Following the discovery of the gigantic Schneevulkanhalle in the Schwarzmooskogel/Totes Gebirge by some Nuremberg cavers and myself, intensive further work took place in this area in the autumn. The results are so important that we must yet expect big surprises in the next few years.

In mid-September 1983, Wilfried Lorenz undertook a weekend tour together with three other cavers from Nuremberg in order to photograph and, to look for new continuations. Straight away, they had success. At the deepest point of the Schneevulkanhalle, that is accessible only over another 30-m-Schrägabstieg over partially very steep ice, they determined that here was not end but that the cold wind prowled through a narrow open split between roof and floor. The soft infill was scratched with everything possible in order to slip through. Luckily, the silted up route was only approximately 2 m long. A small chamber immediately opens behind it with a flat clay floor. The continuation now leads into an upward tube in the white limestone. Untouched stalagmites line the way. Baby shaft-areas force one to scramble up and down. The further one comes up, the more the dimensions decrease. Then, the character changes again. A descent into a Canyon leads into a water-worn cleft, that must be climbed on the other side again. A horizontal walk, that led into big chambers and foyers, down here. The Nurembergers turned back here.

The next trip took place on the 23-25 September. Wilfried had told me on the telephone of the success of the last tour and me with it quite hotly done. We had gone away in August convinced that there was no continuation from the chamber. The Loserhütte was arranged as venue.

From Munich, Oliver Pirner, Reinhard Wagner and I came, from Nuremberg, Wilfried Lorenz, Monika and Gerhard Lorenz, Reinhard Lemmer, Heinz Stenzel, Bernhard Nerreter, Christine Wieloch and two further Nuremberger (?). We from Munich had gone to bed long ago as, shortly after midnight, our Nuremberg friends opened the door to the Loserhütte situated so far from our everyday-world.

The next morning, it was still dark as we got up; the prepared breakfast was eaten and backpacks prepared for departure still in the twilight and the sun rose over the Trisselwand as we arrived at the Loserparkplatz. A white fog-layer hung over the valley, above which the Dachstein massif towered like a mountain-monument. Our caravan moved off, but the further we were removed from the lonesome parking place, the more and more we split into small groups. Particularly three of us, Wilfried, Reinhard and a young caver from the Frankfurt area, had heavy packs to carry. They wanted to stay at the cave the following week as well and do more exploration. Oliver and I did another short excursion at the turn-off of the Stögerweg. I wanted to find the entrances to the Stellerweg-/Schnellzughöhlensystem, that at present with its 4 km length and almost 900 m depth is still the biggest cave on the Schwarzmooskogel. Since I had only very vague ideas of the exact location, we promptly left the path at the wrong place. Below it, amongst the bunde, we found a shaft that appeared to drop into a snow-filled chamber. Without rope, nothing was to be done there however. I still had in memory that the Schnellzughöhle entrance should lie approximately 100 m below the Stögerweg, with its railway-tunnel-like opening. Therefore, we climbed down the hillside over several steep steps overgrown with grass and larches. Left from us, there seemed to be a rocky doline. I crossed over a steep grass-strip and stood before a triangular cave-entrance. Cold wind moved the big plants in the entrance. The passage had typical Schwarzmooskogel characteristics. The roof is an upside-down "U", that runs out into two side-walls of about 2 m. At the ground, fine-rubble lay, showing no tracks of previous exploration. Was this a new cave we had found? Upon the Stögerweg, we soon came upon two strongly blowing caves, one of which was the well known Windloch (1623/32). To the Stellerweghöhle itself, we have still found no way.

Our comrades had already vanished in the bunde-wilderness of the Schwarzmooskogels long ago as we reached our two left-behind backpacks again. At the "White Nipple", we had caught up with the others again a half hour later. Some of those had got lost on the long grass-strip and had chosen the wrong way. By coincidence, they had arrived at the third of the big caves in this actually only quite small area, Schwabenschacht. At the entrance, they still found the luxuriant waste-tracks of last big research-days. It should be approximately 350 m deep.

