From 4d3ff29a459df892ae8226e84a3be5f4e247e510 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: dave Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 23:19:19 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] [svn r6592] Done. Don't say I never do anything for you, you ungrateful beggars. --- years/2004/logbook.html | 1530 +++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------- 1 file changed, 992 insertions(+), 538 deletions(-) diff --git a/years/2004/logbook.html b/years/2004/logbook.html index c579d13af..c91e91f89 100644 --- a/years/2004/logbook.html +++ b/years/2004/logbook.html @@ -1,17 +1,22 @@ 2004 Expo Logbook +

Expo 2004

- -
-5/7/04 In Cambridge Mark S, Olly M et al +
5/7/04
+
Mark S, Olly M et al
+
In Cambridge

And so it was that at 12.41 on Monday 5th July did the weighbridge at Madingley Mulch pronounce one white Citroën C15D van, by the registration mark of L852 MFL, to be 400kg overweight – weighing in at nearly two tonnes. Mark and Olly were not best pleased, the @@ -32,7 +37,37 @@ planning to leave for Dover at 4am. Expo had begun.

-6/7/04 Driving to Austria Mark S, Olly M +
5/7/04
+
Martin
+ +

I was phoned, "There is a problem", "Please bring your bathroom scales", "400kg overweight", "bollocks" (thought Martin). +Solutions ...another car ... too crap .. another trailer ... too long ... DSL ... too expensive ...

+ +

After some time trying to find someone to fit a tow bar to Mark's van for a non-existent trailer, a haulier was found to transport from +Newton Hall to Munich. This required me to find cardboard boxes, twenty minutes after the bloke came to collect them.

+ +

The next day Fast Freight hauliers gave a better quote. If I measured the height, width and girth of the pallet. So on Tuesday, I +stacked a fine tower of boxes in the tacklestore. I got a quote, and on Wednesday I stacked a slightly dodgy pile of boxes. The van turned +up to collect it, wiht his hydraulic tail gate and his pump hand truck. The pump truck did not fit under the pallet, leaving the truck +driver and I to lift the 390kg pallet on to another pallet. After much grunting and straining we lifted the boxes on to a "decent" pallet. +On Friday I received a message saying the cheque I sent on Thursday had not arrived. So I ignored it, and it all turned up in Bad Aussee +on Monday.

+ +
+ +
6/7/04
+
Dave
+
Dave's trip out
+ +

All went v. smoothly; up at 3am (ouch!), coach to Stansted, Ryanair to Salzburg, tram, train etc to arrive at Bad Aussee at around 3pm. +Bus timetable appears to be beyond the comprehension of mere mortals, so I walked. Then fell asleep, woke up and spent four hours watching +German TV. (Something important has happened to the state governor of Steiermark, but I have no idea what.)

+ +
+ +
6/7/04
+
Mark S, Olly M
+
Driving to Austria

Arose at 3.30pm and left Earl's place just after five past four on Tuesday morning. The ferry was at 6am and we arrived just at the right time after a stop for fuel. (Got to the port around 5.20am.)

@@ -45,43 +80,40 @@ the enormous space left for it on the page.]

-6/7/04 Dave's trip out Dave - -

All went v. smoothly; up at 3am (ouch!), coach to Stansted, Ryanair to Salzburg, tram, train etc to arrive at Bad Aussee at around 3pm. -Bus timetable appears to be beyond the comprehension of mere mortals, so I walked. Then fell asleep, woke up and spent four hours watching -German TV. (Something important has happened to the state governor of Steiermark, but I have no idea what.)

- -
- -7/7/04 Olly M, Mark and Dave +
7/7/04
+
Olly M, Mark and Dave

Walked up hill. Snow level very high. Had considerable fun hauling gear out of Traungold (caving gear + some digging were needed).

-T/U: Dave 1hr +
T/U: Dave 1hr
-8/7/04 Olly M, Mark and Dave +
8/7/04
+
Olly M, Mark and Dave

More getting stuff out of snow-choked holes.

-T/U: Olly M 1hr +
T/U: Olly M 1hr
-10/7/04 204A rigging Dave, Olly M +
10/7/04
+
Dave, Olly M
+
204A rigging

Rigged down to bottom of A ent pitch. Owing to lack of rope we didn't get any further than that + ran out of excuses for walking downhill in the rain.

-T/U: Dave 1.25hrs Olly 0.75hrs +
T/U: Dave 1.25hrs Olly 0.75hrs
-11/7/04 Julia and Anthony... +
11/7/04
+
Julia and Anthony...

.. are here. Det er veldig variskelig å snakke [illegible]. Men jeg må prøve. We left Anthony's office at -3.00pm on Friday (I remembered the guitar). Getting out of Norge not easy, but achieved eventually. 6 hours Oslo to Gøteborg. Then +3.00pm on Friday (I remembered the guitar). Getting out of Norge not easy, but achieved eventually. 6 hours Oslo to Gøteborg. Then lots more hours through Sweden, Denmark and Germany. Sweden + Germany go on far too long especially. Our stereo died, but it only cost 20 NOK so it's fair enough. No traffic jams once outside Sweden. It took ages, Dour ate lots of chocolate, I didn't fall asleep too much, Expo is great + so is Gösser.

@@ -90,7 +122,31 @@ Expo is great + so is Gösser.

-13/7/04 Julia +
12/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly B
+ +

We set off for our 3rd carry to Top Camp, and for the first time it wasn't raining. As we got to TC it got much darker, and +just as we started pitching the big expo tent it started to hail horizontally which was really quite grim... Eventually we got the tent up +and went to look for Eislufthöhle (76), Olly knew where it was, but couldn't remember quite how to get there so we walked around a +lot in the erratic boulders just below where 76 turned out to be.

+ +
+ +
13/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly B
+ +

Carried up our final load to TC, noticed that the tent had lots of big puddles. Perhaps optimistically, I assumed it had come into the +tent whilst we erected it in the hail storm, so I bailed out the water + we set off for 76, armed with a GPS. We got the [illegible] the +GPS point and wandered around and found 97 which still had paint marking it. This gave us an idea of where 76 was which we then found. +About 50m from 76, towards the ridge, was a very very good potential bivvy site – a big arched entrance maybe 15m across and 1.5m +high with a snow patchand a skylight. Probably room for ~6 people without too much rock moving + more people with more work, quite +sheltered as well as it opens out into a small sheltered valley (with room for a small tent). We walked back to TC laying cairns as we +went.

+ +
+ +
13/7/04
+
Julia

Oh, so caving songs get written in the rain, right. Well, plenty of rain here, so let's have some inspiration. There's Duncan's first bit:

@@ -118,6 +174,19 @@ Knowing free schapps awaited at the end of the road

INSPIRATION NEEDED HERE

+

[Later on in logbook]

+ +

3rd verse

+ +
+Oh, the chill winds at night through the bivvy would blow
+But there were boys at the stone bridge to guide you below
+If you didn't fancy caving you could go and get drunk
+There was always lots of festering down at old base camp +
+ +

[Back with original flash of inspiration]

+

Last verse:

@@ -129,28 +198,20 @@ For a stretcher to carry me to old base camp.
-12/7/04 Jenny + Olly B +
14/7/04
+
Dave, Olly M, Stuart, Dour
+
Ariston rigging
-

We set off for our 3rd carry to Top Camp, and for the first time it wasn't raining. As we got to TC it got much darker, and -just as we started pitching the big expo tent it started to hail horizontally which was really quite grim... Eventually we got the tent up -and went to look for Eislufthöhle (76), Olly knew where it was, but couldn't remember quite how to get there so we walked around a -lot in the erratic boulders just below where 76 turned out to be.

+

Wandered in down 204A re-rigging on Dave Brindle's rope. Dour put in a bolt enabling me to get close enough to the 2nd pitch to see +that it was open, which was a pleasant surprise seeing how much snow was around generally. At this point Dour returned to the surface +while Olly, Stuart and I wandered down Ariston. Ran out of rope at Steel Toecap and headed out.

+ +
T/U Dave, Olly, Stuart 6.5hrs, Dour 1hr
-13/7/04 Jenny + Olly B - -

Carried up our final load to TC, noticed that the tent had lots of big puddles. Perhaps optimistically, I assumed it had come into the -tent whilst we erected it in the hail storm, so I bailed out the water + we set off for 76, armed with a GPS. We got the [illegible] the -GPS point and wandered around and found 97 which still had paint marking it. This gave us an idea of where 76 was which we then found. -About 50m from 76, towards the ridge, was a very very good potential bivvy site – a big arched entrance maybe 15m across and 1.5m -high with a snow patchand a skylight. Probably room for ~6 people without too much rock moving + more people with more work, quite -sheltered as well as it opens out into a small sheltered valley (with room for a small tent). We walked back to TC laying cairns as we -went.

- -
- -14/7/04 Jenny + Olly B +
14/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly B

Woke up to find just how un-waterproof the tent was – lots of leaks through the ceiling and 3 puddles a couple of inches deep, wet sleeping bags and other wet stuff which wasn't nice at all. Eventually got going after a short delay to dry out the lighter before we @@ -167,38 +228,13 @@ to land on a big snow ledge. Time was running out so I came back up and added a Then we got changed and walked back to the car via TC to collect our wet sleeping bags to dry them. On the way back we realised that Olly's GPS was still getting a fix by the bivvy... Oh, whilst I was caving Olly cairned a path from the bivvy to the 204 path.

-T/U Jenny 3.5hrs - -

3rd verse

- -
-Oh, the chill winds at night through the bivvy would blow
-But there were boys at the stone bridge to guide you below
-If you didn't fancy caving you could go and get drunk
-There was always lots of festering down at old base camp -
+
T/U Jenny 3.5hrs
-14/7/04 Ariston rigging Dave, Olly M, Stuart, Dour - -

Wandered in down 204A re-rigging on Dave Brindle's rope. Dour put in a bolt enabling me to get close enough to the 2nd pitch to see -that it was open, which was a pleasant surprise seeing how much snow was around generally. At this point Dour returned to the surface -while Olly, Stuart and I wandered down Ariston. Ran out of rope at Steel Toecap and headed out.

- -T/U Dave, Olly, Stuart 6.5hrs, Dour 1hr - -
- -15/7/04 204E rigging Olly M, Stuart, Peter - -

Had much difficulty finding the entrance, it was further than I remembered. Took ages to rig the pitch, then went out.

- -T/U Olly, Stuart, Pete 2.5hours - -
- -15/7/04 Kiwi Suit rigging Dave, Mark D, Nial +
15/7/04
+
Dave, Mark D, Nial
+
Kiwi Suit rigging

Continued rig down bottom pitch of Ariston (which is shite) and 54m pitch in Kiwi Suit. Realising we had only three hangers left, we put in the next 8m pitch but didn't descend, + buggered off out. Nial + Mark apparently got lost in the crawls at the bottom of @@ -207,26 +243,22 @@ cold + knackered + wanted to go downhill.

[Mark D's handwriting] Scientific note: air temp measured at Pot-U-Like 2°C.

-T/U Dave 5.5hrs, Nial, MarkD 6.5 +
T/U Dave 5.5hrs, Nial, MarkD 6.5
-18/7/04 Razor Dance rigging Dour, Mark D +
15/7/04
+
Olly M, Stuart, Peter
+
204E rigging
-

Early start – underground by 10:00! Speedy descent to Kiwi Suit, where we picked up the bag of rope left on the 15th. We now had -3 1/2 bags of rope between us, which was considered A LOT. Mark rigged the bottom 2 pitches of Kiwi Suit, then Dour took up the cudgels -and proceeded to rig Razor Dance down to the 2002 limit – the Steady Now pitch. Left the rest of the rope at that point and turned -round at 16:00. Uneventful ascent, Mark D out at 19:45, Dour 21:15. Dour must buy a magic foot jammer!

+

Had much difficulty finding the entrance, it was further than I remembered. Took ages to rig the pitch, then went out.

-

Scientific note: the gravel in the crawl between Ariston + Kiwi Suit is very interesting and is in different sizes in different -passages, which gives some indication of the water flow during phreas. This should be (a) recorded and (b) taped off to avoid damage. -MSD.

- -TU Mark 10hrs Dour 11.25hrs +
T/U Olly, Stuart, Pete 2.5hours
-16/7/04 Jenny, Olly B +
16/7/04
+
Jenny, Olly B

We bolted on down from the head of Draught Bitter (where the draught was so fierce it made my eyes water while drilling a hole for a bolt). A deviation off a 70s spit got us to a little rock bridge, and a rebelay off another unusually well preserved and flush 70s spit to @@ -239,7 +271,7 @@ falling snow & rocks, but after two spits I'm still not there and my legs ar

-17/7/04 Olly + Jenny +
17/7/04
Olly + Jenny

Back down 76 again, this time it's my turn to bolt. I get down to the bolts Olly put in yesterday (after adding a spit for a deviation on the way down to stop the rope cutting through the big snow plug), and spend quite a while swinging around trying to work out what is @@ -256,36 +288,48 @@ warm up, and started a traverse along from the ledge, passing a small lead up a couldn't really see from where I was). After warming up outside + drinking some hot chocolate, we returned to survey from the A entrance to the pitches (draft bitter). Then returned to BC, racing darkness + an electrical storm.

