to entail
significant excavation---hardly a practical proposition for a five week summer
expedition.  Moreover the location of the points of closest proximity lie at
the extremities of the two systems meaning that significant equipment and
manpower would be required to explore these areas efficiently.  Nevertheless, a
connection had never seemed more likely and these discoveries served to
rekindle interest in exploration of Kaninchenhoehle.</p>

<h2>Gaffered</h2>

<p>The other major shaft series descending from the upper levels of
Steinbrueckenhoehle, along with Razor Dance, was Gaffered to the Walls.  This
fine 70m shaft was first explored in 2002 and leads, via a series of further
pitches and a band containing 70cm long bivalve shells, to an extensive
phreatic level named The Underworld.  Appreciation of the pitch series and its
fine principal shaft is somewhat tempered by the tendency of mud from the
horizontal level below to make its way onto the ropes, despite efforts to keep
personal caving gear clean, which makes for an often tedious ascent.</p>

<p>The Underworld is relatively well decorated, with stalactites and walls of
strange upward protrusions.  These white walls contrast to the floor sediment,
with its thin crust of oxidized mud, which gives way to light brown sand
beneath.  This discovery, some 160m deeper than the phreatic development
previously discovered in the system, was clearly significant.  However,
exploration of a pitch heading down from here revealed the presence of a deeper
level of development that proved to be even more extensive.  As with the
more shallow phreatic development, these levels are not strictly horizontal but
follow the dip of the local bedding such that the northern end tends to lie at
a higher altitude than the south.  The northern part of this deeper level, known
collectively as The Wares, extends considerably further north than any of the
other phreatic levels so far discovered.  In 2011 this area was explored from an
underground camp, the first such camp conducted by CUCC for many years.  Thanks
mainly to the choice of a suitable campsite, this proved to be an efficient
approach to exploration of the northern large chambers, pitches and avens.</p>

<p>The southern end of this level, which contains fine examples of mud stalagmites
and dried up mud pools, leads to a pitch series called the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse.  This pitch series leads down a wide clean washed rift to yet
another level of phreatic development, Subway, at a depth of around 420m
below the entrance.  Taking into account the dip of the beds, Subway represents
the deepest level of phreatic development in stratigraphic terms hitherto
discovered in Steinbrueckenhoehle.</p>

<h2>Pussy Prance</h2>

<p>Meanwhile, exploration continued apace in the shallower parts of
Steinbrueckenhoehle.  A particular area of interest was a horizontal passage
near the top of the Ariston Series (the route down to Razor Dance), which
seemed to offer the best hope of finding a passage heading towards
Kaninchenhoehle at a more convenient altitude.  The significant inward draught
was observed to head down a passage that was initially considered to be too
tight, but in 2001 someone with more imagination proved this assessment wrong
and passed through to emerge in a large chamber.  The area was then largely
left alone until 2008 when two further pitches were descended to a steeply
descending rift (Pussy Prance), leading to a significant phreatic passage that
encouraged a return with a larger team in 2009.</p>

<p>The 2009 expedition firmly established that there was a considerable amount of
cave passage waiting to be found in this area.  Most significantly, the new
finds were firmly located to the south of the apparent barrier to horizontal
cave development at this  altitude, a barrier that had not been breached in the
previous ten years of exploration.  Although no clear single trunk route was
found, a number of pitches were descended or traversed over to find horizontal
passages going in all directions.  On descending one particular pitch, the
explorers discovered a hanger at the bottom and worked out that they had landed
at the bottom a 100m shaft last descended in 2000.  This connection will provide
an alternative access route for further exploration of this area that will
bypass some of the tighter sections.  There are a number of unexplored leads in
this area, most of them vertical, and given their important strategic position
a return is certain.</p>

<h2>Return to Kaninchenhoehle</h2>

<p>2009 also saw a return to Kaninchenhoehle after a long absence inspired by the
deep discoveries in Steinbrueckenhoehle.  The intention was to explore some of
the many leads in the Far End region of Kaninchenhoehle that had not been
visited since 1994.  Indeed, one trip had the pleasure of placing anchors in
holes that had been drilled in 1993 since the original explorers had forgotten
to bring any anchors.</p>

