After many years of using complicated radio systems of varying degrees of complication and reliability, we have finally settled on a foolproof method for communicating callouts from top camp to base camp: mobile phones. Cheap Austrian pay-as-you-go mobiles have sufficiently good reception on the plateau for sending SMS messages, and even occasionally for conversation.
-We are using the "B-Free" mobile scheme. (In 2011 we tried using another provider which picked up the T-Mobile network, however the reception was not as good as B-Free. B-Free has an annual renewal of the SIM which gets you the phone number and connection (plus some credit). More credit comes in the form of a receipt with a printed code or a card with a scratch-off secret number.
+For some years (including 2018) we have been using the "B-Free" mobile scheme. (In 2011 we tried using another provider which picked up the T-Mobile network, however the reception was not as good as B-Free. B-Free has an annual renewal of the SIM which gets you the phone number and connection (plus some credit). More credit comes in the form of a receipt with a printed code or a card with a scratch-off secret number.
This has to be done in less than 13 months otherwise it costs a more as you essentially have to start from scratch (~EUR10 for a new SIM with EUR5 of diff --git a/handbook/solar.html b/handbook/solar.html index af4bf9140..acd5e270d 100644 --- a/handbook/solar.html +++ b/handbook/solar.html @@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
Since 2003 the bivy site at the stone bridge has had a number of solar panels +
Since 2003 the bivy site at Steinbrückenhöhle (the stone bridge) has had a number of solar panels and a car battery, which are mainly used for charging lamp battery packs, drill and AA/AAA batteries (and phones). Much bigger flexi solar panels arrived in 2007 and a second, larger, battery around the same time.
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ and a second, larger, battery around the same time.In 2018 two new PV panels were bought. These Jinko JKM270PP-60 beasts are 255W (peak), ~16% efficient and weigh 19kg each. They are glass-fronted, aluminium-framed, and measure 1650 x 992 x 40mm. -The intention is that they will be installed at Steinbruckhohle top camp -and that the light-weight panels already there will be transferred to the Organhohle +The intention is that they will be installed at Steinbrückenhöhle top camp +and that the light-weight panels already there will be transferred to the Organhöhle bivvy camp. The rest of this text describes the situation in 2017 before these Jinkos were bought. Also new in 2018 is a new set of 12V sockets (car type). This page will be updated when they have been installed. diff --git a/piclinks/potato-hut.html b/piclinks/potato-hut.html index 72bb6a209..ba6771376 100644 --- a/piclinks/potato-hut.html +++ b/piclinks/potato-hut.html @@ -1,7 +1,5 @@ -
-
The Potato Hut seen from the outside.
+The old Potato Hut seen from the outside. +This is still there, but we now use the new Potato Hut which has been built next to it. +(The old hut is used as a store by various friends and relations of Karin's.)
Photo © Mark Shinwell, 2000
diff --git a/tcamps.htm b/tcamps.htm index 0ff61be56..9b68f7e59 100644 --- a/tcamps.htm +++ b/tcamps.htm @@ -1,6 +1,5 @@ -From 2002 to 2016 our only top camp was in "204 Steinbrückenhöhle" (see below). In 2017 we (mostly UBSS) -established a bivvy camp very close to Organhohle (see below) which will be established more soundly in 2018.
+From 2002 to date our only top camp has been in "204 Steinbrückenhöhle" (see below). +In 2017 we (mostly UBSS guests) +established a bivvy camp very close to Organhöhle (see below) +which will be established more soundly in 2018.
The terminology of these camps has become very confused over time, as the campsites have changed. At some time, virtually every @@ -33,7 +35,7 @@ exploratory purposes.
CUCC's first high camp was set up in 1977, on a site identified on the first visit in 1976. This was on an area of pasture above a small limestone scar from -Bräuning Alm. At +Bräuning Alm. At the time, the springs in the valley here were the only reliable water supply we had discovered. There were caves nearby, as well as ones on the plateau to explore, so the site proved very pleasant, until washed out in one (of many) @@ -79,7 +81,7 @@ deserved the title "camp". It was never used again, as exploration in 1980 switched to the Stellerweghöhle area, and neither of the previous high camps were really of any use.