-Total TU 6.5hrs +
Total TU 6.5hrs
-5/7/04 Martin +
18/7/04
+
Dave, Becka, Nial
+
Gaffered rig + tourist
-

I was phoned, "There is a problem", "Please bring your bathroom scales", "400kg overweight", "bollocks" (thought Martin). -Solutions ...another car ... too crap .. another trailer ... too long ... DSL ... too expensive ...

+

Wandered down Gaffered, while Nial + Becka touristed up Swings and aparently pushed a QM somewhere. (Becka: where was it?) ([Becka's +handwriting] By station 12 on RH wall, wasn't down as QM. Didn't go. Surveyed 2/8/04. Also looked at QMs on Colonnades, nothing +easy.)

-

After some time trying to find someone to fit a tow bar to Mark's van for a non-existent trailer, a haulier was found to transport from -Newton Hall to Munich. This required me to find cardboard boxes, twenty minutes after the bloke came to collect them.

+

Met up again at the bottom of Tape Worm pitch, where Becka and I just about contrived to find the bolts between us. (Becka added a bolt +to the traverse below Tape Worm.) Ran out of hangers after Eyehole pitch, so turned around and came out.

-

The next day Fast Freight hauliers gave a better quote. If I measured the height, width and girth of the pallet. So on Tuesday, I -stacked a fine tower of boxes in the tacklestore. I got a quote, and on Wednesday I stacked a slightly dodgy pile of boxes. The van turned -up to collect it, wiht his hydraulic tail gate and his pump hand truck. The pump truck did not fit under the pallet, leaving the truck -driver and I to lift the 390kg pallet on to another pallet. After much grunting and straining we lifted the boxes on to a "decent" pallet. -On Friday I received a message saying the cheque I sent on Thursday had not arrived. So I ignored it, and it all turned up in Bad Aussee -on Monday.

+

Becka suggested a wander up Treeumphant to Chocolate Salty Balls. It's very nice passage; we poked around for a while before heading +out. On the way back, had a stare at what may be QM 00-34C – it's rubbish, a tube at roof level which might be climbable into with one or +two bolts, but all the rock is awful.

+ +
T/U 8.5hrs
-19/7/04 Martin, Nial +
18/7/04
+
Dour, Mark D
+
Razor Dance rigging
-

Went in E, noticed rubs (Olly says it wasn't his (threatened with hammer)). Rigged Taking the Piss, with PPE green string. Rigged Wot -No Bolts, from first hole using two bolts! (Deviation needed). 03-67B pushed to conclusion, 03-68B, 03-69B pushed to beginning of Faith -traverse. Pencil broke, so took some photos.

+

Early start – underground by 10:00! Speedy descent to Kiwi Suit, where we picked up the bag of rope left on the 15th. We now had +3 1/2 bags of rope between us, which was considered A LOT. Mark rigged the bottom 2 pitches of Kiwi Suit, then Dour took up the cudgels +and proceeded to rig Razor Dance down to the 2002 limit – the Steady Now pitch. Left the rest of the rope at that point and turned +round at 16:00. Uneventful ascent, Mark D out at 19:45, Dour 21:15. Dour must buy a magic foot jammer!

+ +

Scientific note: the gravel in the crawl between Ariston + Kiwi Suit is very interesting and is in different sizes in different +passages, which gives some indication of the water flow during phreas. This should be (a) recorded and (b) taped off to avoid damage. +MSD.

+ +
TU Mark 10hrs Dour 11.25hrs
-18/7/04 Olly B + Jenny +
18/7/04
+
Olly B + Jenny

Walked back up to the bivvy, and sat around for a while feeling too hot. Eventually got underground with a plan of finishing surveying what we have found. We started at Draught Bitter, and surveyed downwards. I realised how crap surveying pitches was, especially really @@ -297,11 +341,48 @@ up from behind. I then checked out the small aven with ice near the top of Draug surveyed in the 76b entrance. This was less nice as the rocks are very sharp, the roof is a bit loose and there is a little climb in the middle. Definitely not worth using as an entrance when 76a is so much nicer.

-T/U 3hrs +
T/U 3hrs
-19/7/04 76: Brave New World Olly B + Jenny +
19/7/04
+
Becka + Earl
+
Gaffered rig to Underworld
+ +

Earl put in a Y-hang about 40% down from the top of Gaffered to help speed up using it + take us a bit further from the spray. Becka +replaced the two ropes Dave rigged yesterday with a 9mm (bit too skinny) 91m then Earl continued to rig down Gaffered, adding a backup +bolt to Eyehole and bolting the traverse up to Gaffered. Not long at bottom so we surveyed QM 03-8A which soon choked and went out. +Takes ~2hrs from bottom.

+ +
T/U 9hrs
+ +
+ +
19/7/04
+
Brian
+
2003-02 (Blaudrachenschact)
+ +

Went in 2003-02 with Earl's drill and rigged to the bottom of the pitch. Abbed off pitchhead bolt put in 2003 down 6m to rebelay then 2 +rebelays on far wall to main drop. Dropped a few stones to find best hang through a narrow rift 13m below; didn't quite judge it right so +put in another bolt as a deviation when I got down to the rift.

+ +

Then a 43m hang to a rebelay where I wibbled a bit, feeling isolated and wet, then down to the floor. Bollocks! No way on. But wait, a +short climb up the side of the shaft and another hole. But no more rope, so I went home.

+ +
+ +
19/7/04
+
Martin, Nial
+ +

Went in E, noticed rubs (Olly says it wasn't his (threatened with hammer)). Rigged Taking the Piss, with PPE green string. Rigged Wot +No Bolts, from first hole using two bolts! (Deviation needed). 03-67B pushed to conclusion, 03-68B, 03-69B pushed to beginning of Faith +traverse. Pencil broke, so took some photos.

+ +
+ +
19/7/04
+
Olly B + Jenny
+
76: Brave New World

Went back down 76 with bolting gear with a view to ticking off Olly's lead on the ledge and then rigging on down. I lined Olly up the short but exposed climb, then couldn't see what was happening for ages. Olly got to the end of the rope and assured me it was safe to @@ -322,28 +403,13 @@ seemed to continue above. To the left another couple of passages left! Amazed an getting very annoyed with the crappy compass. After 35 legs we eventually tied the survey in with the previous one, and could leave the cave!

-T/U 8hrs +
T/U 8hrs
-18/7/04 Gaffered rig + tourist Dave, Becka, Nial - -

Wandered down Gaffered, while Nial + Becka touristed up Swings and aparently pushed a QM somewhere. (Becka: where was it?) ([Becka's -handwriting] By station 12 on RH wall, wasn't down as QM. Didn't go. Surveyed 2/8/04. Also looked at QMs on Colonnades, nothing -easy.)

- -

Met up again at the bottom of Tape Worm pitch, where Becka and I just about contrived to find the bolts between us. (Becka added a bolt -to the traverse below Tape Worm.) Ran out of hangers after Eyehole pitch, so turned around and came out.

- -

Becka suggested a wander up Treeumphant to Chocolate Salty Balls. It's very nice passage; we poked around for a while before heading -out. On the way back, had a stare at what may be QM 00-34C – it's rubbish, a tube at roof level which might be climbable into with one or -two bolts, but all the rock is awful.

- -T/U 8.5hrs - -
- -19/7/04 Razor Dance Olly M, Dave +
19/7/04
+
Olly M, Dave
+
Razor Dance

Carried in the pushing rope, and rigged the pitches beyond Steady Now. Ran out of hangers at the top of Yeast. Also placed a hand bolt at the top of Mystery Wind, so as to replace existing dodgy thread, but didn't have a hanger for it. Headed out without a great deal of @@ -353,39 +419,13 @@ speed (I was very cold and Olly very knackered).

on the downstream side is very awkward if you don't get yourself into the right orientation to start with. (I did a bizarre Superman-style dive out of it which could have been very nasty. Fortunately I succeeded in landing on the tacklesack!)

-T/U 12hrs +
T/U 12hrs
-21/7/04 Razor Dance Mark D, Dour - -

An exceptionally early start (9.30 am!) and a quick trip down to the start of Razor Dance. Reached the pushing front at about 13:30 -after rigging Yeast pitch. Dour bolted the traverse while Mark quickly dropped the pitch on naturals. The continuation at stream level was -really nasty. So we voted for the high traverse, which goes into a level with a real floor, The Nordic Traverse. We surveyed into -this, eventually reaching a small climb/pitch down (approx 5m). This was duly rigged and it lands in a small chamber, Thirteen Year -Itch. From here a further pitch of 18m was dropped back into the streamway. This pitch, Pepper Pot, was a real stunner – best -pitch in the cave (imho)! Below the pitch, the rift continues in the same awkward style. By now it was 16:30 so we quickly surveyed the -pitches and then headed out. Mark was out 20:15, Dour at about 22:45. See my note from the previous trip about Dour needing a foot -jammer!

- -

This was a fantastic trip, one of the best I have ever done in Austria. Home tomorrow, but a great memory to take with me!

- -T/U Mark D 10.75hrs Dour 13.25hrs - -
- -19/7/04 Gaffered rig to Underworld Becka + Earl - -

Earl put in a Y-hang about 40% down from the top of Gaffered to help speed up using it + take us a bit further from the spray. Becka -replaced the two ropes Dave rigged yesterday with a 9mm (bit too skinny) 91m then Earl continued to rig down Gaffered, adding a backup -bolt to Eyehole and bolting the traverse up to Gaffered. Not long at bottom so we surveyed QM 03-8A which soon choked and went out. -Takes ~2hrs from bottom.

- -T/U 9hrs - -
- -20/7/04 Underworld / Sirens push + survey Becka, Nial + Earl +
20/7/04
+
Becka, Nial + Earl
+
Underworld / Sirens push + survey

Finally ready to roll pushing: looked at 03-29A rigged handline to edge of large chamber – no rope so leave that, plus 03-30B which needs a high-level traverse. (See our 22nd July trip.)

@@ -404,13 +444,15 @@ Whilst he started, I checked 03-5B – it's a blind pit, only 4m down whcih looks like it would connect to 03-2B + big, chossy boulders at the top. Once again not at all enticing. Neither 03-7C or 03-6C look to be much.

-T/U 9hrs +
T/U 9hrs

[Extensively annotated copy of 2003 Underworld survey with ticked-off leads noted.]

-21/7/04 Surface Prospect Becka + Nial +
21/7/04
+
Becka + Nial
+
Surface Prospect

Wandered over col beyond 204 towards Grie&eszet; Kogel then back round on plateau side. Put in two tags on new caves:

@@ -436,7 +478,99 @@ on opposite wall. Tony + I surface surveyed to 2004-11 in the evening of 21st; M
-22/7/04 Underworld Push Becka, Earl + Dave +
21/7/04
+
Earl + Stuart
+
Gaffered
+ +

Descended to Eeyore to continue rigging Kanga pitch. Bolts had been placed on the previous trip, so adding a deviation enabled us to +descend. Tony and Brian had won the only available instrument set, so we escaped without surveying. Explored around the bottom; only way +on leads to a smally chamber with pitch (not promising) which may connect to a pitch in the main Kanga area.

+ +

After that we moved round to the Sirens traverse to look at rigging around the big pitch Black Maria (03-17B). First part of +traverse was easy (big ledge, 2 naturals and a bolt) but then ledge ran out. Next bolt shattered the rock on setting, but there is scope +for a good Y-hang to the floor. Traversing on towards 03-18B will be nontrivial; probably bolting into overhanging wall, losing +height and scrambling back up to the QM. Ran out of enthusiasm, so left it at that.

+ +

Returned up Gaffered and wet for a tourist around Swings. Stuart found a previously unnoticed QM (later pushed to a blind pitch) +(between 01-83C and the connection to The Slide). We then went to Treeumphant and Great Oak Chamber before returning via 204E.

+ +
T/U 9.5hrs
+ +

Stuart continues: After scrotting around at the base of Eeyore etc, Earl managed to increase the grade of the climb out by ~2 +grades by removing one of the footholds. This makes getting out for whoever surveys it "interesting". [It wasn't actually all that bad +- DL].

+ +

Swings QM is a climb up on the right, where a gallery looks through several holes to Swings below. Hurrah for excessively bright + +pointy lights in finding such delights.