<p>Our preferred strategy was to focus on the north east of the system since this
area boasted the most promising leads, rather than go all-out for a connection
at the point of closest approach between the two systems where progress was
likely to be slow.  This approach yielded a number of interesting finds and
promising leads.  However, it turned out that the most significant find was made
at the end of the 2009 expedition during derigging.  A previously unseen hole
was spotted in the roof of Repton chamber.  Armed with a drill, the explorers
climbed up to it and explored about 100m of comfortable sized passage with an
enticing draught until running out of time.</p>

<p>This lead was the first target on returning to Kaninchenhoehle in 2011.  After
another 100m or so, the explorers popped out into a 10m round phreatic tube
heading in both directions.  It quickly became obvious that this was a major
breakthrough, and was named Country for Old Men after its relatively geriatric
explorers.  The passage continues approximately north directly towards
Steinbrueckenhoehle.  It appears to be the northward continuation of the large
phreatic level (YAPATE and Chicken Flied Nice) that was discovered in the early
years of exploration of Kaninchenhoehle.  The draught is very considerable,
especially considering the passage dimensions, and becomes uncomfortably cold
at local narrowings.  After 300m a pitch is descended to an even larger
phreatic passage heading in both directions.  To the south, it appears likely
that further exploration will yield an easier route into the rest of the
Kaninchenhoehle system.  At the northern end, the closest approach to the Pussy
Prance area of Steinbrueckenhoehle is now 50m.  That the gap was 420m at the
start of the 2011 expedition gives some idea of the scale of the new
discoveries.</p>

<h2>Tunnockschacht</h2>

<p>The first day of exploration on the 2006 expedition saw the discovery of a new
hole, christened Tunnockschacht after a long-serving sponsor of chocolate wafer
bars and dome-shaped marshmallow treats to the expedition, some distance to
the north of the known entrances of Steinbrueckenhoehle.  In a small rocky bowl
an entrance of modest proportions appeared to lead onto a descending slope; an
adjacent shaft entrance looked likely to be connected.  Often, entrances which
are not entirely horizontal are full of rocks, but such were the proportions of
the shaft visible inside the entrance that it appeared there was some chance of
penetrating into the caverns underneath.</p>

<p>Rigging of the shaft was slow; there were no drills on expedition that year
and only a small number of cavers.  However progress was gradually made down
and across multiple ledges holding large piles of boulders and loose rock;
eventually, a large steeply-inclined snow slope appeared out of the gloom.
The bottom was eventually reached, and to the delight of the explorers, above
the pool of ice which had formed at the bottom of the shaft a small aperture
gave onto a rift passage.  An orifice to the right led onto a crawl,
Bauernkrapfen Passage (named after the dessert of the same name often served
up in Gasthof Staud'n wirt), eventually debouching into a much larger passage.
This was followed for some distance eventually overlooking a pitch into a
chamber, which was the end of exploration that year.</p>

<p>Expeditions subsequent to 2006 have revealed large amounts of cave passage in
Tunnockschacht, some including calcite decorations (which are rare in the caves
which CUCC explore).  An extensive horizontal level extends northwards, with
sandy crawls and towering chambers, and provides access to the heads of various
deep shafts.  One of these, the 80-metre-deep String Theory, has been said to
be the most voluminous shaft ever found by CUCC.  Its sheer walls lead down to
a lower horizontal level, from where an obscure route lead in 2011 to a
connection with one of the lower levels of Steinbrueckenhoehle.
Quoting one of the explorers on the trip:</p>

<p><blockquote>"The others were still bolting so we surveyed a QM [question mark grade] B i'd
  spotted at the base of Eh Bah Gum. This was another small, drafty rift which,
  again popped out into The Beast but this time we could get out onto a wide
  ledge so we started surveying along the left wall with various tubes on the
  left. "Holly did you walk down that mud bank", "No, I thought that looked like
  footprints" I peered again - it could be due to rock fall, but it did look
  very like footprints..... and then I saw two more -- we've definitely got to
  somewhere people have been before. I walked over with tape and straight to
  survey station 23 and we finished the survey then went for a run to see where
  we were.  We traced the footprints back and into a small muddy tube. Holly and
  I muttered to each other that this looked very like The Wares -- but we didn't
  want to count our chickens so on we ran until "Oooh" said Holly pointing at a
  nondescript mud bank we had to crawl over "I've been here -- for sure -- its
  The Wares -- WE'VE CONNECTED we shrieked at each other" </blockquote></p>