-| @@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ alt="Top Camp from 161" /> |
More recently, a really good permanent spring was found in a small +
A really good permanent spring was found in a small climbable shaft a short way beyond Schwarzmoossattel ("The Col"). As this was adjacent to one of the very few flat areas of grass, and right @@ -106,8 +108,8 @@ next to the path as well, this has made an ideal camp site, and was the normal Top Camp from 1988 to 2001. Logbooks and Journal accounts at the time referred to this as "Camp I", despite its not being the first high camp. A few references are to "Camp 3", which tried to reflect the -chronology. More recently it has been known just as "Top Camp". In -fact, to minimise the impact on grassy areas, the camp has alternated between +chronology. Later it was known just as "Top Camp". In +fact, to minimise the impact on grassy areas, the camp alternated between the small site immediately adjacent to the spring and a larger (but boggier) area a little lower (used in 1994, 1996, 1998 etc.).
@@ -134,7 +136,7 @@ the cave. Unfortunately, access via the Stogerweg proved to be more strenuous than from the old plateau top camp, and no usable water supply was found, so this campsite never came into existence. -In 2001 people decided to bivvy nearer to the the cave entrances. This involved putting up tarpaulins in natural shelters, and sleeping on inflatable @@ -147,7 +149,7 @@ opposite with a hose to a butt in the bivi - very effective.
Cavers working in 204 (Steinbrückenhöhle) used the eponymous stone @@ -156,7 +158,7 @@ and cooking areas were made. Tarpaulins were put up to reduce the drips and wind. Water was obtained from snow at 231, collecting drips in 231 and a funnel inserted in a grike on the roof of the stone bridge. Initially two, and later 3 butts were used for -water storage.
+water storage.This has been the main high camp since 2002; it has been extensively reterraced to increase its capacity (as of 2003 it @@ -164,15 +166,16 @@ could sleep 12 and by 2017 22 could be jammed in), the water collection methods refined, and a cooking area created, to give an exceedingly comfortable bivvy site. A much larger single tarp covering the whole length, used since 2015, has made it much drier at the back, -and the place is now very civilised indeed.
+and the place is now very civilised indeed. +See the bivvy rigging guide for tarp erection details.
In 2004-2007, the 76 (Eislufthöhle) +
In 2004-2007, the 76 Eislufthöhle re-exploration project necessitated a camp close to the 76 entrance. A bivouac was established in a convenient rock shelter nearby. This was also used in 2012,13,15,16. Camping on the nearby grassy bit, which has @@ -181,13 +184,13 @@ room for 2 small tents is a lot warmer than staying in the bivi cave.
Sleeping 3 or 4, a bivvy with rainwater collection was established in a small -overhang very closeto Organhohle and Guten Morgen hohle. This is a further hour or two walk from -the main top camp at Steinbruckhohle; and would be very hard to establish without -the resources available at Steinbruckhohle. The usual route goes very close to Tunnocksschaft entrance and within view of the -entrance to Balkonhohle - and then rather a lot further and over the ridge with a view down to the Appelhaus area. -
When UBSS first explored Organhohle they approached from the other direction. See their write-up +overhang very closeto Organhöhle and Guten Morgen höhle. This is a further hour or two walk from +the main top camp at Steinbruckhöhle; and would be very hard to establish without +the resources available at Steinbruckhöhle. The usual route goes very close to Tunnocksschaft entrance and within view of the +entrance to Balkonhöhle - and then rather a lot further and over the ridge with a view down to the Appelhaus area. +
When UBSS first explored Organhöhle they approached from the other direction. See their write-up in Descent (see page 18 of UBSS newsletter) for the horrendous walk that this involves.