+ +
+ +
21/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly B
+
99
+ +

Walked back up to our bivvy in the sun; when we got there, Olly wasn't feeling too well, so we decided that I'd explore 99 whilst Olly +sat on the surface and patched his oversuit. I went down rigged off the v.dubious tag bolt and a spike. It went down an inclined rift with +snow on the floor for a bit less than 10m then wiggled round right and then left to be below itself again. Here there were 2 old spits, +teh first of which I rebelayed too. After this a draft was coing through a small ice-covered rift heading roughly towards the appropriate +part of Brave New World. I kicked lots of snow out of the way and attempted to fit through the pitch head; I got roughly half way before +feeling it was a bit too tight and committing, and dediced to come out, which was easier said than done.

+ +

After a while of fruitless wiggling I got a bit scared and asked Olly to put his caving gear on to come + help. As soon as Olly left I +found a foothold and freed myself sufficiently to escape, but at least Olly had practice at getting into caving gear quickly! I came out, +leaving the ice squeeze for either a day later on in expo with less ice, or a day with a hammer.

+ +
T/U Jenny 1hr
+ +
+ +
21/7/04
+
Mark D, Dour
+
Razor Dance
+ +

An exceptionally early start (9.30 am!) and a quick trip down to the start of Razor Dance. Reached the pushing front at about 13:30 +after rigging Yeast pitch. Dour bolted the traverse while Mark quickly dropped the pitch on naturals. The continuation at stream level was +really nasty. So we voted for the high traverse, which goes into a level with a real floor, The Nordic Traverse. We surveyed into +this, eventually reaching a small climb/pitch down (approx 5m). This was duly rigged and it lands in a small chamber, Thirteen Year +Itch. From here a further pitch of 18m was dropped back into the streamway. This pitch, Pepper Pot, was a real stunner – best +pitch in the cave (imho)! Below the pitch, the rift continues in the same awkward style. By now it was 16:30 so we quickly surveyed the +pitches and then headed out. Mark was out 20:15, Dour at about 22:45. See my note from the previous trip about Dour needing a foot +jammer!

+ +

This was a fantastic trip, one of the best I have ever done in Austria. Home tomorrow, but a great memory to take with me!

+ +
T/U Mark D 10.75hrs Dour 13.25hrs
+ +
+ +
21/7/04
+
Tony + Brian
+
2003-02 (Blaudrachenschact)
+ +

Surveyed to bottom with short rope to investigate rifty hole at base of shaft: it closed down after a 5m climb down through boulders. +Went home.

+ +
+ +
22/7/04
+
Tony + Brian
+
Surface bash
+ +

Started out walking to the NE of 204 area until we met the big change in slope overlooking the valley with the Stogerweg at the bottom. +Then walked along side of valley until we found two entrances of note: GPSsed, tagged and photographed them.

+ +
    +
  • 2004-12: N47° 41' 06.1'' E013° 49' 38.8'
    • +
  • 2004-13: N47° 41' 02.0'' E013° 49' 38.7''
    • +
+ +

Went back via Damoclesschacht.

+ +
+ +
22/7/04
+
Becka, Earl + Dave
+
Underworld Push

Dave wanted to learn how to drill bolts so down to Earl's drill in the Underworld ... but first we surveyed + derigged Eeyore. Then Dave derigged the 26m that Earl + Stuart had started to rig along the traverse in Sirens yesterday (they'd hoped to get to 03-18B). Took @@ -454,56 +588,13 @@ muddy – I'd had to do a welly-brake on the way down + both my hand + my ch nearly as much fun as Dave who became an incandescent Mr. Angry + ended up prusiking twice as far as the rest of us. I left him to Earl's calming tongue. [I think my jammers are knackered – the teeth don't bite like they used to.—DL].

-T/U 11 hours +
T/U 11 hours
-21/7/04 99 Jenny + Olly B - -

Walked back up to our bivvy in the sun; when we got there, Olly wasn't feeling too well, so we decided that I'd explore 99 whilst Olly -sat on the surface and patched his oversuit. I went down rigged off the v.dubious tag bolt and a spike. It went down an inclined rift with -snow on the floor for a bit less than 10m then wiggled round right and then left to be below itself again. Here there were 2 old spits, -teh first of which I rebelayed too. After this a draft was coing through a small ice-covered rift heading roughly towards the appropriate -part of Brave New World. I kicked lots of snow out of the way and attempted to fit through the pitch head; I got roughly half way before -feeling it was a bit too tight and committing, and dediced to come out, which was easier said than done.

- -

After a while of fruitless wiggling I got a bit scared and asked Olly to put his caving gear on to come + help. As soon as Olly left I -found a foothold and freed myself sufficiently to escape, but at least Olly had practice at getting into caving gear quickly! I came out, -leaving the ice squeeze for either a day later on in expo with less ice, or a day with a hammer.

- -T/U Jenny 1hr - -
- -22/7/04 76 Jenny, Olly - -

We went down 76 to push the pitch lead near the start of the "Test Tubes". It was unclear if the pitchhead was perched rocks or solid, -so I used a mostly convincing thread as a backup, and put in a traverse spit, then a Y hang out in the rift. The rift was a good 1.5m -wide, and tall so things looked promising. I descended and traversed upstream, but just round the corner was a pitch up. Downstream -dropped away and got narrower. Two rebelays later we were in the top of the rift, with a barely feasible squeeze into a lower level. The -bottom appeared to drop into blackness through a small hole – small stones dropped for a second or two if they got through the hole. The -position is such that this is very likely to be dropping into the original 70s pitch series, so there wasn't much motiviation for -desperate squeezes. Jenny tried to get through at a lower level, but that didn't work. So we surveyed out to connect to the previous Brave -New World survey and went home. Jenny put in a better placed spit for the ledge end of the pendule on the way out.

- -T/U 5.5hrs - -
- -22/7/04 Random German Olly, Peter - -

Pete and I had failed to walk up the previous evening so an 8am rising and a run to the bus stop was in order. Waiting in Bad Aussee -allowed a random German bloke to approach and ask us if we could "show him the caves". Julia's powers of dissuasion are clearly lacking -because this random person proceeded to follow me and Peter from the top of the toll road to the plateau and on to the stone bridge (Julia -had lunch with Dour so didn't walk with us). Upon arriving he asked where the toilet was, "I need a big one", so I showed him the shitting -grike. Thankfully his aim was true and no further flies were attracted to mal-aimed turds. He then had two cups of hot chocolate, took -photos, and translated the phone message. We bid farewell at the entrance to Hauchhöhle, and despite my best efforts at looking for a -corpse on the next walk down I found none and must assume he made it. Lucky really given his nice Nikon camera and the pictures of me and -Peter on his 35mm film...

- -
- -22/7/04 Hauchhöhle Olly, Peter +
22/7/04
+
Olly, Peter
+
Hauchhöhle

Julia had asked people to look at Hauchhöhle so Pete and I decided to have a poke. A survey was produced showing the main way on to be to the left at the bottom of the (first) pitch. Pete rigged the pitch and followed my bad advice of rethreading the rope around the @@ -518,260 +609,45 @@ of passage led to a further junction with two new leads. We pushed all the leads particular oxbow several times (Clifton's Circuit). Then we ran away to the Stone Bridge and recounted tales of our great adventure and miles of cave passage to whoever would listen.

-T/U 6hrs +
T/U 6hrs
-23/7/04 Hauchhöhle surveying Dave, Pete, Olly M +
22/7/04
+
Olly, Peter
+
Random German
-

Pete + Olly had returned to camp the previous day with tales of caverns measureless to man, and nothing surveyed. So I jumped at the -chance to go and practice my survey note-taking, hoping to go on to bolt down the pitches (or rather show Olly how).

- -

However I had somewhat underestimated the amount! Eleven hours later we crawled out, knackered, with 58 legs of survey in the book even -ignoring all the oxbows and loops, and more passage still going. (Olly had put one bolt in the pitch before getting caught up in the -surveying as well.)

- -T/U Pete + Dave 11h, Olly 10h +

Pete and I had failed to walk up the previous evening so an 8am rising and a run to the bus stop was in order. Waiting in Bad Aussee +allowed a random German bloke to approach and ask us if we could "show him the caves". Julia's powers of dissuasion are clearly lacking +because this random person proceeded to follow me and Peter from the top of the toll road to the plateau and on to the stone bridge (Julia +had lunch with Dour so didn't walk with us). Upon arriving he asked where the toilet was, "I need a big one", so I showed him the shitting +grike. Thankfully his aim was true and no further flies were attracted to mal-aimed turds. He then had two cups of hot chocolate, took +photos, and translated the phone message. We bid farewell at the entrance to Hauchhöhle, and despite my best efforts at looking for a +corpse on the next walk down I found none and must assume he made it. Lucky really given his nice Nikon camera and the pictures of me and +Peter on his 35mm film...

-24/7/04 Hauchhöhle again Dave, Becka, Pete, Olly M, Earl +
22/7/04
+
Jenny, Olly
+
76
-

A complex plan emerged over breakfast. Team keen (Dave + Becka) would go in and do some more surveying; team fester (Olly + Earl) would -bolt the pitch; and team artistic (Pete) would take some photos. At 11.30 team science (Dour) would shout dow surface hole 2002-02 so we -could check if it connected to the daylight aven in the main Hauchhöhle trunk. At 5pm the underground teams would meet up; Olly, Pete -and I would bugger off down the hill and Earl + Becka would keep on caving.

+

We went down 76 to push the pitch lead near the start of the "Test Tubes". It was unclear if the pitchhead was perched rocks or solid, +so I used a mostly convincing thread as a backup, and put in a traverse spit, then a Y hang out in the rift. The rift was a good 1.5m +wide, and tall so things looked promising. I descended and traversed upstream, but just round the corner was a pitch up. Downstream +dropped away and got narrower. Two rebelays later we were in the top of the rift, with a barely feasible squeeze into a lower level. The +bottom appeared to drop into blackness through a small hole – small stones dropped for a second or two if they got through the hole. The +position is such that this is very likely to be dropping into the original 70s pitch series, so there wasn't much motiviation for +desperate squeezes. Jenny tried to get through at a lower level, but that didn't work. So we surveyed out to connect to the previous Brave +New World survey and went home. Jenny put in a better placed spit for the ledge end of the pendule on the way out.

-

This complex plan worked surprisingly well. 2002-02 does connect. Pete got his photos. Becka + I surveyed some existing stuff; Becka -found a bypass to Tacklesack Blues via a roof tube. Then Becka spotted a traverse over the head of one of our pitches. After a quick -detour to collect the rope, and using a sling larks-footed around my belt as an improvised cowstail, we were across. Hey presto, yet more -passage! (Sweet Sight passage.) Stomp stomp stomp for 150m or so. Walked down the hill with 28 legs more survey in my pocket, in -addition to the previous day.

- -

[Continuation in Becka's handwriting] Earl kept rigging the pitch but the drill battery ran out after the pitchhead + deviation -bolts (part way through a Y-hang ~20m down from the pitchhead – probably another 15m drop beyond here). We then went back to Sweet Sight -passage + went up the left-hand roof tube QM just after the drippy aven with the bat skeleton. We surveyed 8 legs up there, past a tight -thrutch into an aven with water coming in and a too tight rift off. Out + home.

- -T/U Dave 6.5h; Olly 4h; Pete 4h; Earl 7h; Becka 9.5h +
T/U 5.5hrs
-24/7/04 Eislufthöhle – rigging down 70's route to Keg Series Jenny + Olly B - -

We decided that today we would continue down the 70s route and see how far we could get with the rope + hangers we had. I wanted to -play with the drill, so set off down to the current end of the rigging (the next ledge on from the Test Tube passage) and put in a nice -Y-hang. Meanwhile Olly swung around on the snow plugs below to retrieve my spanner he had lost. The pitch was really nice – the best so -far, a lovely hang in a huge shaft, on down to the next ledge + some 1970s spits, one of which was used as part of the Y, a deviation -later and I was at the bottom of "Plugged Shaft" on a bouldery floor with a huge bit of scaffold bar longer than I am! The next pitch -wasn't far away, and as we weren't certain how solid the floor was we continued the rope round – this is where the 112m rope ended, so we -tied on the 85m and Olly bolted down "Saved Shaft" with, as is typical of this cave, a deviation. We now arrived at a HUGE boulder pile, -with at least one boulder bigger than a car! The way on was under these with the draft. The boulders actually looked quite wedged, but it -is probably worth trying to get over the top sometime (a) to see if it goes anywhere new and (b) in the hope that it is safer. Olly rigged -a traverse line through the boulders, as once on the other side you are in a rift with veg in the floor [that's what I think this -says] dropping away into "Keg Series" 30 odd metres below. Olly rigged down this after doing some gardening of rocks at the pitch -head, including one ~1m across... Olly got to the bottom of the first pitch and carried on down. I set off down this pitch, being really -careful of all the loose stuff still there, and reached the bottom just as Olly had reached the end of the rope below. The pitch was quite -drippy by the end, and perhaps needs rigging differently for times of rain. Anyway, with no rope, one hanger and no maillons left we -decided to survey out, pulling the rope up to the top of the pitch so we can garden more next time. We wanted to survey with a plumb leg, -but the pitch wasn't quite free hanging, so the plan was for Olly to go up, and swing across to where it would plumb from. This worked -well until Olly dislodged a small rock with his foot which fell 12m to me below. As I was looking up at the tape it did not bounce off my -helmet but hit me on the top of my nose / bottom of my forehead. It hurt lots and I screamed lots thinking I was properly broken. After a -bit I realised Olly was asking in quite a concerned way if I was OK, so I thought for a bit if I was, my nose hurt lots, but there was -only a very small bit of blood, and once I opened my eyes I realised that I could see alright, so I shouted back that I was OK, and cried -some more until the pain died away a bit. We did a bit of surveyeing. Then decided to give up until we had done more gardening and -rigging, and went back to teh base of Saved Shaft. We surveyed back till it connected at The Ledge and went home.