<p>It had previously been postulated that a fault might prohibit this connection
being made, but thankfully that was not the case.  This discovery makes
Tunnockschacht the highest entrance to the Steinbrueckenhoehle system.</p>

<h2>Eislufthoehle</h2>

<p>In parallel with explorations in the Steinbrueckenhoehle area a small team made
a return to a cave by the name of Eislufthoehle, an exceedingly draughty place,
whose entrance lies in a depression out on the main Loser/Augst-Eck plateau
amongst a group of erratic boulders.  This cave was one of the first to be
explored by CUCC way back in 1976 when single rope techniques were in their
infancy.  At that time it was visited over three expeditions, reaching a sump
at a crudely-surveyed depth of 506m in 1979.  An extended elevation was
produced, a handful of leads noted, and exploration moved on to other areas
(initially Stellerweghoehle).  The first visit in recent times was in 2004, to
produce a modern survey and see what had been missed before.  For four
expeditions a small team (often just two cavers) re-explored down to 297m,
surveying 2.5km of passage on the way.  Many leads were noted and explored,
most notably a small alcove in the wall about 50m down the entrance pitch
series which lead to the Brave New World area. This was the first significant
horizontal development to be explored under the plateau; previously such
passages had only been found under the neighbouring Schwarzmooskogel ridge.
Several pitch leads still remain to be explored in Brave New World, another
part way down the original route, and two upstream leads at about -260m.</p>

<p>Other nearby caves have also been re-explored and surveyed, and several
connections were made, first between 1623/99 and 1623/76, and later 1623/81 to
1623/148 (Marilyn Munroe Hoehle) and 1623/85 with 1623/82 (Br<42>uningh<67>hle).  A
new pitch series "Deep Space" was found in 1623/148 shortly before the end of
the 2007 expedition, leaving exploration at -100m, about half way down a 70m
pitch.</p>

<p>Many questions remain unanswered.  Some of the areas of interest include
obtaining a more accurate altitude of the sump at the bottom of 1623/76,
whether the system forms but part of a larger system under the Loser/Augst-Eck
plateau, and whether there may be a connection with the Schwarzmooskogel
system.</p>

<h2>The future</h2>

<p>At the time of writing CUCC's 2012 expedition is in the planning stages.  The
main aim is likely to be work in the area between Kaninchenhoehle and
Steinbrueckenhoehle with a view to establishing a connection between these two
systems.  Hopes are high that this may be achieved in 2012.  At the present
time, Tunnockschacht would form the new highest entrance to such a combined
system.  The area in which any such connection likely lies is one in which
relatively little cave passage is known; there is probably much more to be
found.  In particular, there is some indication that there may be development
trending out from the relevant area of Kaninchenhoehle under the
Loser/Augst-Eck plateau itself; who knows if this might connect to caves in the
area of Eislufthoehle, or even to Eislufthoehle itself.</p>

<p>Work will also no doubt continue in the coming years in other areas of
Steinbrueckenhole---there are deep leads remaining---together with
Tunnockschacht, and any further holes which might be found by prospecting
further to the north.  The German group ARGE have already made some discoveries
in this area and there were sporadic discoveries by other groups some time ago.
It seems likely that many kilometres of passages and pitches are lying silently
under the barren karst, never having heard the trudging of wellington boots
nor the clinking of metalwork, and as yet unseen by human eyes.  Who knows if,
one day, these galleries may be found to connect the Schwarzmooskogel systems
draining to Altaussee with the caves under Schoenberg, perhaps even including
the great system of Raucherkarhoehle and Feuertalsystem, whose waters reach
daylight at the Nagelsteghoehle above Blaa-Alm.  One can but wait: the long
story of the caves of the Schwarzmooskogel is only beginning.</p>