At the main entrance into the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle, breakfast was first done before heading down to our new discovery. Ice-screws came into play to anchor the descent-rope into the Schneevulkanhalle for the first time. Everything proceeded smoothly. I immediately headed with Reinhard and Oliver on the newly discovered passage. A second rope had to first be wound about an ice-formation, then the way was free to start over the almost vertical ice-wall. The ice stopped at the bottom. We could strip the crampons. A tiny oval at the most rearmost chamber-side, from which cold air exuded, seemed to be the continuation. Before getting through, hard digging had however still to be achieved with hands and feet. Beyond the Schlufes, was a small chamber with untrodden mud floor, then a beautiful white passage, followed by a water-worn shaft zone. I followed Reinhard, who had climbed down the opposite wall already. The scramble downward was easier than it had looked initially. I stood on gravel-floor and had just wanted to climb upward again as the strange sound of a falling stone penetrated from below. Another cavity was under the ground, on which I stood exactly, maybe ? As a precaution I stepped quickly aside and lifted some stones from the rubble floor. Actually, a black nothingness yawned below there. Before I dug further, I first tied myself to the protection-rope, that Reinhard had sent down from above. A quarter hour work was necessary in order to throw the once "solid" shaft-floor into the depths and, to open the way downward. Where, nobody yet knows at the moment. Since we had no rigging gear with us, the continuation remains unexplored. The main route continued on spacious. A roomy chamber with much collapse-debris followed, then a Canyon passage with snow-white walls and tawny changes in colour. Towards the end, the passage gradually becomes smaller, finishing with much caollapse. We are presumably not at all far from the overlying surface here.

Reinhard and I turned back somewhat disappointed. On the way, we wanted still to examine all small side-passages, in order to be sure that we had not to come back. A magnificent Schluf branched off perpendicular to the main passage. With difficulty, we got out all the stones, fought us so onward, but in the end however, I only poked around with the legs in a minutely small hole. There was only a small possibility. With the tubes, another low Schluf to the right also branched off. I crawled after 5 m in and already, I could stand in the parallel-gap up. Steeply, it went continually larger nascent split in it with rich Sinter downward. The ground was finally missing because it led into a small area. Reinhard now climbed first, installed a ropesling in two threads and climbed down. I followed him. The following, we could follow further steeply downward pulling passage only few metres because it became noticeably more vertical and we had no further gear with us. Only a tempting gaze in a horizontal walk below was possible. We turned back.

Going back in the Schneevulkanhalle, we heard about the undertakings of our comrades. They were immediately into the side-rift beside the route we had climbed and came out in a 20 m high Canyon, that was difficult to explore. The photo-group now began to light up the giant-chamber with PF100, the light bulb-sized flashbulbs. Meanwhile, Bernhards and another Nuremberger descended into the second side-rift in the ice, that we had ignored. The result, that they brought back, was cataclysmic. A 10m ice down-climb led to the floor of the chamber. Along a 50 m long ice wall, they came into a big ice-free walk with several turn-offs. And in this walk, they found the inscription "Hütter 1938". Therefore people had been here before, and we had found only the continuation of the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle in the end. Their report was especially exciting over a strong bewetterten (I think this means be-weathered, which I understand to mean "blowing like a bugger") side-passage, in which they could descend no longer because of shortage of materials.

We wanted to spend the night in two groups - the bivouac-group at the cave entrance and the fresh air-group, that wanted to sleep somewhere above the portal between the bunde. The weather got worse visibly in the night, a strong thunderstorm closed in at two o'clock. Lightnings lightened the black night, that awakened shortly subsequent thunders, also the deepest sleeper on. It began to rain hard. Within a very short time, our fresh air-group was gathered under the cave roof. By huddling closer, all 12 found accommodation, number 12 however geisterte still around. The rainwater needed 5 m heavy rock-parcel of shares over us had seeped 3 lessons until it through that approximately. Then began a line along it first to dribble, then later to stream. Wide drip-positions became active. Slowly, no one had a dry sleeping place any more. We had to get up gezwungenermaßen. Reinhard pushed home, the others affiliated, 9 persons stumbled in the streaming rain over slippery limestone pavement back to civilisation. 3 remained behind, they erected a tent-tarpaulin, that should offer them some protection for the rest of the week. Hardly was the main-group back on the parking place, when the clouds vanished, the skies cleared, the sun shone and a one-week fair-weather period began.

