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Much of the area of the Loser Augst-Eck plateau is rough limestone
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click for larger image
Much of the area of the Loser Augst-Eck plateau is rough limestone pavement (karren), liberally covered with dense areas of dwarf pine, and interspersed with small cliffs, open shafts and snow patches. The latter, in particular, can change the appearance of the plateau from year to year, -and even from week to week in the summer. Getting from one point to another +and even from week to week in the summer. +
Getting from one point to another may involve detours to avoid any of these obstacles, and the whole effect is very disorientating. There are few landmarks recognisable from a distance or from a variety of angles, and little chance to relate the ground to the 1:25000 Austrian Alpine Club map. If you are only 5m off the route you may have lost the way on. +
So walking on the plateau is difficult, and in bad weather (as in July 2019) can be seriously dangerous if attempted unaccompanied. The -route to the plateau +route to the plateau is deceptively safe and easy by comparison.
Prospecting is either a matter of searching @@ -33,7 +39,7 @@ for promising-looking caves with a draught, or shaft bashing many open holes in the hope that one will go. This latter approach is often a waste of time, but just a few of them lead to really significant finds! Much of the exploration now is beyond the Steinbrücken bivvy in the area known as -the far plateau
+the far plateauShaft bashing:
Essential GPS page.
The caves are numbered and tagged in a number of different ways. +See the Expo Cave Numbering Guide. +
The following information is out of date (from 2004). Do not @@ -139,101 +149,6 @@ these correctly with a metal tag bearing their 'official' number over the next few years. Also, many known caves do not have surface surveys to their entrances.
-One problem that has recently arisen is a prohibition on painting numbers -on entrances within the Naturschutzgebiet (Nature Reserve) area. The -Austrians have for a while been marking caves with a numbered alloy -tag bolted to the cave entrance. This also has the advantage of a definite -fixed point to take the survey to.
- -From 1996, we have also had to abandon the system (which we believed -worked pretty well) whereby we had a block of numbers allocated from the -Austrian Kataster, which we could use to number newly found caves. Nowadays -we have to produce documentation before we get an 'official' number, which -usually means an extra visit with someone who knows the cave's location in -the year following exploration. Such a someone will not necessarily exist, -which is a recipe for the number of "missing" caves increasing rather than -decreasing. However, it is the Austrians' kataster, and we have to work with -their system.
- -
-An example tag - CUCC 96/02
-To overcome this limitation, and try to stop losing caves in which we -have invested effort, CUCC now applies its own unique number to each new -cave, ideally at the time of discovery, using a rock anchor and a tag which -can be replaced when an 'official' number tag is available. As of 2000, the -standard practice has been to allocate initial numbers of the form -"year-nn", e.g. 2003-01. This means that the cave can be identified when -refound, even if no-one who knew where it was came out in subsequent years. -Clearly, a good surface location is also pretty essential. There are also a -number of caves tagged with numbers of the form "year-xx-nn" where xx are -the initials of the discoverer (eg 2002-AD-01), although this system is -vaguely deprecated.
- -Anything longer than 10m needs a number, a survey of appropriate -accuracy, and location information (bearings from -entrance to known points, entranc photos and description of route to entrance as a -minimum - surface surveys are really required -for caves within a reasonable distance of existing known points, a GPS fix is probably a convenient compromise in the -short term). If a cave is not readily apparent from the immediate area, -bearings or a GPS fix will be found to be inadequate to refind it, and a -good sketch or photographs of the entrance and its surroundings will be -necessary as well.
- -Caves which require further exploration should be marked "-". Caves which -have been fully explored and surveyed marked "|+|". This includes minor -holes less than 10m in length. (Note that prior to 1996, completely explored -caves were marked "+". Any un-numbered caves found so marked need to be -explored again and documented (in the "Noted" list, as a start). A number as -above should be allocated if they exceed 10m in length).
- -There are many other caves marked just with a "+" symbol and a few -which just have bolts and no numbers. In the past, any cave which could not -be seen not to go just from a surface look has been marked with a "+" to show -that it has been looked at but didn't go anywhere significant. We are -supposed to record these for the Austrians, so if you find one, please mark -it with a unique identifier and record where it is, even if you don't have -time to re-explore it at the time. This will help us to assess how many -of these caves there are, and to target areas where there are lots first. -Overall, this should reduce the amount of work needed to "catch up".
