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<h2>161 Kaninchenh&ouml;hle: Knossos area</h2>

<h3>Knossos area to Carrefour</h3>

<p>From the foot of the Knossos pitch, up and to the right is the foot of a
steeply sloping wall where rocks dropped down the holes in the false floor on
the approach to Knossos land. About 2m up this wall is a 1m by 2m hole into
the <a href="offrhr.htm#pitandp">Pit and the Pendulum</a>. Below is some
extremely loose space amongst the rocks (probably <a href="qmtodo.htm#C1989-161-01"
name="qC1989-161-01">C1989-161-01</a>) presumably connecting to <a
href="offrhr.htm#rabbitc">Rabbit Curry</a>. A few metres further round the
chamber is a narrow steeply ascending rift, which goes for about 15m before
getting too steep to ascend further. High above the east side of the chamber
is the head of the pitch from <a href="triasp.htm#minoan">Minoan
Surprise</a>. No other ways out of the chamber have been found, but other
points of interest are a couple of drippy avens on the chamber's far side,
and a frozen manganese oxide stream.

<p><center><a href="300dpi/knoss.png"><img alt="Knossos survey: 28k gif"
src="inline/knoss.png" width=600 height=400></a></center>

<h4><a name="thamlets">Tower Hamlets</a> (1989)</h4>

<p><b>Tower Hamlets</b> is in two parts. The first part can be reached from
the foot of <a href="sibria.htm#starwars">Star Wars</a> and from Knossos, the
second from the col between <a href="sibria.htm#tblocks">Tower Blocks</a> and
<a href="sibria.htm#wfallc">Waterfall Chamber</a>.

<p>The first part of Tower Hamlets is an 11m high chamber about 12m by 4m
with a boulder-strewn floor and a narrow passage coming in from Knossos about
3m up the right hand wall at the far end. Around to the left in the SW end
there are a 3m climb up to a tube through to Tower Blocks, and a steeply
sloping sandy passage connecting to the other half of Tower Hamlets.

<p>This consists of a large sand ramp sloping up into the roof. On the right
hand side, a difficult 7m climb [<a href="qmdone.htm#C1989-161-04"
name="qC1989-161-04">C1989-161-04</a>] leads into a passage connecting the two parts of
Tower Hamlets at roof level (1992). On the left hand side, there is a 1.5m
diameter tube going up, reached by a simple but exposed climb protected by a
bolt, [<a href="qmdone.htm#C1989-161-05" name="qC1989-161-05">C1989-161-05</a>]. The tube goes about
4m before choking (1993). Walking back down the sand slope leads onto the col
between Tower Blocks and the passage to Waterfall Chamber. 

<h4><a name="olympus">Tower Blocks and Olympus</a> (1988/1989)</h4>

<p>Across the wide open space of <a href="sibria.htm#tblocks">Tower
Blocks</a>, opposite the point of entry from Star Wars, there is a shelf
leading to a short, choked, sandy inlet. Just to the right of this is a climb
over a boulder into <b>Olympus</b>. Further around to the right, the floor
drops steeply to the foot of a high drippy aven. A dodgy climb up of 10m by
the right hand wall will also bring you into Olympus.

<p>Olympus is nice walking passage for 40m to a junction with a big passage
coming in from the left, <a href="#bmeal">B-Meal</a>.

<p>The main passage continues for another 30m to <a href="#wobbling">
Wobbling</a>, but a turn off on the right hand side after c15m is the
continuation of Olympus. This is an inlet blocked by cemented shingle, but
climbing over the shingle bank on the right through a low arch leads into
pleasant phreatic passage which is between half and nearly full of sand and
shingle at various points along its length. Passing a couple of crawls with
an aven between them leads into larger passage with yet another choked inlet
on the right and a very unlikely-looking zig-zag ending with a crawling
passage to the left and a 3m climb up into a rift straight ahead. This rift
leads straight to the <a name="qC1988-161-05">top</a> of <a
href="deepwy.htm#flapjack"> Flapjack</a>, directly opposite the way in from
<a href="sibria.htm#carrefour"> Carrefour</a>.

<p>The crawling passage leads to a 2m climb down after 15m. Opposite this is
a climb up, <a href="qmtodo.htm#C1989-161-03">Del's Climb</a>, which remains
unexplored [<a name="qC1989-161-03">C1989-161-03</a> B]. Below the entry climb, left is a
phreatic tube going to a 2m climb into a high, choked rift; whilst to the
right, the passage widens over boulders leads to another view into the <a
href="deepwy.htm#flapjack">Flapjack</a> pitch (to the right) and a complex
collapse chamber (to the left) with various climbs and passages through
boulders.