- -T/U 10 hours - -
- -25/7/04 76 – Brave New World Olly + Jenny - -

Olly fettled the rigging in the entrance to add a tight guide line above the rock bridge, and we went into the Test Tube, and onto -Brave New World, this time turning right to the pitch, traversing round it (which I found scary as it was loose) and itno the oxbow on the -left, from here we followed walking passage past some calcite and gypsum pretties until we hit a T-junction with an even bigger passage. -We followed this right and came to another junction, in from of us was a pitch down, with a passage appearing to continue over it, and -passage heading off left, as we had no tackle we followed this to a junction / chamber. Here a very small passage went left, a pitch went -down in front and a smallish passage went right. We decided to survey back from here till it joined with the 1st Brave New World -survey.

- -T/U 6hrs - -

Walked up to 204 in the evening to see where it was and say "hi" to Earl + Becka. 204 bivvy is ~45mins from our bivvy, but I don't walk -very fast.

- -
- -26/7/04 76 – Brave New World Olly + Jenny - -

Decided to carry the drill through the Test Tube to bolt stuff in Brave New World. We decided it would be better to carry SRT kits -rather than wearing them too. Carrying tackle made the Test Tube seem much smaller and more arduous... Turned right into BNW, and Olly got -started with putting a traverse round the pitch that had made me scared the previous day. All went well till he dropped his stop onto a -ledge a few meters down. Shortly, the stop was retrieved and the traverse line rigged across, we were a bit cold so decided to postpone -further bolting and to survey leftwards at the next junction. This led to an aven that looked not too hard to climb and a probable passage -heading off at the top. We surveyed back, then I started to bolt down the pitch at the end of the traverse line, the ~15m pitch came down -to a high vadose passage that shortly led to a further pitch down that we had no rope for. Olly put in 2 spits in preparation for a later -trip and we surveyed back out. We still had hours left before our callout, so we went to look at the stream canyon beneath the passage on -from the ptich, assuming it would come out in the same pitch, soon it came out in what seemed to be yet another pitch... we surveyed this, -then left the cave.

- -T/U 11hrs - -
- -27/7/04 76 – Brave New World Olly + Jenny - -

Didn't feel like carrying tackle through the Test Tube again, so took survey gear to tick off some leads (hopefully). The first lead we -looked at was the tube on the right around halfway along, near the probable 99 connection. It got progressively narrower, and then there -were some small pristine white stals. We decided that it would be hard to get past them without touching them, so surveyed out. Continued -into Brave New World, and turned left to survey the oxbow passages, these are small and crappy and the 3 passages end up uniting and going -to a pitch in a stream canyon – we surveyed to here and attempted to plumb the pitch. It is ~6m deep. Still had time left so went the -other way along BNW, round the pitch and to the cahmber we started surveying from on the 25th. Looked down the passage on the right, this -gets bigger for a bit raising our hopes of this being the Train Tunnel passage we had been looking for, but it got lower and a crawl led -to a big aven chamber which looked not too hard to climb. From the chamber it was not obvious where we had come from as it all looked -small, so Olly named it "No Ways Chamber" though in fact I found another crawl out near ours that became vadose passage of a reasonable -size to an aven – this is still to be surveyed.

- -T/U 4.75hrs - -
- -25/7/04 Gardeners' World -> Subsoil Becka + Earl - -

Down Gaffered Series aargh, this rope is way too fast, welly-brake-tastic... To Gardeners' World + I went over my -"Generation Game" traverse to check that it really did go nowhere (sigh) then derigged it (not too exciting bar one -overly-dynmaic swing into space). Earl then did some re-rigging of Gardeners' World + rigged the pitch below to Subsoil chamber. I -was cold so scampered around for 5 minutes whilst Earl packed his drill up + I realised that we had some considerable new cave -here – so into survey mode. From chamber surveyed around chamber + then up Hippo Hollows (lovely mud pots) to a thin rift with a -large wet pitch around the corner then back to Subsoil + surveyed a loop then time to go home. Good stuff!

- -

Oh yes, I forgot the crap bit, coming up the Gaffered pitch series the mud on the rope meant that not one but both my jammers -were slipping, despite me having switched to a brand new chest jammer that day. At one poitn I got really unhappy and gave a mewling sound -then thought of a solution: my spare hand jammer on a long cowstail went above my other hand jammer. A bit slower but surely not -all three can slip? Finally got to the 70m Gaffered pitch which was lovely + clean rope (relatively) + I was going to survive. -Earl Teflon-Jammers Merson was, of course, fine + blamed it all on my poor technique.

- -T/U 10hrs - -
- -26/7/04 Rerigging Gaffered + Gardeners' World Becka + Earl - -

Earl was all for going straight back down to push Subsoil but I'd promised myself not to go down there again until there was fresh rope -on it so we carried in a 100m and a 65m and rerigged from Tape Worm all the way down (I replaced the top 91m – again - whilst -Earl Mud-Doesn't-Stick-To-Me Merson zoomed down on the slimy rope + replaced the bottom one). Then Earl went off to have a third attempt -at re-rigging Gardeners' World whilst I draped conservation tape around Sirens, Bracket Fungus, the Crystal Pool + Quiz Rift. I then got -cold + grouchy waiting whilst Earl put in deviation after deviation on Gardeners' World plus fresh pitch-head bolts + then had two -attempts at putting in a deviation bolt on the lower pitch (University Challenge).

- -

Finally down to Subsoil with no time left to do any sensible pushing so Earl put in two final bolts for the 4m pitch over a boulder for -the pasasge that leads to Earthenware whilst I checked that the Heavily Soiled passage went. A necessary but cold trip. On the way out we -started a system to keep the clean rope clean:

- -
    -
  • On the bottom, Eeyore pitch, no wellies on the rope.
    • -
  • After the traverse, wellies to be thoroughly washed (also footloops etc) before ascending.
    • -
  • Repeat scrubbing as required as ascend.
    • -
- -

I am about to purchase a scrubbing brush to leave in the pool after the traverse so, you dirty horrible cavers, don't go near my -spanking new rope unless you're pristine. Thanks to Tony for cleaning + checking the two filthy tackle bags of rope we hauled out.

- -T/U 10 hours - -
- -27/7/04 Surveying Subsoil Becka + Earl - -

The Razordance team was all off for a long trip so we decided to join them since it's the dinner tomorrow. Bloody cold at camp + -not feeling enthused with a damp furry but a lovely controlled descent on the clean rope cheered me up. Before that, on the first main -hang bolt on Gaffered, I found the rope really tight. Having a handy Earl, I manfully sent him down to sort it. There was a yelp as he did -a mini-plunge + then he said that seemed to have sorted it.

- -

Right down to Subsoil, rigged the tiddly 4m pitch (8m rope) off the boulder then started surveying out of Subsoil up Heavily Soiled -passage (very muddy – again) (need a 15m rope rigged off obvious natural to get down to it) with a good draft. Initially large, -steepish passage ending in a broken down area then popped out on edge of a large chamber. We were on a bank of mud only ~2m above the -chamber floor but we had no gear. The mud was crumbly and Earl was very cold so we stopped there. Also a drippy aven ahead there, again -trickly to get there despite being very close given the dubious tensile strength of banks of undercut mud. Stopped the survey + stomped -back to Subsoil. Earl then took the drill to put in too spits (last, highest one possibly dodgy as the rock cracked as he set it: "I think -this is the best Hilti I've ... oh dear") Meanwhile I conservation tabled some crystals + the mud floor at the start of Hippo Hollows + -the mud banks + spires at the bottom of the Subsoil chamber. Then we went up Earl's new 17m traverse into Earthenware passage, + we -surveyed as we went in, past various mud pretties + pools, stepping over a large + wet rift pitch + lots of QMs until Earthenware passage -reduced in size (but sill drafting? hard to tell – draft is very strong into your face at the start of Earthenware). At this point -we decided tos urvey down the large passage off left that led steeply down + twisting (Stoneware, as we finally lost the mud), + -ended in a muddy aven + then a drippy wet aven at a convenient 6.55pm, time to go home. Took the drill battery out. For two people it -takes ~ 1 1/2 hours to get to the bottom of Subsoil and ~ 2 1/2 hours to get out again, if carrying no real load.

- -T/U 11.5hrs - -

[Sketch: "Rigging guide below Underworld"]

- -
- -21/7/04 Gaffered Earl + Stuart - -

Descended to Eeyore to continue rigging Kanga pitch. Bolts had been placed on the previous trip, so adding a deviation enabled us to -descend. Tony and Brian had won the only available instrument set, so we escaped without surveying. Explored around the bottom; only way -on leads to a smally chamber with pitch (not promising) which may connect to a pitch in the main Kanga area.

- -

After that we moved round to the Sirens traverse to look at rigging around the big pitch Black Maria (03-17B). First part of -traverse was easy (big ledge, 2 naturals and a bolt) but then ledge ran out. Next bolt shattered the rock on setting, but there is scope -for a good Y-hang to the floor. Traversing on towards 03-18B will be nontrivial; probably bolting into overhanging wall, losing -height and scrambling back up to the QM. Ran out of enthusiasm, so left it at that.

- -

Returned up Gaffered and wet for a tourist around Swings. Stuart found a previously unnoticed QM (later pushed to a blind pitch) -(between 01-83C and the connection to The Slide). We then went to Treeumphant and Great Oak Chamber before returning via 204E.

- -T/U 9.5hrs - -

Stuart continues: After scrotting around at the base of Eeyore etc, Earl managed to increase the grade of the climb out by ~2 -grades by removing one of the footholds. This makes getting out for whoever surveys it "interesting". [It wasn't actually all that bad -- DL].

- -

Swings QM is a climb up on the right, where a gallery looks through several holes to Swings below. Hurrah for excessively bright + -pointy lights in finding such delights.

- -
- -27/7/04 Razor Dance Martin, Dave, Dour - -

My drill was at the bottom of Razor Dance, and since I was about to go home I needed to fish it out. Since there was a shortage of -people wanting to push the thing further, we decided to do one more push-survey-derig trip. Four days of attempting to dry out my fleecy -undersuit proved futile (not helped by rushing up the hill in the dark and rain the previous night due to a 12 hour error in the recorded -callout time for the Eisluft team). So at 8am I pulled on soaking wet undersuit prior to a 10am trip start. Twenty hours later I took it -off again, and for most of the intervening time I was too cold.

- -

Uneventful trip as far as the start of Razor Dance, wehere the water level was higher than I've ever seen – probably double the usual -levels. The wet climb was unpleasant but passable so we elected to carry on. Most of the pitches were fine: an extra waterfall had -appeared at Mash Tun, but it was OK. The bottom of Copper was very wet – borderline dangerous. The rebelay on Yeast is in a star -place for avoiding the water (shame about the pitch head bolts, which need a tector). In conclusion, Razor Dance will be OK in the wet -with an extra couple of bolts: one on the first wet climb, and another for a water avoidance deviation on Copper.

- -

From the pushing front the stream continues in a tedious winding fashion. Martin headed onward with the drill (having earlier put in a -rebelay bolt on Pepper Pot) while Dave + Dour surveyed. Dave couldn't read the instruments so I was forced to peer through the murk. SOme -creativity was required to fabricate some data. Much tedious dicking about in the rift to find the right level and a 6m pitch later we -reached the deep point (204 now 544m deep) where the water goes down a tiny slot. Round the corner an ascending traverse goes to a much -wider bit (~4m wide) – looks like a weak bed has been exploited to make the widening - the bed is visible cutting across the passage. A -line is needed where the traverse gets muddy and slippy – lots of brown mud with a black crust with dessication cracks (at least there -was before I stomped/bumslid across it). The drill battery had done its usual trick of going from 4 bars to none in no time at all, so a -Martin special pushing rig was put in place. Cartoon laws of rigging apply: the naturals are sound so long as you don't look at them too -closely. More bolts needed next time. At the end is a pitch that we couldn't get close enough to see down – estimate 20m on the basis of -throwing one rock down it (i.e. it could be any length at all). [Incidentally, this point is around 10m above the level at which the -stream was last seen.—DL]

- -

Thereafter we (read Dave) derigged out as far as God Loves a Drunk, where soup was consumed. The drill and a bag of rope wlaked out of -the cave all on their own, whilst another bag of rope got tired at the bottom of Kiwi Suit. Team foot jammer levitated out whilst -expending no effort at all, whilst this dinosaur frogged out at his usual funereal pace.