Wilfried's group measured the passage into the Schwarzmooskogelhöhle in the subsequent time, the outside-surveying extended us known extreme-points of the system to that, the Lamperlhöhle found in August, that is only one receipt knowner long ago into the Schwarzmooskogelhöhle, used as has turned out later, the "shaft under the larch", that still gives occasion to big hopes, tried to find the upper entrance of the snow-cone of the Schneevulkanhalle and discovered the "dome-cave" with it and finished this week with an ascent of the Dachstein.

Gradually, the message of the discovery of the giant chamber seeped through in the Schwarzmooskogel on and on. It was as one has thrown a stone into a motionless lake, that now evoked ever bigger circles. Originally also Wilfried wanted to go too again, but it became nothing with him/it from it. Willi Hermann and Herbert Wimmer wanted to come along this time, furthermore still Oliver Pirner and Mario Tauchers, a caver from the Ausseer country living in Munich. Was from the 21 up to the 23 October 1983 this time.

In the evening at the Loserhütte, we were at first the only guests, and were allowed to sit in the pleasant kitchen. Later, two more inebriated Ausseers came up. Finally, Karl Gaisberger visited us. He is our most important contact there and I told him in detail about the latest stand of the explorations. We kept at it until 2:30 in the morning.

It became only a short night, because at 6 o'clock, we got up again. A terrible skull-drone and a disgusting nausea in the stomach of the Zirbengeist and the sumptuously enjoyed beer hindered the energy not only with me. The wonderful autumn-weather was only perceived by some of us by an inner fog. Two Ausseer caver-comrades came up in the dawn, Hans Segl and Egon Pfusterer. They accompanied us into the Schwarzmooskogelhöhle in order to see the new parts. At ten o'clock, we stood in front of the bivouac-place in the entrance of the Schwarzmooskogelhöhle, made breakfast first powerful once again in order to gain strengths again and marched to entrance "D" then further down. Meanwhile, we had found out that the notorious water-problem through the utilization of the snow-occurrences in the portal 2, nickname Elefantena. . . . pierce to solve well was. At noon we put all pots, filled with snow, into the sun and in the evening we had usable water.

At the snow volcano in the cave, Mario attracted attention that daylight fell in from above. He climbed through a hole upward and came back again some time later. He had succeeded in advancing to a daylight shaft with perpendicular walls drawing up towards heaven. To get out was not possible however. From the Schneevulkanhalle, all those that saw for the first time, were very much impressed. I felt drawn equally further however. Finally this time, our goal was the shaft leading into the unknown in the passages that we had approached last time. Altogether, three ropes were necessary in order to reach the starting point for the new ground. Oliver first beat a spit flatly before Mario with short, fast hits put down the final belay-point. I had the honor to go ahead. A tiny carbide flame, that I had not once been able to ignite again, because I had no lighter with it, and my single illuminations were an almost burned out torch. 8 m vertically down, it went into a horizontal passage with gravel floor. Straight ahead, [unclear if the passage ends 10m ahead in collapse blocks, or if the passage passes 10m through collapse blocks] to be transferred by big collapse blocks seemed according to the gang 10 m. I could see a low Schluf-passage behind me, with a mud floor. The funnel was exciting directly before me. I slid down and removed some pebbles with it. They clattered through a small hole in the floor and were only to be heard after some seconds again as they hit much further below. A gaze down was possible only after some digging. One pitch 8 m diameters showing big shaft leads in the depth vertically. One stands on wedged boulders and verbackendem conglomerate, that are jammed in above this abyss. The further I opened the narrow hole, the more unwell I felt. I would most like to fix myself with a Jumar to the rope coming from above eingehängt in order to be secured a little. It would be possible that the lot would suddenly all collapse and onewould next stop 50 m down. Because of these problems, I abandoned this position soon and turned back instead. On the way back, I noticed for the fisrt time the many dead spidersin the tube-passages which give this zone the name Spinnen-Friedhof (web-graveyard).

