diff --git a/smkridge/204/ariston.html b/smkridge/204/ariston.html index 0ccc20fbc..510c1d38e 100644 --- a/smkridge/204/ariston.html +++ b/smkridge/204/ariston.html @@ -127,125 +127,12 @@ extremely high this area was no more than drippy. The floor is reached after 54 metres of descent. The way on is a short traverse, an 8 metre pitch, another short traverse, and then a 20 metre pitch to a ledge. The final pitch from this ledge is an impressive rift of 47 metres depth, rigged from a Y-hang backed up -to the pitch above. This is also slightly drippy at the bottom if the water +to the pitch above. This is also rather drippy at the bottom if the water levels are high, but this is not problematic.</p> -<h3><a id="razor">Razordance</a></h3> - -<p>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 [<a -href="qm.html#C2000-204-63" id="qC2000-204-63">C2000-204-63 B</a>]. 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.</p> - -</p>Suddenly, the head of a pitch, <b><a id="blacklightning">Black -Lightning</a></b> (13m), is reached. The streamway continues past a 2m climb -and 2m pitch leading to the 25m pitch of <b><a id="mysterywind">Mystery -Wind</a></b>; this is descended via a crow's-nest which gives a dry sloping -descent to the floor, protected by two rebelays. Immediately beyond this is -<b><a id="davedives">Dave Dives</a></b>, an awkward roof-tube climb to bypass a -tight spot; this should on no account be descended head-first. A bolt here -might render the process safer. The streamway continues to the twin pitches of -<b><a id="easythere">Easy There</a></b> (15m) and <b><a id="steadynow">Steady -Now</a></b> (4m), the 2002 limit; the head of the latter is difficult and -tight, but it seems unlikely that the rig could be improved by any alteration -not involving a large hammer.</p> - -<p>2003 saw further pushing to a short, rather damp down pitch (3m) shortly -followed by a climb up over boulders into a large chamber, <b><a id="glud">God -Loves a Drunk</a></b>, where an (apparently impassably tight) inlet enters from -the right. Immediately beyond this are <b><a id="mashtun">The Mash Tun</a></b> -(p8) and <b><a id="copper">Copper</a></b> (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 [<a href="qm.html#C2003-204-48" id="qC2003-204-48">C2003-204-48 -B</a>].</p> - -<p>Beyond this the rift becomes tighter and more awkward again, leading to the -head of yet another pitch, <b><a id="yeast">Yeast</a></b> (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, <b><a -id="nordic">Nordic Traverse</a></b>, gives access to a dry fossil passage to -the head of <b><a id="thirteenyear">Thirteen Year Pitch</a></b> (7m), which -drops into a spacious dry chamber. Here a tight and scrofulous-looking rift -leads off to the right -[<a href="qm.html#C2004-204-03" id="qC2004-204-03">C2004-204-03 C</a>] -, while the chosen way on is to descend -<b><a id="pepper">Pepper Pot</a></b> (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, <b><a id="paster">Paster of Muppets</a></b>, regains -the stream level. Shortly afterwards, the stream can be followed down to the top -of a short wet drop -[<a href="qm.html#C2004-204-02" id="qC2004-204-02">C2004-204-02 B</a>] -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 <i>yet another</i> pitch <b><a id="butteredscones">Buttered Scones</a></b> (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.</p> - -<p>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, <b><a id="leftzipper">Left -Zipper</a></b> (p12) and <b><a id="rightzipper">Right Zipper</a></b> (p12). In flood -conditions the stream re-enters from a window [C2007-204-?? 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-?? 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 <b><a id="holyhandgrenade"> -The Holy Hand Grenade</a></b> (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: -<b><a id="unicum">Unicum</a></b> (p7) and <b><a id="zwack">Zwack</a></b> (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, <b><a id="nowbethankful">Now Be -Thankful</a></b>. Here the wind from Razordance goes up a large aven above the sump -[C2007-204-?? X], while a long bolted traverse, mostly on the left-hand wall, gains -access to <a href="#silkroad"><b>The Silk Road</b></a>.</p> - -<h3><a id="silkroad">The Silk Road</a></h3> - -<p>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 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. <i>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-?? C] with an obvious passage -visible 7m above (which can be reached from beyond <a href="#khyber"><b>Carry-on -up the Khyber</b></a>)</i>.</p> - -<p>Back at the junction, the left turn leads up an abandoned series of dry -cascades, <b><a id="khyber">Carry-on up the Khyber</a></b>. Ten climbs of -varying difficulty and ranging in height between 2 and 4 metres pass a lead -on the left [C2007-204-?? ?] to reach a relatively well decorated section of -walking passage. This becomes a sandy crawl which branches; to the left is -unexplored [C2007-204-?? 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. <i>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</i>. 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-?? A]. After 60m, a gap between boulders leads into a 30m-wide -chamber, <b><a id="forbidcity">The Forbidden City</a></b>.</p> +<p>The bottom here is the start of the deep and strenuous <a +href="razordance.html">Razordance</a> +series.