- -

Pushing Razordance is becoming quite serious in terms of the amount of effort and gear required. It is only worth pushing next year if -there are enough (i.e. more than 4) moderately hard (but not necessarily bionic) people interested in pushing it.

- -T/U Martin 15hrs, Dave 16hrs, Dour 17.5hrs - -
- -22/7/04 2004-11 – "In Your Face" Martin, Nial, and Stuart +
22/7/04
+
Martin, Nial, and Stuart
+
2004-11 – "In Your Face"

"Come and look at our great new cave" they said. "Could be a new 204 entrance" they said. "DON'T YOU DARE FIND THE END OF IT" they (Becka) said.

@@ -792,11 +668,28 @@ stopped.

Some effort was put into starting a traverse line to the higher passage leading on from the pitch head, but thoughts of food, warmth etc. caused the general consensus to be "jack". Also, the probability of our only remaining lead dying was causing some perturbation.

-T/U 7.5hrs +
T/U 7.5hrs
-23/7/04 In Your Face + 204 scrotting Martin and Stuart +
23/7/04
+
Dave, Pete, Olly M
+
Hauchhöhle surveying
+ +

Pete + Olly had returned to camp the previous day with tales of caverns measureless to man, and nothing surveyed. So I jumped at the +chance to go and practice my survey note-taking, hoping to go on to bolt down the pitches (or rather show Olly how).

+ +

However I had somewhat underestimated the amount! Eleven hours later we crawled out, knackered, with 58 legs of survey in the book even +ignoring all the oxbows and loops, and more passage still going. (Olly had put one bolt in the pitch before getting caught up in the +surveying as well.)

+ +
T/U Pete + Dave 11h, Olly 10h
+ +
+ +
23/7/04
+
Martin and Stuart
+
In Your Face + 204 scrotting

Somehow I had ended up in 2004-11 again. Martin completed the traverse in record time and declared, "It's huge stomping passage, looks good". This was unfortunate, since we had ventured out that morning without instruments. And so it was that I chastised Martin, "You @@ -823,11 +716,184 @@ to all caver-kind, getting stuck on EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THING, and thus causing paces. The horror inflicted by this item in Germknödel's Revenge mere words cannot describe. Let's just say thab being moored by cave and tackle bag, and trying to turn round in the passage at the same time, is SHIT.

-T/U 7.5hrs +
T/U 7.5hrs
-27/7/04 Plateau walk + Hauchhöhle Peter, Olly M +
24/7/04
+
Dave, Becka, Pete, Olly M, Earl
+
Hauchhöhle again
+ +

A complex plan emerged over breakfast. Team keen (Dave + Becka) would go in and do some more surveying; team fester (Olly + Earl) would +bolt the pitch; and team artistic (Pete) would take some photos. At 11.30 team science (Dour) would shout dow surface hole 2002-02 so we +could check if it connected to the daylight aven in the main Hauchhöhle trunk. At 5pm the underground teams would meet up; Olly, Pete +and I would bugger off down the hill and Earl + Becka would keep on caving.

+ +

This complex plan worked surprisingly well. 2002-02 does connect. Pete got his photos. Becka + I surveyed some existing stuff; Becka +found a bypass to Tacklesack Blues via a roof tube. Then Becka spotted a traverse over the head of one of our pitches. After a quick +detour to collect the rope, and using a sling larks-footed around my belt as an improvised cowstail, we were across. Hey presto, yet more +passage! (Sweet Sight passage.) Stomp stomp stomp for 150m or so. Walked down the hill with 28 legs more survey in my pocket, in +addition to the previous day.

+ +

[Continuation in Becka's handwriting] Earl kept rigging the pitch but the drill battery ran out after the pitchhead + deviation +bolts (part way through a Y-hang ~20m down from the pitchhead – probably another 15m drop beyond here). We then went back to Sweet Sight +passage + went up the left-hand roof tube QM just after the drippy aven with the bat skeleton. We surveyed 8 legs up there, past a tight +thrutch into an aven with water coming in and a too tight rift off. Out + home.

+ +
T/U Dave 6.5h; Olly 4h; Pete 4h; Earl 7h; Becka 9.5h
+ +
+ +
24/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly B
+
Eislufthöhle – rigging down 70's route to Keg Series
+ +

We decided that today we would continue down the 70s route and see how far we could get with the rope + hangers we had. I wanted to +play with the drill, so set off down to the current end of the rigging (the next ledge on from the Test Tube passage) and put in a nice +Y-hang. Meanwhile Olly swung around on the snow plugs below to retrieve my spanner he had lost. The pitch was really nice – the best so +far, a lovely hang in a huge shaft, on down to the next ledge + some 1970s spits, one of which was used as part of the Y, a deviation +later and I was at the bottom of "Plugged Shaft" on a bouldery floor with a huge bit of scaffold bar longer than I am! The next pitch +wasn't far away, and as we weren't certain how solid the floor was we continued the rope round – this is where the 112m rope ended, so we +tied on the 85m and Olly bolted down "Saved Shaft" with, as is typical of this cave, a deviation. We now arrived at a HUGE boulder pile, +with at least one boulder bigger than a car! The way on was under these with the draft. The boulders actually looked quite wedged, but it +is probably worth trying to get over the top sometime (a) to see if it goes anywhere new and (b) in the hope that it is safer. Olly rigged +a traverse line through the boulders, as once on the other side you are in a rift with veg in the floor [that's what I think this +says] dropping away into "Keg Series" 30 odd metres below. Olly rigged down this after doing some gardening of rocks at the pitch +head, including one ~1m across... Olly got to the bottom of the first pitch and carried on down. I set off down this pitch, being really +careful of all the loose stuff still there, and reached the bottom just as Olly had reached the end of the rope below. The pitch was quite +drippy by the end, and perhaps needs rigging differently for times of rain. Anyway, with no rope, one hanger and no maillons left we +decided to survey out, pulling the rope up to the top of the pitch so we can garden more next time. We wanted to survey with a plumb leg, +but the pitch wasn't quite free hanging, so the plan was for Olly to go up, and swing across to where it would plumb from. This worked +well until Olly dislodged a small rock with his foot which fell 12m to me below. As I was looking up at the tape it did not bounce off my +helmet but hit me on the top of my nose / bottom of my forehead. It hurt lots and I screamed lots thinking I was properly broken. After a +bit I realised Olly was asking in quite a concerned way if I was OK, so I thought for a bit if I was, my nose hurt lots, but there was +only a very small bit of blood, and once I opened my eyes I realised that I could see alright, so I shouted back that I was OK, and cried +some more until the pain died away a bit. We did a bit of surveyeing. Then decided to give up until we had done more gardening and +rigging, and went back to teh base of Saved Shaft. We surveyed back till it connected at The Ledge and went home.

+ +
T/U 10 hours
+ +
+ +
25/7/04
+
Becka + Earl
+
Gardeners' World -> Subsoil
+ +

Down Gaffered Series aargh, this rope is way too fast, welly-brake-tastic... To Gardeners' World + I went over my +"Generation Game" traverse to check that it really did go nowhere (sigh) then derigged it (not too exciting bar one +overly-dynmaic swing into space). Earl then did some re-rigging of Gardeners' World + rigged the pitch below to Subsoil chamber. I +was cold so scampered around for 5 minutes whilst Earl packed his drill up + I realised that we had some considerable new cave +here – so into survey mode. From chamber surveyed around chamber + then up Hippo Hollows (lovely mud pots) to a thin rift with a +large wet pitch around the corner then back to Subsoil + surveyed a loop then time to go home. Good stuff!

+ +

Oh yes, I forgot the crap bit, coming up the Gaffered pitch series the mud on the rope meant that not one but both my jammers +were slipping, despite me having switched to a brand new chest jammer that day. At one poitn I got really unhappy and gave a mewling sound +then thought of a solution: my spare hand jammer on a long cowstail went above my other hand jammer. A bit slower but surely not +all three can slip? Finally got to the 70m Gaffered pitch which was lovely + clean rope (relatively) + I was going to survive. +Earl Teflon-Jammers Merson was, of course, fine + blamed it all on my poor technique.

+ +
T/U 10hrs
+ +
+ +
25/7/04
+
Olly + Jenny
+
76 – Brave New World
+ +

Olly fettled the rigging in the entrance to add a tight guide line above the rock bridge, and we went into the Test Tube, and onto +Brave New World, this time turning right to the pitch, traversing round it (which I found scary as it was loose) and itno the oxbow on the +left, from here we followed walking passage past some calcite and gypsum pretties until we hit a T-junction with an even bigger passage. +We followed this right and came to another junction, in from of us was a pitch down, with a passage appearing to continue over it, and +passage heading off left, as we had no tackle we followed this to a junction / chamber. Here a very small passage went left, a pitch went +down in front and a smallish passage went right. We decided to survey back from here till it joined with the 1st Brave New World +survey.

+ +
T/U 6hrs
+ +

Walked up to 204 in the evening to see where it was and say "hi" to Earl + Becka. 204 bivvy is ~45mins from our bivvy, but I don't walk +very fast.

+ +
+ +
26/7/04
+
Becka + Earl
+
Rerigging Gaffered + Gardeners' World
+ +

Earl was all for going straight back down to push Subsoil but I'd promised myself not to go down there again until there was fresh rope +on it so we carried in a 100m and a 65m and rerigged from Tape Worm all the way down (I replaced the top 91m – again – whilst +Earl Mud-Doesn't-Stick-To-Me Merson zoomed down on the slimy rope + replaced the bottom one). Then Earl went off to have a third attempt +at re-rigging Gardeners' World whilst I draped conservation tape around Sirens, Bracket Fungus, the Crystal Pool + Quiz Rift. I then got +cold + grouchy waiting whilst Earl put in deviation after deviation on Gardeners' World plus fresh pitch-head bolts + then had two +attempts at putting in a deviation bolt on the lower pitch (University Challenge).

+ +

Finally down to Subsoil with no time left to do any sensible pushing so Earl put in two final bolts for the 4m pitch over a boulder for +the pasasge that leads to Earthenware whilst I checked that the Heavily Soiled passage went. A necessary but cold trip. On the way out we +started a system to keep the clean rope clean:

+ +
    +
  • On the bottom, Eeyore pitch, no wellies on the rope.
    • +
  • After the traverse, wellies to be thoroughly washed (also footloops etc) before ascending.
    • +
  • Repeat scrubbing as required as ascend.
    • +
+ +

I am about to purchase a scrubbing brush to leave in the pool after the traverse so, you dirty horrible cavers, don't go near my +spanking new rope unless you're pristine. Thanks to Tony for cleaning + checking the two filthy tackle bags of rope we hauled out.

+ +
T/U 10 hours
+ +
+ +
26/7/04
+
Olly + Jenny
+
76 – Brave New World
+ +

Decided to carry the drill through the Test Tube to bolt stuff in Brave New World. We decided it would be better to carry SRT kits +rather than wearing them too. Carrying tackle made the Test Tube seem much smaller and more arduous... Turned right into BNW, and Olly got +started with putting a traverse round the pitch that had made me scared the previous day. All went well till he dropped his stop onto a +ledge a few meters down. Shortly, the stop was retrieved and the traverse line rigged across, we were a bit cold so decided to postpone +further bolting and to survey leftwards at the next junction. This led to an aven that looked not too hard to climb and a probable passage +heading off at the top. We surveyed back, then I started to bolt down the pitch at the end of the traverse line, the ~15m pitch came down +to a high vadose passage that shortly led to a further pitch down that we had no rope for. Olly put in 2 spits in preparation for a later +trip and we surveyed back out. We still had hours left before our callout, so we went to look at the stream canyon beneath the passage on +from the ptich, assuming it would come out in the same pitch, soon it came out in what seemed to be yet another pitch... we surveyed this, +then left the cave.

+ +
T/U 11hrs
+ +
+ +
27/7/04
+
Becka + Earl
+
Surveying Subsoil
+ +

The Razordance team was all off for a long trip so we decided to join them since it's the dinner tomorrow. Bloody cold at camp + +not feeling enthused with a damp furry but a lovely controlled descent on the clean rope cheered me up. Before that, on the first main +hang bolt on Gaffered, I found the rope really tight. Having a handy Earl, I manfully sent him down to sort it. There was a yelp as he did +a mini-plunge + then he said that seemed to have sorted it.