- -Having come upon a known cave, and decided on the action needed from the -tables, you can find out more about the cave by looking at the database of -cave descriptions (links from the tables or from the -Index to all caves). This exists mainly to ensure -that anyone (not just CUCC) finding a cave marked or previously -explored by CUCC can find out all we know about it.
- -For CUCC's caves, we must supply at least a certain minimum of information -to the Austrians, which includes an accurate location, state of exploration, -name/marking, description and some sort of survey. Obviously for significant -caves, we will want a proper drawn up survey, and the aim should be to do a -survey right from the first exploration - if the cave ends, this saves having -to go back again later ! If you find a cave for which adequate information -is not in the database, then at worst document the lack, and at best, go -out and create the missing documentation!
- -As other groups also work in adjacent areas to ours, it is clearly -important that the information is widely available, to avoid clashes of -interest or duplication of effort. All CUCC's finds are documented here, -together with any other caves which we have information on, which we are -permitted to publish. We will be very pleased to receive any information on -other caves in the area, to make this more complete. It is in no-one's -interest to reexplore known cave, or to intrude on someone else's ongoing -project ! There is a limited amount of information in the database on caves -not explored by CUCC, for which we are not permitted to make the data -publicly available - none of this information has been checked in the field -and is likely to be out of date, if not just plain wrong. The data are -included for completeness and should help CUCC during expeditions. We may be -able to make the data available (through password-protected access to those -net pages) to other groups with a bona fide need.
First, look at the index list of cave numbers. Under the 1623 heading you will see a lot of caves numbered with 2 or 3 digits, e.g. 115 Schnellzughöhle and many more labelled with a year number and some letters and numbers, e.g. 2015-DL-02 Chossy Death Slope Höhle. The former are the Austrian kataster official numbers, the latter are CUCC Expo numbers which are either for caves too insignificant to be issued an official number, or where we have not yet got around to doing the paperwork. + +
There is now a prohibition on painting numbers +on entrances within the Naturschutzgebiet (Nature Reserve) area. You may see faded +remenants of such numbers still. Since the early 1990s the +Austrians have been marking caves with a numbered alloy +tag bolted to the cave entrance. This also has the advantage of a definite +fixed point to take the survey to.
+We still (2023) use numbered alloy tags, but there is a move to replace this +with a properly-managed and accessible GPS system. However the accuracy and +difficulty of accessing the entrance locations online, on the plateau, mean that we are still +using tags. + +
From 1996, we have had to abandon the system (which we believed +worked pretty well) whereby we had a block of numbers allocated from the +Austrian Cave Kataster, which we could use to number newly found caves. +
Nowadays +we have to produce documentation before we get an 'official' number, which +usually means an extra visit with someone who knows the cave's location in +the year following exploration. Such a someone will not necessarily exist, +which is a recipe for the number of "missing" caves increasing rather than +decreasing. However, it is the Austrians' kataster, and we have to work with +their system.
+ +
+ To overcome this limitation, and try to stop losing caves in which we have +invested effort, CUCC now applies its own unique number to each new cave, +ideally at the time of discovery, using a rock anchor and a tag which can be +replaced when an 'official' number tag is available. + +
As of 2000, the +standard practice has been to allocate initial numbers of the form "year-nn", +e.g. 2003-01. This means that the cave can be identified when refound, even +if no-one who knew where it was came out in subsequent years. Clearly, a good +record of the surface location is also pretty essential. + +
There are also a +number of caves tagged with numbers of the form "year-xx-nn" where xx are the +initials of the discoverer (eg 2002-AD-01). Although this discoverer naming +system has been vaguely deprecated, it does at least mean that there is no +duplication during an expo with many people prospecting at the same time.
+ +
+Anything longer than 10m needs a number, a survey of appropriate +accuracy, and location information (bearings from +entrance to known points, entrance photos and description of route to entrance as a +minimum - surface surveys are really required +for caves within a reasonable distance of existing known points, a GPS fix is essential but insufficient on its own. +
+If a cave is not readily apparent from the immediate area, bearings or a GPS +fix will be inadequate to refind it, and a good sketch or photographs of the +entrance and its surroundings will be necessary. Record all these in the logbook writeup of your prospecting trip +and put the original copies of your notes in the survey wallet.