Herbert and I did in the end, as had left others the cave finished long ago already again, still some receptions of the hollow out-ice already almost completely reduced, only dully acting now and only left as it was already deep night the hole outdoors. Nevertheless, it was not dark. The full moon shone so brightly that a way back was possible without shining carbide-lamp.

At the bivouac, we noticed that Willi Hermann was missing. Was he still in the narrow entrance-schluf of entrance "D", but as he/it already completely through was and a step of 1.50 m hinabgemüßts would only have, did he/it apparently discover first that gets lost a broken rib he/it he/it itself from earlier ago? In the night, to look for somebody in this terrain, can let remain one. He/it gives simply much too many holes in those one, without somebody will find one for long time can vanish. Herbert finally noticed that Willi's backpack was no longer there. He was apparently also, like like our three Ausseer comrades, on the way back. Later still I found two small papers with a message from him so that we need worry ourselves no more.

In the next morning the last three of us, Oliver, Herbert and I, did another tour into the Schneevulkanhalle. I wanted to go down over the magnificent ice-wall at the chamber edge into the well known parts of the Schwarzmooskogelhöhle this time. With two ice-screws, that are fixed into thick ice, the belay of the short rope is no problem. The descent with crampons was more pleasure than danger. Below one can immediately take off the crampons again and can continue without them. Between the high facet-structured ice-wall and the light rock at the chamber edge has melted out a wide walk, through which one progresses easily. An ice-tongue like of a glacier has pushed itself into the old passages full of coarse collapse blocks. The tunnel ascends easily. Before it leads into a chamber with two big continuations, there is a branch off to the right: a low passage, partially filled with small bits of rock. A powerful current of air was to be felt. It no longer continued after few metres. A shaft opened. It looked good and didn't seem to be too deep. Its exploration, however, didn't seem harmless because many loose stones, that already fell with the smallest movement downward, lay around. Lack of equipment, time and motivation decided us to postpone this work.

About 2 o'clock in the afternoon we three first packed up, then ascended the steep, smooth limestone walls, squeezed through the alleys in the bunde to the White Nipple. Then up and down again to the Stögerweg. The rest of the way up to the parking place seemed interminable to me today. All at once, we met Willi. He had needed the whole day for the way back. Again and again, he had become confused, had had to fight through the green bunde with difficulty. In the end, in the light of the declining sun, we enjoyed on the terrace before the Loserhütte a heavily earned, newly tapped half beer.

From the 11th to the 13th November, our last tour took place for this year. Originally, we wanted to set off only as quite a small team, Reinhard Wagner, Wilfried Lorenz, Manfred Schätzl and I. In the end however, it was 10 cavers from Munich and Nuremberg and with further 10 Ausseer cavers, we met at the cave. The loneliness and silence, which earlier had distinguished this area, seemed unfortunately to yield to the noisy conditions.

The former "paradise" is slowly suffering crowd impact. The most barbaric intervention, if the piece of information is right, was caused by Gunther Limberger. He has gone along the steep track marked with small cairns and has decorated the rock with hand-sized blots and half-metre-long arrows at countless positions with red spray-paint. All those who remembered the original conditions, were shocked.

I have immediately responded and here and there with any lying around rock laboriously waymarked some of these points piece by piece again. The Ffft from the spray can is rectifiable only with tenfold expenditure again. Nevertheless, such a rarely visited zone rewards such commitment.

In the background, there is also the fear that the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle could turn into a commercialised cave one day. In the end there are quite substantial financial incentives: if there was a unique sight to see above there, that would make attractive new publicity for the Loser-Panoramastraße. Hopefully, this will never happen.

