<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8" />
<title>1983: Cambridge Underground report</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/main2.css" />
</head>
<body>
<h1>Cambridge Expo 1984</h1>

<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1984 pp 5-6</font>

<h2>Wolfeh&ouml;hle - Act I</h2></center>

<p>With the bottoming of Stellerwegh&ouml;hle, some of the older members felt
it was safe to return to Austria and the attractions of lemon ice creams,
gooey cakes and a little idle prospecting in the sunshine soon had the might
of EXCS racing in their bath chairs along the autobahns to Altaussee.

<p>The advantage of age is that it provides the experience so valuable in the
act of prospecting. Don't bother with the big open shafts, they always choke
in snow or boulders - look for a horizontal draughting entrance not too far
from the road. So the first find, 140, was a loose, open rift, just below the
summit of Schwarzmoos Kogel, and miles from anywhere. Bunde lashed arms and
legs were endemic, and no-one felt too sorry when it inevitably choked at
-100m, and even Julian couldn't be forced through the final boulders.

<p>Ambling down from 140 after a surveying trip, John and Julian deviated
from the normal route and happened across Wolfeh&ouml;hle. Its main entrance
lies 18m above 82, and is a 2m high, 1m wide walk-in passage complete with an
icy outward draught. From the start, Wolfeh&ouml;hle had all the symptoms of
going horribly deep - see next years journal to see if it lives up to its
promise. The two explorers, minus lights, felt their way along the passage,
throwing stones ahead to test for a drop, but it was soon obvious that shorts
and T-shirts alone wouldn't be adequate to push the pot to its end.

<p>The next day Ben, Naomi, Julian and John finished derigging 140 and with
armfuls of rope romped off down Wolfh&ouml;hle. A rapid bolt and the team
surged on down the 19m pitch into a chamber complete with the skeleton of a
wolf who had fallen in via another entrance. The drop continued down; this
was dismissed as an irrelevance but could be worth looking at, and the way on
was a loose 3m climb up into a draughting tube. It then decided to go down an
awkward climb, later laddered, and after a short grovel it opened up and
popped over the edge of a great black hole. With whoops of ecstacy the
explorers lobbed boulders over the edge and grinning listened to the
tantalising booms as they bounded into the depths. And then Ben realised he'd
have to go down and suddenly he didn't feel very well.

<p>A retreat was made for some more tackle, and the next day saw frightening
quantities of rope ferried to the edge of the pitch. Off to the left, an
interesting crawl tempted Julian and Naomi, and they disappeared down this to
intersect a large passage leading to another set of smaller shafts partially
descended before it was decided to concentrate efforts on the big pitch. One
of the attractions of this alternative route is that the large passage comes
back to the head of the big pitch, so the crawl could be avoided by a
spectacular Tyrolean traverse rigged across the 80m drop. Meanwhile Ben and
John were bolting down the big pitch with a series of glorious French style
freehanging rebelays. The shaft opened into a large rift, with some black
peaty mud on the walls in the upper section - no explanation for this mud was
ever found. The rift bottomed out at a small streamway which continued with a
bit of a traverse and a short drop. There had been enough excitement for the
day and so it was time to exit for an early evening beer in the sun.

<p>The weather turned nasty, but after a couple of days the party returned.
The gear had been scattered sround the entrance to dry in the sun, and
longjohns now had to be dug out of te snow, resulting in much whimpering. But
two slightly damp cavers were soon back on the big pitch, wondering what it
would be like with the water flowing. Fortunately, the rope gave a fairly dry
hang, and the descent was continued down the rift, avoiding most of the
stream with a series of short traverses and pitches before meeting a second
shaft. Here it was impossible to escape the water, and the icy wind and spray
soon penetrated the thickest longjohns. While it may be great for the bolter
at the sharp end of the rope, with much to keep him occupied and enough
exercise to stay warm, his partner squatting on a ledge above has nothing to
do but shiver and ask himself why he's there. There was no obvious answer,
and the team retreated.

<p>Ben and John now had to go home, despite wanting to stay and help derig,
so Wiggy joined Julian in a final pushing trip. The final section of the
second shaft was descended and a few shorter pitches followed, before a truly
tremendous shaft was reached. The last decent length of rope (40m) was fed
down and Julian descended. The rope hangs free after the first metre, and for
most of its length hangs in the middle of a circular shaft approximately 6m
in diameter. The rope ended 3m off the floor, so Wiggy sent down a short
length of rope so the descent could be completed. Beyond, another pitch
estimated at 15m continued, but lack of rope precluded a descent. Time had
run out, so the cave was surveyed and detackled.

<p>Wolfeh&ouml;hle still has much to offer; there is no reason why it
shouldn't reach -800m. Many leads have not been explored and the poit should
provide the younger generation with fun for the next couple of years while
EXCS return to their retirement.

<p align=right><font size=+1>John Bowers</font>

<p><hr />
<!-- LINKS -->
<ul id="links">
<li>Main Wolfh&ouml;hle <a href="/1623/145/145.html">Guidebook page</a></li>
<li>Cambridge Underground 1984,
<a href="http://cucc.survex.com/jnl/1984/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
<li>1983 Expedition info:
<ul>
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
<li>Main Expo report, Cambridge Underground 1984:
<ul>
<li>Exploration and Survey of <a href="exp142.htm">1623/142</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="exp142.htm#possext">Possible extensions</a>
to the 41-142-115 System</li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="143144.htm">143 and 144</a> Guidebook descriptions</li>
<li><a href="41svy.htm">142/41 Survey</a> - the truth</li>
<li><a href="list.htm">Summary of Caves 1983</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves &amp; Caving Report</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1983">Index</a> to all publications</li>
<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>