<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN"> <html lang="en"> <head><title>1626:120</title></head> <body> <center><table border=0 width=100%> <tr><th align=left><font size=+2>120</font></th> <th align=center><font size=+2 lang="de">Feuertalsystem</font></th> <th align=right><font size=+2>4/T/S x</font></th></tr> </table></center> <p><b>Altitude</b>:<blockquote>120a <span lang="de">Kacherlschacht</span> (<span lang="fr">Quelli,</span> F3) 1940m<br> 120b <span lang="fr">Velo-Tracteur</span> (F6) 1774m<br> 120c <span lang="fr">Carcajau</span> (F9) 1736m or 1731m<br> 120d <span lang="de">Altarkögerlhöhle 1670m</span><br></blockquote> <p><b>Location</b>: In the south flank of <span lang="fr">Feuertal</span> on the north side of <span lang="de">Schönberg. Kataster</span> says west of <span lang="de">Schönberg,</span> east of <span lang="de">Franzosenschacht,</span> 1626/119. <p>From the <span lang="fr">Quelli</span> entrance, pitches p8, p19, p83, p33, p24, p17, p5, p33, p24, p9, p33, p27, p103 lead to -400m. Here one reaches a vast passage going up and downhill. The downstream passage emerges at the top of an 84m pitch. Below this a winding canyon interspersed with small pitches gives onto a 15m pitch and the end of exploration in 1976 at -708m. <p>The lower entrances lead by large phreatic passages to pitches which drop into a further large horizontal level which undulates between -410m and -500m. At -497m, this links to the main vertical system from <span lang="fr">Quelli.</span> Using these lower ways in, exploration reached a sump at -913m in 1977. Following the large phreatic level away from <span lang="fr">Quelli</span> goes for about a kilometre before breaking into the side of a colossal shaft at -414m. This is a 211m pitch to a choke at -625m. There is a possible way on across this shaft, which is, however, 20m in diameter. <p>The Austrian expedition of 1985 found a 3km horizontal passage, which brought the total length of the system to 15km. <p>In early 1997 the length was given as 19 808 m <span lang="de">(Markus Wiesinger,</span> personal comm.) <p><b>Discovery</b>: Found in 1973 by <a href="../../others/gsab/index.htm"><span lang="fr">Groupe Spéléo Alpin Belge</span></a> under the name T3, but not pushed to any depth. <p><b>Exploration</b>: Rediscovered in July 1976 by <span lang="fr">J.M.Piron</span> and explored from 12th to 23rd of July by <span lang="fr">A.C.Toulon, S.C.Toulon, Lou Darbon & Spéléo Ragaie</span> to a depth of 708m. Later sources refer to this group as 'an unheard of group of <span lang="fr">"Spéléos Provençaux"'.</span><br> The same group in 1977 discovered the two lower entrances, using them to explore to the bottom at -913m.<br> The Austrian expedition of 1985 set out to connect <span lang="de">Feuertalsystem</span> to <a href="55.htm"><span lang="de">Raucherkarhöhle</span></a> and found a large horizontal passage, but no connection. <p><b>References :</b> <dl> <dt>78.2012<dd><cite>(GSAB) <span lang="fr">Spéalp</span> 1 (June 1977) pp 33-49</cite>, <b><span lang="de">Totes Gebirge</span> : <span lang="fr">Description des principaux gouffres de la zone ouest du massif</span></b>, <span lang="fr">Jean Claude Hans & Etienne Degrave</span><br> <a href="../../others/gsab/en/782012.htm#117">English Translation</a><br> <a href="../../others/gsab/fr/782012.htm#117" lang=fr>En Français</a> <dt>78.2013<dd><cite>(GSAB) <span lang="fr">Spéalp</span> 2 (1978) pp 66-67, survey</cite>, <b lang="de">Feuertalsystem</b>, <span lang="fr">Jean Claude Hans</span><br> <a href="../../others/gsab/782013.htm" lang="fr">En Français</a> </dl> <p>The above description is translated mainly from these references by Andy Waddington and Jill Gates. <hr> <!-- LINKS --> <img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../../1626/index.htm#120">Index</a> and overview of 1626.<br> <img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../../areas.htm">Overview</a> of area 1623<br> <img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../../others/gsab/index.htm">GSAB</a> and associated groups<br> <img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a><br> <img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home page</a> </body> </html>