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<title>1979: Nick Thorne's report for Descent 44</title>
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2004-04-21 10:35:34 +01:00
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2003-11-09 15:15:14 +00:00
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<center><font size=-1>CTS 80.1739: Descent 44 (January/February 1980) pp 36-38</font>
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<p>This article first appeared in <italics>Descent</italics>(44) for Jan/Feb 1980,
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pp36-38 and is reproduced here with the
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permission of the author and Wild Places Publishing.
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<h2>Cambridge expedition bottoms Austria's Eislufthöhle</h2>
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<p>By Nick Thorne</center>
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<p>IN LATE July and August, Cambridge University Caving Club again went to
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the Loser Plateau in the Totes Gebirge of Austria. The plateau, situated
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above the quiet village of Altaussee in Steiermark, had been the scene of our
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previous three summer expeditions.
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<p>The prospecting done to date on the vast virgin lapiaz of the plateau had
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given us no fewer than three pots in the 650-1000ft (200-300m) bracket, and
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one, Eislufthöhle, 1150ft (350m) deep, and as yet unfinished.
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<p>As one of our rank concludes, finding deep pots on the Loser Plateau is a
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real cinch; pushing them, however, is just a little more difficult.
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Consequently, this year's expedition concentrated not on more prospecting
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(for fear of finding yet another deep pot), but instead on the exciting task
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of bottoming Eislufthöhle.
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<p>The cave, designated 106 in the official Austrian catalogue, was
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discovered in 1977 and pushed down to 500ft (150m) depth before time forced a
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derig. Last year we added another 650ft (200m) depth before a car accident
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wiped out (temporarily) half of the pushing team. (See
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<a href="../1978/descnt.htm"><i>Descent 40</i></a> for the action replay).
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<p>The cave to this depth includes (see survey), Plugged Sahft, 250ft (75m)
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of horrific snow plugs; The Keg Series, a red herring route that diverted our
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attention until we noticed that - wait for it - it had no draught; and the
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Tap Room, a fair sized chamber with a stream inlet in the roof.
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<p>Next occurred a superb section of verticality including the drop into The
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Hall of the Greene King, a real belter of a pitch, 180ft (55m) free to the
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floor, huge and black. This was followed by an uncharacteristically
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horizontal section, mainly traversing in a tall stream canyon, punctuated by
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short muddy pitches. The traverse below the Fiesta Run was the limit of
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previous exploration before this summer.
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<p>This year's expedition started slowly. A lot of surface preparation was
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needed first, and things were not speeded up by a car breakdown in Germany!
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We supplemented our luxurious base camp in Altaussee with an advanced camp up
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in the mountains on the edge of the karren field, about 20 minutes walk from
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the cave. This walk across the difficult lapiaz from cave to camp, we marked
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in style with a continuous piece of white polypropylene string. This enabled
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us to negotiate the walk over the clints at any time of the day or night,
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come rain or shine. And so to the underground.
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<p>The customary ice boulders of Plugged Shaft were merely replaced this year
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by overhanging snow cornices, huge icicles of critical plummet potential, and
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the like. These necessitated a rebolting of the shaft, an unpleasant job
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undertaken by those pulling the short straw. Once below Plugged, the other
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pitches were rigged without too much hassle, to bring us to the Fiesta Run
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and new ground.
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<p>We rigged Madlmaier Shaft, named after our beer vending campsite owner,
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and descended only ten feet before a decision was required. Continuing on
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downwards seemed to be fairly restricted and more obvious was a traverse
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outwards. We opted for the latter believing it would lead to a more sociable
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pitch down to the same place. So much for theory. Before long we found
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ourselves in a totally different passage, with the sound of the stream fading
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into the background. This route was followed down two broken 50ft (15m)
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pitches to a fairly small passage. The loon out in front at the time squirmed
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along 100ft (30m) of tight grovel until he popped out into the side of a
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roomy aven. He reckoned it was about 50ft (15m) down to a
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streamway - end of trip.
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<p>Enthusiasm for passage at depth like this was low, and the next party
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consequently took a closer look at the way on down Madlmaier Shaft. To
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everyone's surprise and delight, the place soon opened out into a comfortable
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sized rift. On this particular trip a ledge 90ft (28m) down was reached, the
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pitch continuing down a second, large rift, at right angles to the first.
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<p>The next trip capitalised on the new found verticality that the pot was
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displaying. Madlmaier Shaft was bottomed after a damp 110ft (33m) section
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below the ledge. As the stream sank into the floor a dry, broken 160ft (50m)
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pitch was descended down a vast gulley. The next section was very
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atmospheric. (I mean wet). The stream reissued from a hole high up in the
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wall and cascaded down on the free climb and 14th pitch that followed almost
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immediately. This was unfortunate, as the pitch was 70ft (20m) deep! Spitting
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over their shoulders, the two cavers, now firmly believing Loser to be
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hollow, left the cave for a celebration in the local bar.
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<p>Then unfortunately it rained... and rained... for days. And it only
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stopped raining when it was time for a thunderstorm. As the weather continued
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to look pretty Schwarz over Wilhelm's Mutter's, we spent several sleepless
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nights up at the advanced camp, speculating on run-off times for the water,
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and the possibility of getting flight clearance for our tents.
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<p>When the sun finally condescended to shine, a five-man mega
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pushing/surveying/photgraphing team stormed underground. The 15th pitch was
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soon rigged sensibly and descended to a large walking passage, with the
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stream flowing just under the boulder floor. The passage sloped steeply
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down/over/under/around boulders of all shapes sizes and stabilities, and
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then, just when least expected, absolutely unmistakeable, thick, black mud
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covered the rock - the cave would shortly sump. Another short pitch and we
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were there. The sump pool was a fittingly large lake, and signified the
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culmination of three years' interesting work in the pot.
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<p>Whatever feelings we had at the time, either surprise, relief, pleasure,
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disappointment, etc. were soon completely wiped out by the sheer effort we
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put in as we cleared the cave of tackle below The Hall of the Greene King.
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The bottoming party surfaced to a starlit sky, after a trip of 15 hours.
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<p>The rest of the derigging and the clearing of the advanced camp proceeded
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with relatively little fuss, but a lot of effort, over the remaining few days
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of the expedition. We then returned to England, mission accomplished.
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<p>The survey: A grade 5 survey of the pot stopped at the Tap Room with a
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duff clino. For the rest of the pot we measured pitch lengths and feel that
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1650ft (506m) is a fair minimum depth estimate. A higher grade survey and a
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surface survey of the Loser's cave entrances will be published in
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<i>Cambridge Underground</i> 1980.
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<p>In conclusion then, apart from a few odd leads that we didn't bother to
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follow, Eislufthöhle is finished. And sporting though it was, I can't
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see anyone returning to the place for a long time to come. And why should
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they? There's the rest of the plateau to look at, and deeper pots to be found
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by anyone caring to have an expedition there. Thanks due to Karl Gaisberger,
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our local contact, and Rocksport for the donation of some rope.
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<hr>
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<!-- LINKS -->
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<img alt=">" src="../../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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1979 Expedition info:<br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="../../../years/1979/log.htm">Logbook</a><br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="../../../years/1979/report.htm">Expo report, Cambridge Underground 1980</a><br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="../../../years/1979/bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a><br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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Nick Thorne's write-up in <a href="../../../years/1979/792026.htm">Belfry Bulletin 378</a><br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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Odkrycie i eksploracja Eislufthöhle - <a href="../../../years/1979/811412.htm">original
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english article</a> (published in Polish in 1980)<br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../../pubs.htm#1979">Index</a> to all publications<br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a><br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a>
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