The goal of this tour was new exploration and surveying. Last time, I had climbed a rock-wall above the way back from entrance "d" to the main entrance. Crossing a 50m grass strip, I found the previously unlocated mighty shaft above the Schneevulkanhalle. This new shaft, entrance "e", was our first goal. Near the descent to the level of the main entrance, and, to save the subsequent ascent, I tried to find a way for our group above the vertically falling "cave-pit". The result was staggering. Apparently none of us has ever crossed here. Immediately, we came upon a "passageway-cave", an 8 m high rift, that leads after 15 m on the other side into a rocky doline again, and presumably represents just the rest of a chamber formerly closed. In the middle of the passageway was no more floor - a clean shaft with current of air leads here into the depth. Presumably, it also leads into the underlying main-walk of the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle.

The steep terrain forced a detour upward where it became flatter. All difficult bits could be overcome easily over wide rock-ribbons. In a 10m deep depression, grass-tufts moved in the wind. Was there a hidden cave opening there? I climbed down and stood in front of the next big portal, that leads in into a shaft. Only 30m further was a Canyon, that was also draughting and, to judge from thrown stones, leads profoundly down. 3 new caves in 10 minutes.

At the big entrance shaft, a right jam occurred since all wanted to go down at once. Wilfried and me wurlte it too much. We decided rather to do a prospecting walk in the surroundings. Only 50 m north we found the first shaft, possessing a 7×7m diameter, with a rock-pedestal in its 10m depth.

Left past this, approximately 30 m further, at the foot of a rock-wall, I found an ice-plug. A small hole had remained opne between the boulders over it. I waited first for Wilfried so that we could down-climb into the steeply descending area together. Several Canyons lead together here and seemed to approach a funnel with the chamber-rear wall. I crawled down, pushed some rocks aside, saw a blocked Scluf and felt the easy current of air. As the digging became too arduous, I gave up. Above was a horizontal crawlway. Wilfried crawled first and where several even smaller inlets came together, came to a junction. We had penetrated into one of the many small feeder-system, that exist at the Schwarzmooskogel in droves. We found a broken off stalagmite-stump here in the untouched mud floor as well. This small cave was barely 50 m overall length.

Further, our cave search went. I headed to the big headwall of the depression to the foot of the Vorderer Schwarzmooskogel. There were small dark openings, to be seen there. Unfortunately, they all are completely plugged with rubble. In a projecting ridge, a 8 m wide and 2 m high cave portal overlooked the depression.

A tunnel led me on. Downward, it went into a 10 m wide and 20 m long chamber. At the farther end, daylight entered through a small round opening again. The tunnel turned to the left and finished 20 m further with a collapse, that was up to the roof. At the deepest point of the chamber, I finally found a small shaft between the boulders, that led in stooping walk perpendicular to the previous system. Since I was alone, I omitted rather further ventures and turned back.

On the other side of the spur in which the "Harnischtunnel" lies, I found the presumable continuation of the main-passage, a small chamber of 10 m diameter. Only few metres away is the "Himmelsloch", a cave-ruin with a big roof-window. It became time to turn back again. Deep pits, overhanging rock-walls and bunde-thicket, however, made it rather difficult, to come back to the entrance "e", the big shaft.

The comrades had vanished in the depth of the shaft long ago. Only Wilfried and I were still there. The weather was so splendid that we wanted first to connect our finds to the overall surface survey of the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle. At the shaft with the big entrance opening, a thread was quickly found for the 20m rope. I went first and stood 11 m deeper on the extensive shaft-floor. I saw from the left the in-gleam of daylight from a nearby located shaft. A smooth bedding plane formed the inclined cave roof. A shaft led a further 15 m into the depth. Wilfried now climbed in front and came in into a high chamber. A walking sized passage leads from the foot of the shaft, but finishes unfortunately after few metres at a puddle. After the black scrolls, that lie around on the cave floor, the cave is now called "Schwarzlaubhöhle".