<p><a href="300dpi/ambi.png"><img alt="Olympus survey - 21k gif" width=720
height=410 src="inline/ambi.png"></a>

<h4><a name="bmeal">B-Meal</a> (1989)</h4>

<p>On the left, 40m into Olympus, walking up the slope leads into a 10m high
arched passage. This goes south for 40m, passing two climbs of 2 and 5m to
reach a 3m climb up with a hole at the bottom of it. Through the hole is a
tight climb down 4m to a rift leading after 5m to the bottom of a 6m pitch,
choked both at floor level and at the top. At the top of the climb, a right
turn gains a jump down 1.5m onto sand leading round a corner to another
choked pitch extremely similar to the one below, whilst a climb up another 3m
to the left reaches a high chamber. A few metres walk further leads to the
edge of a 5m drop into a very high chamber and round to the right is a view
back down to the two 3m climbs. Going down the pitch, a steep, rocky chamber
floor leads to another 6m pitch into the foot of an active stream pot. The
water goes off down a rift by the foot of the pitch but disappears into a
boulder choke another 6m down in the bottom of the rift.

<h4><a name="wobbling">Wobbling</a> (1989)</h4>

<p>In Olympus, 15m beyond the junction with B-Meal, Olympus itself takes the
apparently less significant way right (north). Straight on in the main
passage leads a further 15m. At the end of the passage is an impressive
cemented shingle bank on the right hand side and a narrow and steeply
descending rift on the left (south). This continues for 25m before apparently
becoming too squalid, too tight and blocked all at the same time. However,
15m along, at roof level (4m up) on the right, is a very obscure and
draught-free tube - this is <b>Wormhole</b>, the end of the
<b>Ambidextrous</b> connection (<a href="offlhr.htm#ambidex">from the Left
Hand Route</a>, 1991).

<h4><a name="ambirtol">Ambidextrous RHR to LHR</a> (1991)</h4>

<p><b>Wormhole</b> is an obscure hole 4m up the right hand side
of Wobbling, at the top of the rift. Crawling in here along a tiny bit of
passage for 10m round a tight left corner it gets slowly larger and resumes
the southward trend. You pass a small hole in the floor and after 25-30m, the
roof rises to a large space. Ahead is a damp pitch/aven [<a
href="qmtodo.htm#C1991-161-06" name="qC1991-161-06">C1991-161-06</a>]. This is bypassed in large
rockstrewn passage to the left. Round the next corner is another access to
the pitch along a rift, with a traverse to a choked sandy passage possible.

<p>To the left along the rift, a 3m climb up through boulders gains the other
end of the rift. The passage zags back to the right (in the corner on the
left is <b>Pretty Pointless</b>, 5m of tight passage with a stal in it). A
small chamber and 2m downclimb is at the next zig, then you go right (zag
again) through the narrow exit to gain larger passage.

<p><a name="ambifix">Climbing</a> up rocks at the end you should see the rope
of the 11m up-pitch into <b>Time Dilation</b> (permanently rigged - see
<a href="../../fixaid.htm#ambi">fixed ropes table</a>). To the right is a
rift-developed dead-end passage. Up the pitch a 5m climb gains a view back
over the last section of passage. The only way out is upslope to the right,
then sharp right and down the sand slope to the bottom of the 5m pitch up
(also permanently rigged) into Ragnar&ouml;k.
From the top you can clamber straight up over the boulders, but
it is easier to go left along a narrow walking passage for 15m to reach
<a href="lhr.htm#ragnarok">Ragnar&ouml;k</a>.

<hr />

<h3>Around Carrefour</h3>

<h4><a name="toiletb">Toilet Block</a> (1989)</h4>

<p><a href="l/tbcamp.htm"><img alt="Photo - 30k" src="t/tbcamp.jpg"
width=178 height=134 align=left hspace=10 vspace=10></a><b>1989
camp</b>

<p>Straight across <a href="sibria.htm#carrefour">Carrefour</a> (from
Waterfall Chamber) is the <b>Toilet Block</b>, the original
<a name="rhrcamp">camp-site</a> for the Right Hand Route. A short walking
section leads into a very high cross rift via a 2m climb. This rift is choked
at both ends, but going straight across continues into a 3m high 2m wide
sandy floored passage to a crawl into a chamber containing a damp climb down
to a choked streamway.

<p><a href="300dpi/yapate.png"><img alt="survey - 20k gif" width=640
height=500 src="inline/yapate.png"></a>

<h4><a name="sokb">Sheared Off Known Better</a> (1990)</h4>

<p>A narrow hole in the floor of Yapate inlet at
<a href="sibria.htm#carrefour">Carrefour</a>, c15m from the way into Toilet
Block is <b>Sheared Off Known Better</b>. This starts with a 22m pitch,
rigged from the back of a big boulder. This drops you into the bottom of the
active canyon that can be heard in the floor of Yapate. The passage is narrow
and winding and much climbing about is necessary to progress. After 25m of
traversing there is a 6m pitch, then after climbs down of 4m, 3m and 2m, a
15m pitch is reached. This is the current limit of exploration
[<a href="qmtodo.htm#C1990-161-06" name="qC1990-161-06">C1990-161-06</a>] as the bolt driver sheared
off whilst setting a spit here (thus the name) so no further progress could
be made. The position and the water volume make it very likely that this
passage connects with <a href="deepwy.htm#flapjack">Flapjack</a> in the
vicinity of the 28m wet pitch.

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