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103 lines
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HTML
103 lines
5.3 KiB
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<html><head><title>CUCC Expo 2004</title></head>
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<h1>CUCC Expo 2004: Mission Statement</h1>
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<p>This summer, Cambridge University Caving Club will be continuing
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its highly successful series of expeditions to the Loser plateau in
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Austria. This document sets out the principal goals of the 2004
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expedition.</p>
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<h2>Background</h2>
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<p>This summer sees CUCC's 28th expedition to the Loser plateau, which lies in
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the Totes Gebirge area of the Austrian Alps, about 80km east of Salzburg. CUCC
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is the principal group exploring in the area, which continues to yield new
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discoveries.</p>
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<p>The principal known cave system in the area is the Schwarzmooskogel system,
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which comprises a number of connected caves including <a
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href="../../smkridge/161/top.htm">Kaninchenhöhle</a>, <a
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href="../../smkridge/41/41.htm">Stellerweghöhle</a> and the stunningly
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beautiful <a href="../../smkridge/40/cucc.htm">Schwarzmooskogel
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Eishöhle</a>. Altogether the system is 55.1 kilometres long and 1030m
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deep, putting it among both the world's longest and deepest caves; over half of
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the length, and the highest and deepest points, were explored by CUCC.</p>
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<p>Over the last few years the principal focus of CUCC's work has been <a
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href="../../smkridge/204/204.shtml">Steinbrückenhöhle</a>, a cave
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lying to the north of the main Schwarzmooskogel system, beneath the Nieder
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Augst-Eck mountain. Since its discovery in 1999, 7.2 km of passage has been
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discovered, reaching a maximum depth of 510m.</p>
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<h2>Principal Goals for 2004</h2>
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<p>The goals of the 2004 expedition include:</p>
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<ul>
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<li />The deepest point in Steinbrückenhöhle is in the tight and
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arduous stream passage of Razordance, which appears to continue downwards
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beyond the limit of exploration in 2003. It slopes down in a south-westerly
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direction, towards the nearest points of Kaninchenhöhle, so there is a
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possiblity of a connection, although the present gradient of the passage is
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sufficiently steep that it seems likely to pass right underneath. <!--
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Personnel: Dour, Mark, Dave, ?Olly, ?Frank -->
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<li />The main find of last summer was a new series of horizontal passages in
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the north-west of Steinbrückenhöhle, known as 'Rhino Rift'. There was
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insufficient time to explore this fully in the five weeks of last summer's
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expedition, so there is much still to be found. <!-- Personnel: Lots of
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people: Earl, Becka, Martin etc -->
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<li />The pitch series of Gaffered to the Walls, in the Swings and Roundabouts
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area, was explored last summer to reveal a new horizontal level at around
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-250m, known as the Underworld. This is considerably deeper than any other
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horizontal phreatic development yet found in Steinbrücken, and it is hoped
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that there is much more yet to be discovered; there are certainly many leads to
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explore in this area. <!-- Personnel: Principally Martin + Earl. I'm also
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interested (Dave) -->
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<li />Some suggestions have been made for a return to Kaninchenhöhle,
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which was the primary site of exploration by CUCC for most of the 1990s. There
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are a number of open leads in the Far North, the area closest to
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Steinbrückenhöhle; it is not entirely inconceivable that one of these
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may lead downwards towards a connection with Razordance.
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<!-- Personnel: This is Wookey's pet project -->
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<li />One of the most interesting of the many smaller caves in the area near
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Steinbrückenhöhle is Hauchhöhle, a prominent entrance near the
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walk-in route which draughts very strongly, suggesting that the cave behind is
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extensive. Exploration so far has revealed some 128m of horizontal passage,
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with the main lead being an undescended pitch. This was not explored last
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summer due to lack of time and manpower, but is an interesting lead and might
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well repay some effort. <!-- Personnel: Julia, Mark, Dave -->
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<li />The area of plateau to the north and west of Steinbrückenhöhle
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has never been studied in detail: there are likely to be many new, unexplored
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cave entrances in this area, which lies between the known caves in CUCC's area
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(1623) and the boundary with the adjacent area 1626. <!-- Personnel: Brian,
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Tony, other people when feeling slack -->
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<li />There are a number of other leads in Steinbrückenhöhle which might merit exploration, including an undescended pitch (QM 01-38A) in the Chocolate Salty Balls area, known as 'The Eleven Second Rattle' after the sound heard on dropping rocks down it; another undescended pitch (01-68A) at the end of the Merry F***ing Christmas crawl; and many others (cf. the Steinbrückenhöhle <a href="../../smkridge/204/qm.shtml">question mark list</a>).
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<li />There is also much documentation and surveying work to be done, which
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although less glamorous than original exploration is vitally necessary
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considering the extent of CUCC's discoveries in the area so far; a list of
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tasks for the summer is already being assembled, <a
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href="thingstodo.html">here</a>.
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</ul>
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The expedition committee is as follows:
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<dl>
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<dt>Expedition Leader:</dt><dd>Olly Madge (Caius)</dd>
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<dt>Treasurer:</dt><dd>David Loeffler (Trinity)</dd>
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<dt>Transport Organiser:</dt><dd>Mark Shinwell (Queens')</dd>
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<dt>Committee members without portfolio:</dt><dd>Martin Green (Corpus)</dd>
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<dd>Steve Bishop (Queens')</dd>
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<dd>Peter Clifton (Trinity)</dd>
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</dl>
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</body></html>
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