</p> <h3><a id="fledermaus">Fledermausschacht</a></h3> diff --git a/smkridge/204/razordance.html b/smkridge/204/razordance.html new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7009a92e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/smkridge/204/razordance.html @@ -0,0 +1,145 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> +<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" /> +<title>1623/204 -- Razordance and beyond the sump</title> +</head> + +<body> + +<table id="cavepage"> +<tr><th id="kat_no">204</th><th id="name">Steinbrückenhöhle</th><th +id="status">5/S x</th></tr> +</table> + +<h1>Razordance and beyond the sump</h1> + +<h3><a id="razor">Razordance</a></h3> + +<p>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 [<a +href="qm.html#C2000-204-63" id="qC2000-204-63">C2000-204-63 B</a>]. 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.</p> + +</p>Suddenly, the head of a pitch, <b><a id="blacklightning">Black +Lightning</a></b> (13m), is reached. The streamway continues past a 2m climb +and 2m pitch leading to the 25m pitch of <b><a id="mysterywind">Mystery +Wind</a></b>; this is descended via a crow's-nest which gives a dry sloping +descent to the floor, protected by two rebelays. Immediately beyond this is +<b><a id="davedives">Dave Dives</a></b>, an awkward roof-tube climb to bypass a +tight spot; this should on no account be descended head-first. A bolt here +might render the process safer. The streamway continues to the twin pitches of +<b><a id="easythere">Easy There</a></b> (15m) and <b><a id="steadynow">Steady +Now</a></b> (4m), the 2002 limit; the head of the latter is difficult and +tight, but it seems unlikely that the rig could be improved by any alteration +not involving a large hammer.</p> + +<p>2003 saw further pushing to a short, rather damp down pitch (3m) shortly +followed by a climb up over boulders into a large chamber, <b><a id="glud">God +Loves a Drunk</a></b>, where an (apparently impassably tight) inlet enters from +the right. Immediately beyond this are <b><a id="mashtun">The Mash Tun</a></b> +(p8) and <b><a id="copper">Copper</a></b> (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 [<a href="qm.html#C2003-204-48" id="qC2003-204-48">C2003-204-48 +B</a>].</p> + +<p>Beyond this the rift becomes tighter and more awkward again, leading to the +head of yet another pitch, <b><a id="yeast">Yeast</a></b> (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, <b><a +id="nordic">Nordic Traverse</a></b>, gives access to a dry fossil passage to +the head of <b><a id="thirteenyear">Thirteen Year Pitch</a></b> (7m), which +drops into a spacious dry chamber. Here a tight and scrofulous-looking rift +leads off to the right +[<a href="qm.html#C2004-204-03" id="qC2004-204-03">C2004-204-03 C</a>] +, while the chosen way on is to descend +<b><a id="pepper">Pepper Pot</a></b> (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, <b><a id="paster">Paster of Muppets</a></b>, regains +the stream level. Shortly afterwards, the stream can be followed down to the top +of a short wet drop +[<a href="qm.html#C2004-204-02" id="qC2004-204-02">C2004-204-02 B</a>] +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 <i>yet another</i> pitch <b><a id="butteredscones">Buttered Scones</a></b> (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.</p> + +<p>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, <b><a id="leftzipper">Left +Zipper</a></b> (p12) and <b><a id="rightzipper">Right Zipper</a></b> (p12). In flood +conditions the stream re-enters from a window [C2007-204-?? 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-?? 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 <b><a id="holyhandgrenade"> +The Holy Hand Grenade</a></b> (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: +<b><a id="unicum">Unicum</a></b> (p7) and <b><a id="zwack">Zwack</a></b> (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, <b><a id="nowbethankful">Now Be +Thankful</a></b>. Here the wind from Razordance goes up a large aven above the sump +[C2007-204-?? X], while a long bolted traverse, mostly on the left-hand wall, gains +access to <a href="#silkroad"><b>The Silk Road</b></a>.</p> + +<h3><a id="silkroad">The Silk Road</a></h3> + +<p>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 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. <i>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-?? C] with an obvious passage +visible 7m above (which can be reached from beyond <a href="#khyber"><b>Carry-on +up the Khyber</b></a>)</i>.</p> + +<p>Back at the junction, the left turn leads up an abandoned series of dry +cascades, <b><a id="khyber">Carry-on up the Khyber</a></b>. Ten climbs of +varying difficulty and ranging in height between 2 and 4 metres pass a lead +on the left [C2007-204-?? ?] to reach a relatively well decorated section of +walking passage. This becomes a sandy crawl which branches; to the left is +unexplored [C2007-204-?? 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. <i>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</i>. 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-?? A]. After 60m, a gap between boulders leads into a 30m-wide +chamber, <b><a id="forbidcity">The Forbidden City</a></b>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<ul id="links"> +<li><a href="204.html">Back to 204 index page</a></li> +<li><a href="../index.html#id204">Schwarzmooskogel ridge area index and description</a></li> +<li><a href="../../indxal.htm#id204">Full Index</a></li> +<li><a href="../../areas.htm">Other Areas</a></li> +<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a></li> +</ul> +</body> +</html>