CUCC Expo 2004: Mission Statement

This summer, Cambridge University Caving Club will be continuing its highly successful series of expeditions to the Loser plateau in Austria. This document sets out the principal goals of the 2004 expedition.

Background

This summer sees CUCC's 28th expedition to the Loser plateau, which lies in the Totes Gebirge area of the Austrian Alps, about 80km east of Salzburg. CUCC is the principal group exploring in the area, which continues to yield new discoveries.

The principal known cave system in the area is the Schwarzmooskogel system, which comprises a number of connected caves including Kaninchenhöhle, Stellerweghöhle and the stunningly beautiful Schwarzmooskogel Eishöhle. Altogether the system is 55.1 kilometres long and 1030m deep, putting it among both the world's longest and deepest caves; over half of the length, and the highest and deepest points, were explored by CUCC.

Over the last few years the principal focus of CUCC's work has been Steinbrückenhöhle, a cave lying to the north of the main Schwarzmooskogel system, beneath the Nieder Augst-Eck mountain. Since its discovery in 1999, 7.2 km of passage has been discovered, reaching a maximum depth of 510m.

Principal Goals for 2004

The deepest point in Steinbrückenhöhle is in the tight and arduous stream passage of Razordance, which appears to continue downwards beyond the limit of exploration in 2003. It slopes down in a south-westerly direction, towards the nearest points of Kaninchenhöhle, so there is a possiblity of a connection, although the present gradient of the passage is sufficiently steep that it seems likely to pass right underneath.
The main find of last summer was a new series of horizontal passages in the north-west of Steinbrückenhöhle, known as 'Rhino Rift'. There was insufficient time to explore this fully in the five weeks of last summer's expedition, so there is much still to be found.
The pitch series of Gaffered to the Walls, in the Swings and Roundabouts area, was explored last summer to reveal a new horizontal level at around -250m, known as the Underworld. This is considerably deeper than any other horizontal phreatic development yet found in Steinbrücken, and it is hoped that there is much more yet to be discovered; there are certainly many leads to explore in this area.
There are a number of other leads in Steinbrückenhöhle which might merit exploration, including an undescended pitch (QM 01-38A) in the Chocolate Salty Balls area, known as 'The Eleven Second Rattle' after the sound heard on dropping rocks down it; another undescended pitch (01-68A) at the end of the Merry F***ing Christmas crawl; and many others (cf. the Steinbrückenhöhle question mark list).
One of the most interesting of the many smaller caves in the area near Steinbrückenhöhle is Hauchhöhle, a prominent entrance near the walk-in route which draughts very strongly, suggesting that the cave behind is extensive. Exploration so far has revealed some 128m of horizontal passage, with the main lead being an undescended pitch. This was not explored last summer due to lack of time and manpower, but is an interesting lead and might well repay some effort.
The area of plateau to the north and west of Steinbrückenhöhle has never been studied in detail: there are likely to be many new, unexplored cave entrances in this area, which lies between the known caves in CUCC's area (1623) and the boundary with the adjacent area 1626.
Some suggestions have been made for a return to Kaninchenhöhle, which was the primary site of exploration by CUCC for most of the 1990s. There are a number of open leads in the Far North, the area closest to Steinbrückenhöhle; it is not entirely inconceivable that one of these may lead to a connection between the two, although it seems unlikely.
There is also much documentation and surveying work to be done, which although less glamorous than original exploration is vitally necessary considering the extent of CUCC's discoveries in the area so far; a list of tasks for the summer is already being assembled, here.

Expedition Committee

Expedition Leader:: Olly Madge (Caius)
Treasurer:: David Loeffler (Trinity)
Transport Organiser:: Mark Shinwell (Queens')
Sponsorship:: Nial Peters (St Catharine’s)
Other committee members:: Martin Green (Corpus); [plus others yet to be appointed]