+ +Eventually you will need to record the existance of a new cave and its entrance(s) +in the Expo online system. Before you do this though, fill out a paper +New Cave Data Sheet so that +we don't lose vital information. +
The Austrian caving organisations have a standard cave grade categorisation which is worth writing down as soon as you have explored enough of the cave. So, for instance, Kaninchenhöhle, 1623/161, gets the code "5/S/E ×", because it is 22 km long and just over 500m deep (both rate a "5"), is principally a vertical cave ('S' for schacht), but also has passages with ice ('E'), and been extensively explored, but there are still many leads to push (x). + +
Caves which require further exploration should be marked "-". Caves which +have been fully explored and surveyed marked "|+|". This includes minor +holes less than 10m in length. (Note that prior to 1996, completely explored +caves were marked "+". Any un-numbered caves found so marked need to be +explored again and documented (in the "Noted" list, as a start). A number as +above should be allocated if they exceed 10m in length).
+ +There are many other caves marked just with a "+" symbol and a few +which just have bolts and no numbers. In the past, any cave which could not +be seen not to go just from a surface look has been marked with a "+" to show +that it has been looked at but didn't go anywhere significant. We are +supposed to record these for the Austrians, so if you find one, please mark +it with a unique identifier and record where it is, even if you don't have +time to re-explore it at the time. This will help us to assess how many +of these caves there are, and to target areas where there are lots first. +Overall, this should reduce the amount of work needed to "catch up".
+ +Having come upon a known cave, and decided on the action needed from the +tables, you can find out more about the cave by looking at online +cave descriptions e.g. at 291 Glückliche Schmetterlingshöhle. Look in the Index to all caves. +
For caves being currently explored, a more complete view of the raw data can be seen in the current wallet status of the cave. +
+This all exists mainly to ensure +that anyone (not just CUCC) finding a cave marked or previously +explored by CUCC can find out all we know about it.
+ +For CUCC's caves, we must supply at least a certain minimum of information +to the Austrians, which includes an accurate location, state of exploration, +name/marking, description and some sort of survey. Obviously for significant +caves, we will want a proper drawn up survey, and the aim should be to do a +survey right from the first exploration - if the cave ends, this saves having +to go back again later ! If you find a cave for which adequate information +is not in the database, then at worst document the lack, and at best, go +out and create the missing documentation!
+ +As other groups also work in adjacent areas to ours, it is clearly +important that the information is widely available, to avoid clashes of +interest or duplication of effort. All CUCC's finds are documented here, +together with any other caves which we have information on, which we are +permitted to publish. + +
We are always very pleased to receive any information on +other caves in the area, to make the database more complete. It is in no-one's +interest to reexplore known cave, or to intrude on someone else's ongoing +project ! There is a limited amount of information in the database on caves +not explored by CUCC, for which we are not permitted to make the data +publicly available - none of this information has been checked in the field +and is likely to be out of date, if not just plain wrong. The data are +included for completeness and should help CUCC during expeditions. We may be +able to make the data available (through password-protected access to those +net pages) to other groups with a bona fide need. +
The non-public data is available to logged-in users, using the 'Log in' menu item at the top-right of all the handbook pages and using our usual 'cavey:beery' password. +
+ +The VOH maintains a current list of longest and deepest caves in Austria and their Austrian +Caving Handbook is well-worth skimming through. +This is the master document defining the caving areas and the Austrian cave classification system. In 2022 The Schwatzmooskögel System is 10th deepest and +2nd longest in Austria. +
If caves have been explored by groups not recognised by the local cavers, or caves have been inadequately documented and may be rediscoveries, then they may still be known only by old provisional numbers. In our area, there @@ -75,16 +80,14 @@ to give them "proper" numbers). Further north, there are numbers like "LA23" or "BS17" explored by Lancaster University Speleological Society and the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society respectively.
+The Austrians periodically publish summary lists of caves for each area, and within these lists, each cave has a status code, such as "3/S/E +". The number represents the extent of the cave on a scale from 0-9, the letters denote the sort of cave it is, and the symbol at the end stands for the current state of exploration.
-The VOH maintains a current list of longest and deepest caves in Austria and their Austrian -Caving Handbook is well-worth skimming through. -This is the master document defining the caving areas and the Austrian cave classification system. In 2022 The Schwatzmooskögel System is 10th deepest and -2nd longest in Austria. +