From c3d42418270d2e96c648c4c4dda2291248b36f23 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cucc At the bottom of the 47m pitch, a merry little stream is reached (similar
-volume of water to the Top Camp waterhole in spate). Upstream was not pushed,
-but reportedly leads quickly to the foot of a waterfall [C2000-204-63 B]. Downstream
-quickly narrows to about 50cm wide, and progress is made by constantly changing
-level to stay where the passage is wide enough. After about 40m a small cascade
-of about 4m is reached, which could probably be free-climbed, but has been
-rigged with an SRT line to avoid getting soaked; if the water level rises much
-this is still rather aqueous, and probably needs at least one more bolt. The
-passage is considerably wider for a few metres below the cascade, but soon
-resumes in its previous manner; it is helpful to traverse quite high up in
-this section.
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-204 Steinbrückenhöhle 5/S x Razordance and beyond the sump
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-Razordance
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2003 saw further pushing to a short, rather damp down pitch (3m) shortly -followed by a climb up over boulders into a large chamber, God -Loves a Drunk, where an (apparently impassably tight) inlet enters from -the right. Immediately beyond this are The Mash Tun -(p8) and Copper (p17). In high water levels these -are both very wet, dangerously so given the cold and draughty nature of the -passage; a deviation around halfway down Copper could potentially help matters. -There may be a continuation at high level via a loony bolt traverse across the -head of Copper [C2003-204-48 -B].
- -Beyond this the rift becomes tighter and more awkward again, leading to the -head of yet another pitch, Yeast (p10). Shortly beyond -this the bottom of the rift becomes rather tight and an ascending traverse can -be followed, as far as a local widening, the 2003 limit; dropping back to -stream level rapidly becomes tight again, but a traverse line across, Nordic Traverse, gives access to a dry fossil passage to -the head of Thirteen Year Pitch (7m), which -drops into a spacious dry chamber. Here a tight and scrofulous-looking rift -leads off to the right -[C2004-204-03 C] -, while the chosen way on is to descend -Pepper Pot (20m) back to stream level. Here the -passage returns to familiar rifty crappiness for a few metres; it is helpful to -take a relatively high level for a while until the passage widens again, at -which point a 6m pitch, Paster of Muppets, regains -the stream level. Shortly afterwards, the stream can be followed down to the top -of a short wet drop -[C2004-204-02 B] -or a phreatic widening can be followed upwards. This leads to some key hole -passage, which immediately has a large circular pit in the floor, this can be -descended and the other side can be climbed, preferably with lines. The -phreatic part of the passage then takes advantage of a sloping weakness, which -goes up and to the left. This can be followed to a right hand bend where the -floor drops down with the weakness to yet another pitch Buttered Scones (p20), the top of -which marks the 2004 limit. It is noticeable on the survey that from the bottom -of Paster the passage swings southwards away from the consistent NE-SW alignment -of most of Razordance.
- -2007 saw a big push with several old lags teaming up with new blood to try and -finally bottom the bastard. From the bottom of Buttered Scones, a climb down and a short, -muddy passage reaches the head of a pair of spacious pitches, Left -Zipper (p12) and Right Zipper (p12). In flood -conditions the stream re-enters from a window [C2007-204-29 C] part-way down Left Zipper -and makes Right Zipper extremely wet. A short section of comfortable walking passage -heading almost due north inevitably gives way to more rifty thrutching, passing an -inlet on the right [C2007-204-30 B] where the stream re-enters. This marks a return -to the previous south-westerly line of the passage. After a few metres, a climb down -at a corner if followed by a squeeze to reach the head of -The Holy Hand Grenade (p3), an irritating little pitch with an awkward pitch-head. -8 metres further on are a pair of short, splashy pitches separated by a wet ledge: -Unicum (p7) and Zwack (p5). The next -100m of passage is a ruler-straight muddy rift running to the south-west. After some -narrow sections it is possible to climb up into a large roof tube, which gradually -descends to a balcony overlooking the final sump, Now Be -Thankful. Here the wind from Razordance goes up a large aven above the sump -[C2007-204-31 X], while a long bolted traverse, mostly on the left-hand wall, gains -access to The Far East.