Also both the other caves were linked by us to the overall survey. In the "Harnischtunnel", we descended into the side-passage and came upon a remarkably cold chamber with ice floor and ice formations. Unfortunately, none of the short Schlufs, that branch off everywhere, led anywhere. The surveying yielded barely over 50 m passage length.

It already became dark as we finally climbed into the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle. The "Königschacht" was still to survey, and we immediately began with it. The 30m tape was enough to reach the first snow-heel exactly. From there it goes 10 m, past a big round snow-hole, down as far as the entry-point into the Schneevulkanhalle, once again.

In the chamber, we met an enthusiastic Oliver. He told what had been discovered in the meantime by the others. The small shaft in the old part of the Schwarzmooskogelhöhle had led in into a huge continuation. About these explorations, Reinhard will tell in an individual report for the SCHLAZ. In the end Wilfried and I did some more recordings of the big ice wall and then left through the Schluf out of the cave again, heavily laden with three big sleeping bags.

What greeted us outdoors, was a tragedy. Red points and a 50 cm long red arrow, an Austrian sausage-paper and, as coronation of the whole unpleasantness so to speak, we found right at the entrance the discarded, almost empty paint can. In the cave, I still had wrapped up chewing gum in silver-paper and black shoelace found long.

Also our "relic", the wooden Brennerbeserl behind the entrance schluf, has caught it. It is away.

We had always taken the trouble to change so little as possible in this magnificent cave to practice "soft cave exploration". Unfortunately some of our caver-colleagues have not probably stuck to it and have graphically shown how one can desecrate a nature-monument in the shortest time. Moaning achieves nothing. I think more of the effect of models. Therefore I have simply gathered everything up again and have taken it away. Maybe, also the taker of the Brennerbeserl returns this again. It is a unique document for the exploration-history of the cave!

In the evening in the bivouac it was very close-fitting. Ten bodies sought and finally found a roost.

The next morning, we split into 3 groups. Oliver led a small group to the shaft by the path to the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle in the surroundings of the White Nipple. Unfortunately, there was no success there, since no continuations were to be found below. Wilfried measured with a group at the surface the connection portal 2 to entrance "e".

I led Reinhard, Manfred and a Nuremberger to the Lamperlhöhle. Reinhard first put in another spit belay. Then, the way was open down the 25m pitch that leads directly into the South-part of the Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle. Since the time was short, we didn't hang abround much her but immediately strove toward on the continuation found by me in August in the choked parts. Perceptibly, the cold air came out from the low, mostly rubble-filled passage. We crawled up to the shaft. The rope was fastened to a thread. Reinhard climbs down first to an intermediate ledge 5 m deeper. I follow. Another shaft, that leads down into a big area, down here. Reinhard climbs to a thread over the demolition, installs a long green sling there as rebelay, and clips on the descent rope with a karabiner, further it goes. First Reinhard, then I, then the others.

A rubble-filled chamber with several small holes at the sides is reached. A Canyon seems to continue. Unfortunately, all continuations finish after few metres at smooth rock-walls. One beautiful discovery still awaits. The aggressive water has so etched out the fossils from the rocks that small ones now protrude several centimetres on some rock and in other places are recognisable as almost complete mussels. We retreat again.

About 12: we leave the bivouac-place at the cave-entrance, 1½ hours later we are at the parking place. About 2, we sit at the beer in the Loserhütte. Karl Gaisberger is also there. We talk with him about how exploration should continue. He had the feeling, we were not keeping the Ausseer cavers adequately informed of our undertakings, So it was agreed, that each trip would be reported to him in future at least by telephone, phone 06153/2262. We had always made that written until now. These communications seem to be in the club of the Ausseer comrades somewhere, however locked up internally. Wilfried received the original-plan of the cave so that he can supplement the new discoveries. Until we came, the cave was approximately 1600 m long; today, it is found to be 2.5 km, the dream-goal is the giant-cave.

Eishöhle description
Area description
Other Areas
Back to Expedition Intro page
Back to CUCC Home page
Other groups who have worked in the area