+ +

Right down to Subsoil, rigged the tiddly 4m pitch (8m rope) off the boulder then started surveying out of Subsoil up Heavily Soiled +passage (very muddy – again) (need a 15m rope rigged off obvious natural to get down to it) with a good draft. Initially large, +steepish passage ending in a broken down area then popped out on edge of a large chamber. We were on a bank of mud only ~2m above the +chamber floor but we had no gear. The mud was crumbly and Earl was very cold so we stopped there. Also a drippy aven ahead there, again +trickly to get there despite being very close given the dubious tensile strength of banks of undercut mud. Stopped the survey + stomped +back to Subsoil. Earl then took the drill to put in too spits (last, highest one possibly dodgy as the rock cracked as he set it: "I think +this is the best Hilti I've ... oh dear") Meanwhile I conservation tabled some crystals + the mud floor at the start of Hippo Hollows + +the mud banks + spires at the bottom of the Subsoil chamber. Then we went up Earl's new 17m traverse into Earthenware passage, + we +surveyed as we went in, past various mud pretties + pools, stepping over a large + wet rift pitch + lots of QMs until Earthenware passage +reduced in size (but sill drafting? hard to tell – draft is very strong into your face at the start of Earthenware). At this point +we decided tos urvey down the large passage off left that led steeply down + twisting (Stoneware, as we finally lost the mud), + +ended in a muddy aven + then a drippy wet aven at a convenient 6.55pm, time to go home. Took the drill battery out. For two people it +takes ~ 1 1/2 hours to get to the bottom of Subsoil and ~ 2 1/2 hours to get out again, if carrying no real load.

+ +
T/U 11.5hrs
+ +

[Sketch: "Rigging guide below Underworld"]

+ +
+ +
27/7/04
+
Peter, Olly M
+
Plateau walk + Hauchhöhle

Finally set off up the hill to fetch the remainder of my caving gear at 3.50pm, intending to make a quick return in daylight with the gear. Olly M kindly came along for the walk and to help me carry. (Perhaps also the best way to ensure that I didn't get lost on the @@ -872,11 +938,103 @@ one later on was similarly dealt with.

Got back to car park tired, sore and bruised at about 10:40pm. I suspect I'll sleep soundly tonight!

-T/U 1hr (Peter) +
T/U 1hr (Peter)
-30/7/04 Hauchhöhle: How to knacker yourself in the least interesting way possible Dave, Stuat +
27/7/04
+
Martin, Dave, Dour
+
Razor Dance
+ +

My drill was at the bottom of Razor Dance, and since I was about to go home I needed to fish it out. Since there was a shortage of +people wanting to push the thing further, we decided to do one more push-survey-derig trip. Four days of attempting to dry out my fleecy +undersuit proved futile (not helped by rushing up the hill in the dark and rain the previous night due to a 12 hour error in the recorded +callout time for the Eisluft team). So at 8am I pulled on soaking wet undersuit prior to a 10am trip start. Twenty hours later I took it +off again, and for most of the intervening time I was too cold.

+ +

Uneventful trip as far as the start of Razor Dance, wehere the water level was higher than I've ever seen – probably double the usual +levels. The wet climb was unpleasant but passable so we elected to carry on. Most of the pitches were fine: an extra waterfall had +appeared at Mash Tun, but it was OK. The bottom of Copper was very wet – borderline dangerous. The rebelay on Yeast is in a star +place for avoiding the water (shame about the pitch head bolts, which need a tector). In conclusion, Razor Dance will be OK in the wet +with an extra couple of bolts: one on the first wet climb, and another for a water avoidance deviation on Copper.

+ +

From the pushing front the stream continues in a tedious winding fashion. Martin headed onward with the drill (having earlier put in a +rebelay bolt on Pepper Pot) while Dave + Dour surveyed. Dave couldn't read the instruments so I was forced to peer through the murk. SOme +creativity was required to fabricate some data. Much tedious dicking about in the rift to find the right level and a 6m pitch later we +reached the deep point (204 now 544m deep) where the water goes down a tiny slot. Round the corner an ascending traverse goes to a much +wider bit (~4m wide) – looks like a weak bed has been exploited to make the widening – the bed is visible cutting across the passage. A +line is needed where the traverse gets muddy and slippy – lots of brown mud with a black crust with dessication cracks (at least there +was before I stomped/bumslid across it). The drill battery had done its usual trick of going from 4 bars to none in no time at all, so a +Martin special pushing rig was put in place. Cartoon laws of rigging apply: the naturals are sound so long as you don't look at them too +closely. More bolts needed next time. At the end is a pitch that we couldn't get close enough to see down – estimate 20m on the basis of +throwing one rock down it (i.e. it could be any length at all). [Incidentally, this point is around 10m above the level at which the +stream was last seen.—DL]

+ +

Thereafter we (read Dave) derigged out as far as God Loves a Drunk, where soup was consumed. The drill and a bag of rope wlaked out of +the cave all on their own, whilst another bag of rope got tired at the bottom of Kiwi Suit. Team foot jammer levitated out whilst +expending no effort at all, whilst this dinosaur frogged out at his usual funereal pace.

+ +

Pushing Razordance is becoming quite serious in terms of the amount of effort and gear required. It is only worth pushing next year if +there are enough (i.e. more than 4) moderately hard (but not necessarily bionic) people interested in pushing it.

+ +
T/U Martin 15hrs, Dave 16hrs, Dour 17.5hrs
+ +
+ +
27/7/04
+
Olly + Jenny
+
76 – Brave New World
+ +

Didn't feel like carrying tackle through the Test Tube again, so took survey gear to tick off some leads (hopefully). The first lead we +looked at was the tube on the right around halfway along, near the probable 99 connection. It got progressively narrower, and then there +were some small pristine white stals. We decided that it would be hard to get past them without touching them, so surveyed out. Continued +into Brave New World, and turned left to survey the oxbow passages, these are small and crappy and the 3 passages end up uniting and going +to a pitch in a stream canyon – we surveyed to here and attempted to plumb the pitch. It is ~6m deep. Still had time left so went the +other way along BNW, round the pitch and to the cahmber we started surveying from on the 25th. Looked down the passage on the right, this +gets bigger for a bit raising our hopes of this being the Train Tunnel passage we had been looking for, but it got lower and a crawl led +to a big aven chamber which looked not too hard to climb. From the chamber it was not obvious where we had come from as it all looked +small, so Olly named it "No Ways Chamber" though in fact I found another crawl out near ours that became vadose passage of a reasonable +size to an aven – this is still to be surveyed.

+ +
T/U 4.75hrs
+ +
+ +
29/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly
+
76 + surface shaft
+ +

Olly wasn't feeling too well, so he did some surface stuff whilst I went into Brave New World to retrieve the hangers, skyhook, slings +etc, and to carry a bag of rope down to The Ledge ready for the next day.

+ +
T/U Jenny 1.5hrs
+ +
+ +
30/7/04
+
Becka, Earl, Nial + Julian
+
Subsoil – Fat Worm Blows a Sparky
+ +

Off to rig + survey leads at the end of Hippo Hollows in Subsoil. Nial + Becka surveyed two tubes on the left at the end of Hippo +Hollows. First just popped out to look over the rift that the main passage ended on. Further back, the tube went steeply up to a small +pitch. Earl put in two bolts for a Y-hang. We put in a comedy traverse over the top of the pitch (not far, but rigged on feeble naturals +on the far side, and passing over slippery mud) and continued the survey up the tube the far side to a small pitch with a possible vocal +connection to the rift at the end of Hippo Hollows. Pitch a QM B. Then back to the Y-hang and I descended the short pitch. A +small crawl at the bottom seemed to immediately open out onto a pitch. I didn't push it (needed to take SRT kit off) but another +QM B.

+ +

Meanwhile Earl had belayed Julian as he free-climbed down the rift at the end of Hippo Hollows to descend into Fat Worm Blows a +Sparky. Becka and Nial surveyed down into FWBAS and started to survey there whilst Earl tried to drill spits for a more sensible rig +down to FWBAS (and failed – we were using a rope dangled down the rift with lots of rubs so you have to free climb up and down). Found +some weird white formations like plastic in a passage at the end of the survey, which Julian photographed.

+ +
T/U 10 hrs
+ +
+ +
30/7/04
+
Dave, Stuat
+
Hauchhöhle: How to knacker yourself in the least interesting way possible

Plan was to do a quick Hauch trip then a surface wander. Proceeded to bottom of pitch rigged by Earl on a previous trip, where there was a half-drilled Hilti hole. Drilled this fully, + placed a Y-hang (plus one duff spit that sank too deep).

@@ -896,20 +1054,13 @@ since. Buggeration.

[Sketch elevation of Pie Series, which was later properly surveyed]

-T/U 4hrs +
T/U 4hrs
-29/7/04 76 + surface shaft Jenny + Olly - -

Olly wasn't feeling too well, so he did some surface stuff whilst I went into Brave New World to retrieve the hangers, skyhook, slings -etc, and to carry a bag of rope down to The Ledge ready for the next day.

- -T/U Jenny 1.5hrs - -
- -30/7/2004 76 – Keg Series Jenny + Olly +
30/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly
+
76 – Keg Series

Went down to the top of Keg Series with lots of rigging gear + drill. Olly did some more gardening (but there is still lots of loose stuff around) and went down; rather than heading straight down the pitch like last time, he swung across into the passage ~ 1/3 of the way @@ -943,11 +1094,51 @@ the deviation so I could up-flick the rope, then prusik gently past the rub poin rub, because that was how Olly said cartoons work! Anyway the rope was only a bit furry, I didn't die and we exited the rest of the cave uneventfully.

-T/U 12hrs +
T/U 12hrs
-31/7/04 Surface stuff Jenny + Olly +
30/7/04
+
Tony + Brian
+
2003-02 bolting
+ +

Using club drill + blue dynamic rope, bolted around corner from pitch head bolt (2003-02-01 survey station #8) and up wall on right +side of chamber to small window. Squeezed through to small chamber (~5m) with no way on. Derigged + exit.

+ +
+ +
31/7/04
+
Becka, Julian, Earl, Frank, Nial
+
Subsoil
+ +

Becka + Julian set off an hour ahead of the crowd + did some virtuous QM ticking by surveying up the sandy tube at the top of the +Subsoil chamber where Gardeners' World / U. C. pitch comes in. The right tube closed down. The left one was small but straightforward and +connected in to Earl + my Heavily Soiled survey so ticked off one of the sandy crawl QMs there too (still leaving another crawl QM off +from Heavily Soiled to be checked). Back to Subsoil and met others. I went with Frank to continue the Earthenware survey, going straight +ahead where Stoneware branched left. After a short while continuing straight ahead, I saw black space up to the right so we surveyed up +there (care, nice calcite on left wall, we conservation-taped this route off on the next trip). Into big passage +and surveyed left (north). The roof rapidly closed in due to massive collapse of rock from the roof to end in a boulder choke which didn't +really draft.

+ +

Back to Subsoil and Frank headed out. Earl was still trying to get a better rig into Fat Worm Blows a Sparky (see yesterday). Nial and +I continued the survey off FWBAS from Julian + his survey until we'd run out of time + pretty well ticked off all the horizontal leads. +The last bit of our survey down a thin rift only needed a handline to protect a climb down and was the deepest part surveyed. [As far +as I can tell from the survey this doesn't seem to be true – station 17 of the Fat Worm 2 survey is a good five metres +lower.—DL] Where Nial and I started to survey, beyond the dead bat, there was a freeclimb (QM B) up to the left which then +needed protecting for the final few metres up to an enticing-looking lead. We surveyed a rift to the right. On an alcove on the left in +the sandy floor were HUNDREDS of bat bones, as if a whole roost had died there. There are many bat bones throughout Subsoil (washing out +of the mud?) but especially concentrated here. Heading down from this point on the 3/8/04 trip I checked this: it continued steeply down +boulders to a small chamber with a small wet aven – just about a QM B. This is noted on the first page of the 3/8/04 survey notes from +Becka and Nial (pocket 2004#44). Earl then was removed from his rigging and we went home, letting Earl escape first to get the food +on.

+ +
T/U Becka 12 hours, Nial 11, Earl 10, Julian 9.5, Frank 8.5
+ +
+ +
31/7/04
+
Jenny + Olly
+
Surface stuff

Walked towards the high point approximately west of 76 and the bivvy. Just below (on the east side) of the high point we found a series of 3 entrances along a fault/joint; we called this 2004-05. They were 10m to a ledge, then seemed to go deeper, but we didn't have tackle @@ -974,116 +1165,379 @@ good drop and rattle" – sorry no photos or survey, but it was GPSed.

-1/8/04 76 – to the Tap Room Jenny + Olly +
31/7/04
+
Tony + Brian
+
Skinny Festerers
+ +

Rigged in to base of pitch. Tony put in 2 bolts to climb A lead in right wall of chamber. Revealed short passage to corner; left way on +blocked by boulders – persuaded downwards – revealing a climbable rift to a tube again blocked by removable boulders, to narrow low +awkward passage to pitch head blocked by large boulder. Needed persuaders. Went home.