- -A slippery climb down from the traverse over the sump (an extra bolt would be -a good idea) gains a keyhole-shaped inlet passage with an elliptical roof tube -and narrow floor trench. Like Razordance, the passage draughts towards the -sump. The passage here is The Silk Road, and runs south-east along the strike for about 30m before -turning north-east and heading up-dip in a series of steep meanders for a -short distance. An unpleasant 3m climb up marks a return to south-easterly -progress. The passage briefly splits, with the stream flowing through a pool -in a low section while a large oxbow to the left provides a trivial bypass. -Just beyond the oxbow is a junction. Straight ahead, going upstream, 40m -of stooping and crawling over muddy cobbles leads to a chamber where the -stream emerges from a tight inlet [C2007-204-32 C] with an obvious passage -visible 7m above (which can be reached from beyond Carry-on -up the Khyber).
- -Back at the junction, the left turn leads up an abandoned series of dry -cascades, Carry-on up the Khyber. Ten climbs of -varying difficulty and ranging in height between 2 and 4 metres pass a lead -on the left [C2007-204-33 ?] to reach a relatively well decorated section of -walking passage. This becomes a sandy crawl which branches; to the left is -unexplored [C2007-204-34 C], straight ahead reaches a hole overlooking the -continuation of The Silk Road, while to the right quickly reaches a loose -2m climb down into the same place. Right here is a 3m climb down followed -by a short section of passage to the head of a 7m pitch back to the inlet at -the foot of Carry-on up the Khyber. To the left, The Silk Road continues as -4m wide passage with a rocky floor, passing a stooping-height passage on the -left [C2007-204-35 A]. After 60m, a gap between boulders leads into a 30m-wide -chamber, The Forbidden City.
- -The Forbidden city is a boulder-strewn chamber of fine -dimensions, reminiscent of Knossos in Kaninchenhöhle, sloping -upwards to the North west and the exit into the Gobi Trail. Near, but below -and to the right of the Carry-on up the Khyber -entrance, is a rocky crawl which leads into a wide but choked space -below the Carry-on up the Khyber passage. There is at least an aural -connection up to that passage. This may be the closest point to Siberia in -Kaninchenhöhle, but is clearly a long-term dig [C2007-204-50 D]. -In the Southern corner of The Forbidden City is [C2007-204-36 X].
- -A large (8m wide) bouldery passage leads off from the upper end of The Forbidden -City heading steadily uphill and north-north-west. There is one -notable climb up a large sloping rock which needs a little care (handline). -Just after the climb a passage leads off -to the right ("Silkworm"), which is the quickest way to Crouching Tiger. The main passage drops to being a low crawl -to reach a complex T-junction 110m from The Forbidden City. Down to the -left is Enter the Flagon. To the right a -rocky passage carrying a strong draught leads downhill and south into the Crouching tiger. -Straight on is a small passage [C2007-204-45 B].
- -A short passage connecting the Gobi Trail -to Crouching Tiger, shortcutting the -crawling and complex junction at the end of the Gobi Trail. Halfway along is a -6m aven [C2007-204-39 X]. At the same point there is a tight connection to near -the start of Crouching Tiger.
- -Beyond here the passage is full of unusally fine light-coloured -sand, from which the area gets the Gobi Trail name. It is -comfortable but not particularly large, with some crawling and -stooping where the sand fills much of the passage. [C2007-204-37 C] -and [C2007-204-38 B] are along here.
- -After 70m an aven 20m+ high is reached where water can be heard at -the end of the rift [C2007-204-39 X]. The strong breeze continues down -the passage which now gets rather smaller being -stooping and crawling all the way. It winds for 90m to a short 2m drop -into a small chamber where there is a 4-way junction. A crawl leads off -uphill to the left (East) with a strong outward draught[C2007-204-40 -A]. A keyhole passage comes in from the South [C2007-204-41 A], up which most (all?) of the draught goes. And a low passage heads down to -the West [C2007-204-42 B].
- -Left at the end of the Gobi Trail is Enter the Flagon. 50m of passage leads -past a climb [C2007-204-45 B] on the right and [C2007-204-46 C] on the left] -to a point where a vadose canyon intersects. 5m back from this junction is a -short loop looking over the canyon passage. It contains [C2007-204-47 B] on -the right. Right (up) along the canyon leads to a 6m aven, -reasonably climbable with some gear [C2007-204-48-B]. Left leads, via a climb -down, to a continuing rift which heads towards the left zipper/right zipper -area in Razordance. The phreas clearly continues over the top of the vadose -canyon [C2007-204-49-B] but it would require some effort to reach it.
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