+ +
+ +
1/8/04
+
Becka, Martin + Julian
+
Earthenware
+ +

Martin was keen to see Gaffered. Julian and I were feeling a bit worn but went for it. Down to where Frank and I had finished our +survey yesterday. We connected our survey in to an earlier point along Earthenware where Frank and I had made a vocal connection yesterday +then continued the survey south going relatively slowly due to Martin's conscientious note-taking. Very large passage ended in a mud choke +but we turned off left up a reasonably large passage heading up steeply. This closed down to a small chamber with an unpromising rift off +to the left but it drafted well and after some short legs we popped out into the bottom of a large mud ramp. We surveyed up this as far as +was sensible given the slope + the very slippery mud – would be OK with a handline. Then back down the slope and surveyed up a very +similar mud ramp off to the side: this ended in a short climb which could be straightforward but would be best protected + wasn't worth us +doing as it looked like it led straight to a pitch. Then retreated back to near the boulder collapse where Frank and I had surveyed +yesterday and surveyed up a thin drafting tube that I had noticed yesterday. This led up steeply with a pitch (with a nasty mud slope at +the edge and uncertain floor beneath); at the top and to the left is a small chamber with a boulder choke which is presumably the same as +the main choke at the west end of the big passage. Out.

+ +
T/U 10 hours
+ +
+ +
1/8/04
+
Jenny + Olly
+
76 – to the Tap Room

Went back down to the top of Keg Series, but this time continued down the 70s route, down a short climb to a small chamber. The route continued down the rift; we used a chockstone (a big one) as a backup and Olly suggested a good place for a spit. I climbed round and started to put the spit in; I got as far as it nearly being set when I gave up (sore ankle + leg cramp) + let Olly take over. Olly was impressed at how far out I had managed to place the spit and didn't call me a wuss for not finishing it. A deviation got us to the next ledge where Olly put in a backup spit and got started on a Y. Over the space of a couple of minutes what was a very distant small water -trickle became very loud + sounded very close - I was concerned that a raging torrent along with loose rocks would appear from an aven +trickle became very loud + sounded very close – I was concerned that a raging torrent along with loose rocks would appear from an aven above; fortunately it didn't and we didn't die. It transpired that it had started to rain about 40mins earlier. Olly carried on down the pitch and got to a narrowish rift; this widened out where a passage joined from the right into a chamber with big boulders (the Tap Room). This was very drippy and wet so we left rigging on for another day and looked at the other inlet, reached from a small climb. This soon -intersected a big pitch, with the passage continuing on - it looked reasonably easy to swing across, but we left this for a later date. We +intersected a big pitch, with the passage continuing on – it looked reasonably easy to swing across, but we left this for a later date. We surveyed and derigged out; I greased the spits as well, until the grease ran out at the bottom of Plugged Shaft, which was good as we had far too much to carry already.

-T/U 10hrs +
T/U 10hrs
-19/7/04 2003-02 (Blaudrachenschact) Brian +
1/8/04
+
Stuart, Olly M, Mark
+
Surface prospecting near Hauchhöhle
-

Went in 2003-02 with Earl's drill and rigged to the bottom of the pitch. Abbed off pitchhead bolt put in 2003 down 6m to rebelay then 2 -rebelays on far wall to main drop. Dropped a few stones to find best hang through a narrow rift 13m below; didn't quite judge it right so -put in another bolt as a deviation when I got down to the rift.

+

Mark arrives at the stone brige previous night, claiming thousands of new really good caves near Hauchhöhle, maybe doing +important link of 204->161/elsewhere. Much amazement ensues.

-

Then a 43m hang to a rebelay where I wibbled a bit, feeling isolated and wet, then down to the floor. Bollocks! No way on. But wait, a -short climb up the side of the shaft and another hole. But no more rope, so I went home.

+

1st Aug sees motley crüe going to look @ said holes, who then find most of them go ~3m.

+ +

Further exploration found large fault with a few caves of slight biggerness. Minging through trip found (minging whilst in surface +clothes) and a promising lead or two also noted.

+ +

When finally changed into cave gear, one of these leads was surveyed (2004-14), bolted and photographed. At this point rumbling +from the heavens stopped play.

+ +

Sheltering in the through trip cave, a small crawl was found (and later this cave was surveyed by Olly & Frank (2004-15), +and crawl gets too tight).

+ +

Boredom set in, leading to a desperate flight across the plateau in the Donner + Blitzen, which was very silly.

+ +
T/U ~0.5h – maybe less, at no point out of light from surface.
-21/7/04 2003-02 (Blaudrachenschact) Tony + Brian - -

Surveyed to bottom with short rope to investigate rifty hole at base of shaft: it closed down after a 5m climb down through boulders. -Went home.

- -22/7/04 Surface bash Tony + Brian - -

Started out walking to the NE of 204 area until we met the big change in slope overlooking the valley with the Stogerweg at the bottom. -Then walked along side of valley until we found two entrances of note: GPSsed, tagged and photographed them.

- -
    -
  • 2004-12: N47° 41' 06.1'' E013° 49' 38.8'
    • -
  • 2004-13: N47° 41' 02.0'' E013° 49' 38.7''
    • -
- -

Went back via Damoclesschacht.

- -
- -30/7/04 2003-02 bolting Tony + Brian - -

Using club drill + blue dynamic rope, bolted around corner from pitch head bolt (2003-02-01 survey station #8) and up wall on right -side of chamber to small window. Squeezed through to small chamber (~5m) with no way on. Derigged + exit.

- -
- -31/7/04 Skinny Festerers Tony + Brian - -

Rigged in to base of pitch. Tony put in 2 bolts to climb A lead in right wall of chamber. Revealed short passage to corner; left way on -blocked by boulders - persuaded downwards - revealing a climbable rift to a tube again blocked by removable boulders, to narrow low -awkward passage to pitch head blocked by large boulder. Needed persuaders. Went home.

- -
- -1/8/04 Skinny Festerers Tony + Brian +
1/8/04
+
Tony + Brian
+
Skinny Festerers

Came back with lump hammer and crowbar and persuaded boulder to reduce in size. Tony forced a way through to place a pitch head bolt and descend to small chamber with a squeeze through a rift in the floor. Descended to rifty chamber with no way on. Went home.

-30/7/04 Subsoil - Fat Worm Blows a Sparky Becka, Earl, Nial + Julian +
2/8/04
+
Becka, Nial, Stuart, Earl + Martin
+
Loop closures + Cresta Run
-

Off to rig + survey leads at the end of Hippo Hollows in Subsoil. Nial + Becka surveyed two tubes on the left at the end of Hippo -Hollows. First just popped out to look over the rift that the main passage ended on. Further back, the tube went steeply up to a small -pitch. Earl put in two bolts for a Y-hang. We put in a comedy traverse over the top of the pitch (not far, but rigged on feeble naturals -on the far side, and passing over slippery mud) and continued the survey up the tube the far side to a small pitch with a possible vocal -connection to the rift at the end of Hippo Hollows. Pitch a QM B. Then back to the Y-hang and I descended the short pitch. A -small crawl at the bottom seemed to immediately open out onto a pitch. I didn't push it (needed to take SRT kit off) but another -QM B.

+

Becka + Nial in early to take some BDH + Peli case sponsorship photos, and to derig the pitches into Rhino Rift and take the rope to +the end of Swings + Roundabouts. Martin (with Earl as a backup rigger) then went up the rope which Martin had put in the bolts for earlier +this Expo (and that Earl had climbed putting in handbolts in ?2001 / ?2000) and rigged down the far side and – bingo – found a survey +station from Helter Skelter. Meanwhile team survey (Becka, Nial + Stuart) surveyed Trapeze, a climb to a gallery above the main +Swings passage and a small chamber below which can be reached by a squeeze at the bottom of the main passage – Nial and I had looked at +this on 18th July and Stuart and Earl had independently looked at it on a later trip. [21/7/04 I think.—DL]

-

Meanwhile Earl had belayed Julian as he free-climbed down the rift at the end of Hippo Hollows to descend into Fat Worm Blows a -Sparky. Becka and Nial surveyed down into FWBAS and started to survey there whilst Earl tried to drill spits for a more sensible rig -down to FWBAS (and failed - we were using a rope dangled down the rift with lots of rubs so you have to free climb up and down). Found -some weird white formations like plastic in a passage at the end of the survey, which Julian photographed.

+

Then off to the Helter Skelter connection and started surveying this whilst Martin + Earl took the drill to Insignificant Chamber to QM +2000-10A, where they put in a natural back up, Y-hang with spits, bolted deviation to a ledge about 15-20m down then two more spits in +rubbish rock to descend to floor of Pleasuredome, maybe 45m down (this needs surveying).

-T/U 10 hrs +

Meanwhile Stuart, Nial + Becka had found a thin rift leading off from the pitch which dropped into Helter Skelter + surveyed down this +(Cresta Run, as it zig-zagged steeply down) to a small chamber (apparently the boulder choke at the top end of this is very close +to the end of Rat Biscuit on the survey – worth trying for a connection some time?). Cresta Run continued steeply down + we finished the +survey at a pitch head with possible horizontal leads and a shortish pitch with possibly another chamber beyond. We then derigged the +Helter Skelter pitch (but left the up-rope from Swings + Roundabouts – would be horrible to derig anyway) + took the rope +to Martin + Earl so they could finish their Pleasuredome pitch. We then did a short survey to link the Insignificant Chamber survey to +Julian Todd's climb out of Rhino Rift this year to complete the second large loop closure of the trip. A very productive + varied +trip!

+ +
T/U Martin + Earl 9 hours; Becka + Nial 8 hours; Stuart 7 hours
-31/7/04 Subsoil Becka, Julian, Earl, Frank, Nial +
3/8/04
+
Becka, Nial + Earl
+
Push Subsoil + start to derig Gaffered
-

Becka + Julian set off an hour ahead of the crowd + did some virtuous QM ticking by surveying up the sandy tube at the top of the -Subsoil chamber where Gardeners' World / U. C. pitch comes in. The right tube closed down. The left one was small but straightforward and -connected in to Earl + my Heavily Soiled survey so ticked off one of the sandy crawl QMs there too (still leaving another crawl QM off -from Heavily Soiled to be checked). Back to Subsoil and met others. I went with Frank to continue the Earthenware survey, going straight -ahead where Stoneware branched left. After a short while continuing straight ahead, I saw black space up to the right so we surveyed up -there (care, nice calcite on left wall, we conservation-taped this route off on the next trip). Into big passage -and surveyed left (north). The roof rapidly closed in due to massive collapse of rock from the roof to end in a boulder choke which didn't -really draft.

+

I thought it would be a bit weedy to just derig on the trip so I arm-twisted Nial into some QM-ticking + surveying and Earl into some +rigging. We started by going to Fat Worm Blows a Sparky and I put conservation tape round the freshly (quite) dead bat in Bat Chamber and +around the alcove of bat bones documented on 31/7/04, whilst Nial derigged Earl's (as yet unused!) rigging for the pitch into it. Helped +Earl get the drill + rope to Subsoil then sent Earl off up Gardeners World with 40m rope and his drill to bolt down Black Maria.

-

Back to Subsoil and Frank headed out. Earl was still trying to get a better rig into Fat Worm Blows a Sparky (see yesterday). Nial and -I continued the survey off FWBAS from Julian + his survey until we'd run out of time + pretty well ticked off all the horizontal leads. -The last bit of our survey down a thin rift only needed a handline to protect a climb down and was the deepest part surveyed. [As far -as I can tell from the survey this doesn't seem to be true - station 17 of the Fat Worm 2 survey is a good five metres -lower.—DL] Where Nial and I started to survey, beyond the dead bat, there was a freeclimb (QM B) up to the left which then -needed protecting for the final few metres up to an enticing-looking lead. [For some reason the description of the exploration of this -three days later is written up here; I have restored it to its logical chronological position.—DL] Earl then was removed from -his rigging and we went home, letting Earl escape first to get the food on.

+

Meanwhile Nial + I went to Earthenware and went up a QM A on the right (before Stoneware) that ended in a boulder choke. Off the side +of this was a thin and very steeply rising rift which we surveyed partway up. I continued up it, climbing to only around 2m below where it +looked like a horizontal phreatic tube was coming in, but it would be worth protenction for the last bit of this climb up before checking +it out. (QM B – drafting.) Then down + along Earthenware to a tube off to the left which drafted strongly. This was initially +small but popped out to a complicated area with a QM A straight ahead. We turned right + briefly popped out into big passage. This was +horizontal then sloped up steeply becoming a boulder chute and closing down, and finished at a pitch head with a drop of at least 2 +seconds and maybe a way up above the pitch (but this would need protection to look at and the boulders were dubious).

-T/U Becka 12 hours, Nial 11, Earl 10, Julian 9.5, Frank 8.5 +

Derigged the traverse + the 4m pitch into Earthenware and Nial [went] off to find Earl whilst I derigged Gardeners World. Earl had put +in a bolt and a sling to let you get into / out of Oxtail Oxbow easily (we have taped off Bracket Fungus Passage to stop people using it, +so everyone should be going via Oxtail Oxbow). Earl had put the spits in for Black Maria but didin't have enough rope so we gave him some ++ he put in a knot pass + descended. Apparently the shaft (large at the head of Sirens) narrows down so there is only a relatively small +chamber at the bottom with only a QM C leading off downslope from the bottom. Nial + I were very releived to find the tape was +just long enough to survey to the bottom of the pitch without us having to descend it. Earl derigged and I derigged the traverse +then we collected all our rubbish together at the base of the Gaffered pitches. Nial and I each got a a very stuffed tacklesack while Earl +got his drill and associated rubbish. I volunteered to start derigging the 65m so went up last. I'd foolishly forgotten the travense up to +Eeyore – how? I had a brief + foolhardy attempt to derig it with my 1.5 tacklesacks. Wrong. I then moved the bags to the end of the +traverse and had another go. Still impossible – nothing to stand on. Whinged up at Earl and was tempted to abandon it but I finally +stuck a sling around a knobble at the top, derigged the top bolt on the traverse then freeclimbed down the other side of the rift to the +traverse (which was how Earl and I had rigged it this year). After that derigged the 65m fine + headed up slowly with both jammers +slipping badly again on the rope due to mud – despite our best efforts at cleaning wellies and jammers. Waited whilst Earl put in one good +and two failed spits at the top of Gaffered to improve the traverse at the head and out, at last, tired.

+ +
T/U 12 hours
+ +
3/8/04
+
Jenny + Olly
+
76 – Brave New World
+ +

Went to Brave New World to look at the pitch lead, had too much gear to carry through the Test Tube, so whilst Olly started to bolt I +went back for a second carry. I returned to find that Olly had traversed a short way across from the pitch head and stepped right into a +drafting alcove; this led to a big phreatic passage which made a sharp turn and became quite a high rift. We traversed along near the top +of this to some boulders where we climbed down to the bottom and followed round a few bends to a pitch into something big. Olly reckoned +it was probably the bottom of Plugged Shaft; I traversed out far enough to see the scaffold bar, which clinched it. We surveyed out, but +didn't drop the pitch to close the loop. (This rift is called Forward to the Past.)

+ +

Went back up to BNW to survey and fully look at the passage leading off from No Ways Chamber. Olly looked at a low crawl off, but it +didn't go too far before getting too small (though it did draft). Went to survey the big passage I found on the 27th, at the aven at the +end. Olly climbed up to the right but it ended. Straight ahead was another climb, but neither of us could quite make it without gear – it +looked like 1 or 2 passages led off at maybe 6m high. Finished surveying and headed out.

+ +
T/U 10.5 hrs
+ +
+ +
3/8/04
+
Stuart, Olly M
+
Razor Dance Derig
+ +

In the absence of anybody else willing to do it, Olly and I derigged Razor. Delightful.

+ +

Found 1 Martin and 1 Frank after we had got as far as derigging bottom two pitches of Kiwi Suit. Assisted in derigging as far as top of +Kiwi Suit, where Olly and I jacked.

+ +
T/U Olly M 10.5 hrs; Stuart 9.5 hrs.
+ +
+ +
4/8/04
+
Becka, Earl + Nial
+
Finish derigging Gaffered
+ +

A finely honed plan worked slickly: Nial down at 11am to pick up the pre-packed tacklesack I'd derigged yesterday. Earl in at 11.30 and +derigged the 90m on the rest of Gaffered. Becka in at 12.15. Earl + I bickered over who got to prusik out of Gaffered with the tacklesack +- my superior pride trumped Earl's superior strength and fitness so he got to derig Gaffered whilst I shuttled the tacklesacks up the +cave.

+ +
T/U Nial + Becka 3 hours; Earl 4 hours
+ +
+ +
4/8/04
+
Dave, Martin, Frank
+
204 derigging continued
+ +

After the sterling efforts of Olly, Stuart, Martin + Frank the previous day all the rope had made it to the bottom of Pot-U-Like. Newly +recovered from a knackered back I was raring to go, but nobody else was very keen. Demonstrating keenness and stupidity in equal measure I +set off alone and got lots of rope + sacks up the pitch, dismantling the paella as it arrived.

+ +

Of course once 90% of the stuff was up, the very last haul rope got tangled with the SRT line, so I had to go down the pitch to sort it +out. At this point Martin + Frank arrived and hauled the rope across the top of You're So Veined while I derigged the short pitch. We +rejoined at the bottom of Thread Pitch, hauled up that + derigged it.

+ +

From here we managed to paella to the bottom of Jim'll Fix It, then to the bottom of the ent pitch, then out to the surface.

+ +
T/U No idea. Perhaps Dave 4hrs, M + F 3hrs.
+ +
+ +
4/8/04
+
Jenny + Olly
+
76 – Brave New World pitch series
+ +

Went back to the pitch carrying on below Forward to the Past. Olly rigged down to the rock bridge down to to a ledge where a passage +doubled back and dropped a small pitch which was choked at the bottom. The main pitch continued down the same fault plane (N.B. Fault has +~1m offsett and dips slightly to the E; strike ~ 230°). This pitch led to another short one before things got smaller, we got cold and +time was running out. We started surveying out from here leaving a pitch with a couple of seconds' drop (though the rock bounced once). +Derigged back up to BNW whilst surveying and then traversed over the pitch to see if the main BNW passage continued; it did, initially +quite big and rift-like with a trench in the floor (Olly named this the Boiling Tube). After a bit a passage left on the left +followed by an aven, shortly later another passage (this time mud-choked) left on the right and the main one got smaller, so we surveyed +back from here.

+ +

Again we had too much gear to carry out so I went back for the 3rd tacklesack whilst Olly abbed down to the ledge below The Ledge to +derig. After this we both heroically carried out lots of gear + I derigged. I hadn't realised how much harder swinging around to derig +would be with 2 heavy tacklesacks. By the top of Draught Bitter I gave up on taking both bags together and shuttled them up. By the end of +derigging I only had enough strength to carry 1 bag out of the cave + stumble back to the bivvy where Olly had kindly cooked me food. He +then went back to retrieve the bag.

+ +
T/U Jenny 13.75 hrs; Olly 13.25hrs
+ +
+ +
4/8/04
+
Stuart, Olly M
+
Surface work near Hauchhöhle part 2
+ +

Photographed and tagged 2004-15.

+ +
+ +
4/8/04
+
Tony, Julian, Brian
+
Finish 2004-12
+ +

Followed draft into the cave, and investigated all obvious + easy leads. Draft was emerging from tight tube at floor level. This was +squeezed to a small chamber. Still drafting. Rocks were removed and the way was squeezed to a second small chamber. Still drafting. Brian +removed rocks outwards then Julian kicked rocks in to pass another squeeze ino a roomier boulder slope. Downslope emerged into +walking/stooping sized passage which was quickly by recognised by Julian as Iceland of KH. Found a red paint survey spot from 2003 G +entrance resurvey and surveyed out from this. Exited cave and walked back to 204 via cliff. En route back Tony found a horizontal entrance +that he investigated: horizontal phreas to T-junction, upslope to choked chamber entrance, downslope to more horizontal phreas bypassing +pitch in floor. Tony exited. We went home. Cave tagged 2004-19.

+ +
+ +
5/8/04
+
Jenny + Olly
+
Descending "108" and 2004-02
+ +

We found a cave marked 108 near 76, but it doesn't match the description on the website (vertical entrance rather than horizontal) so +we checked it out. It's marked with paint "108" and has a spit in the centre of the "0". The spit isn't great, but there's a good chunky +flake to use too. The shaft descends ~9m to a ledge. At this level there's a horizontal passage which leads immediately to a 4m deep blind +rift pitch. Back in the main shaft, a few natural rebelays get you to a floor just under 30m down. At one end of the rift a draught +emerges from rocks, but removing some rocks it appears it would need quite a lot of work to make progress and the continuation may be too +small anyway.

+ +

We then went to look at 2004-02. This is a draughting hole very near the 76 bivvy with a chossy entrance. Just inside is a crap snow +plug which collapsed a lot. The draught issues from a too-narrow rift roughly below the entrance. The top of the rift has a large rock +wedged in. This can be rocked if pulled very hard. Perhaps it's worth removing to see if the rift is wide enough at the top? It's +definitely wider beyond the rift.

+ +
T/U Olly 1hr
+ +
+ +
5/8/04
+
Tony, Brian
+
2004-19 – pushing
+ +

Very arduous and contorted route to cave. GPS essential. Surveyed in. Surveyed 2 entrances, one horizontal, one upslope vertical. +Surveyed into cave via phreatic tube to crossroads: straight on, choked; right to choked chamber. Left through nice phreas with pitch +shortly in floor. Bypassing this, passage continues to T-junction. Right is to choke but easily passable. Left to 2m climb to chamber. +Left again to 2nd chamber and right, upslope to aven + daylight. We surveyed in the cave to what we thought was a plumb. Tony exited the +cave to try to find this shaft. After much whooping and hollering he eventually succeeded and we made noodles and went home. Very arduous +and contorted route back to stone bridge.

+ +
+ +
6/8/04
+
Dave, Nial
+
Miscellaneous 204 stuff
+ +

Descended 204a ent pitches and wandered up Near End Series as far as the supposed end of the Colonnade connection. Didn't look at all +promising – clearing some cobbles revealed two passages heading in the right directions but both were far too tight. Derigged out of +A.

+ +

After a cup of tea we went back down E and slogged across to the up-pitch into Cresta Run. Attempting to dig into Rat Biscuit was no +more successful than the last dig, owing to the excessive mobility of the boulder pile (one the size of the tatty hut fridge nearly +squished my leg). Some hammering revealed a hole in the floor, which consultant small person (i.e. not me) climbed into, and had rather +more difficulty getting out of.

+ +

Having got bored of this we had a look at the pitch at the end of Cresta. The traverse round to the left proved possible without a rope +(although somewhat entertaining on the return, as we were later to find). This revealed a tall rift passage passable at roof level, +leading to a chamber full of boulders. The rift has a strong draught but this just disappears into the boulders. There is an arguable +lead: a crawl underneath a boulder the size of a small car, supported a foot off the floor by nothing whatsoever. Surveyed out; maybe 25m +of survey (I don't know, I left the notes up the hill – doh!) [Not a bad guess – it was 25.49m].

+ +
+ +
6/8/04
+
Stuart, Martin, Mark
+
Grabenbach Canyon
+ +

What an ace place. Really good. And that's only the walk-in. Probably required less rope than we took. Lots of silly jumping into deep +pools, and sliding down dodgy waterfalls on one's arse. (But only if you are called Stuart or Martin. Mark was sensible and used ropes. How +boring.) Personal highlight of slipping whilst jumping 5-6m from a ledge into a pool, and executing a perfect sideways belly flop (if such +a thing is possible) [depends presumably on the location of one's belly—DL]

+ +
Time in water 4.5hrs. Time under water 1 min (Martin + Stuart), 10secs (Mark).
+ +
+ +
7/8/04
+
Dave, Nial
+
Hauchhöhle
+ +

Woke up to the realisztion that as nobody had appeared from base camp with a drill battery, and the club drill was not inspiring in +its rotational speed, we had nothing better to do than rerig Hauchhöhle, catch up on the survey backlog and derig the thing +again.

+ +

This we accordingly did. The vertical squeeze past the boulder at the bottom of Pie Series is now Who Ate All The Pies. The side +passage (Crust) off Kidney Pitch doesn't go; it narrows to a very tedious crawl over powdery mud, growing tigherter so gradually +that one might almost fail to notice quite how squalid the whole thing is.

+ +

Surveyed Pete's stuff off the left-hand side at the bottom of the ent pitch (Underhand Passage, as it is underneath the +Left-Hand Series. Main passage goes on for some while before narrowing; at this point a meander off to the left enters a very +diminutive streamway, probably passable, but equally probably very nasty! Didn't bother with the tubes off to the right [at the +beginning of Underhand – explored but not surveyed by Pete].

+ +
+ +
8/8/04
+
Olly M, Dave (+ various spectators)
+
Shaft bashing
+ +

Rigged and descended a slot at the edge of a choss bowl near 2000-08. It didn't go.

+ +

Free-climbed down another hole to the north [should read south] of this. It didn't go.

+ +

Descended 2000-08 to look at the supposed dig. It didn't go.

+ +

Climbed into 2002-03 (near Hauchhöhle). It didn't go.

+ +

Walked down the hill with 29kg of shit. Drank Gösser. Utterly failed to cook Germknödel. Got very pissed. Listened to Mark +drowning out Tom Lehrer with random accordion noises. Eating almost raw Germknödel gives you a bad stomach ache. It remains to be +seen what effect Nial will experience from eating knödel seasoned with molten colander.

+ + +
+ + + + + + + + + +