<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>1626:LA34</title> </head> <body> <center><table border=0 width=100%> <tr><th align=left><font size=+2>LA34</font></th> <th align=center><font size=+2>Ratselhöhle</font></th> <th align=right><font size=+2>3/S +</font></th></tr> </table></center> <p><b>Altitude</b>: 1835m<br> <b>Location</b>: 13° 50' 30" E, 47° 42' 20" N<br> Slightly to the right of a hillock visible from Sternloch (<a href="la12.htm"> LA12</a>) approx. 200m SE of <a href="la11.htm">LA11</a>.<br> This is borderline 1626 or 1623 <p>Originally thought to be a choked shaft, it was noted as "worth another look" in 1987, but was not relocated in 1988. Closer inspection with a ladder revealed parallel slots in the rift and a noticeable draught. <p>The original entrance is a "walk-in" open shaft which leads on to a twisted vertical pitch of 17m, <b>Parthos</b>, into a sizeable chamber at the top of a rubble slope. The obvious small wriggle at the bottom of the slope leads to the <b>Musketeers' Series</b>, while a bolted climb leads to the main way on. <p>The Musketeers' Series consists of stooping phreatic passages, with a 5m pitch, then a couple of climbs to the head of an 11m pitch, <b>Aramis</b>, into a chamber. At the far end, a further pitch, <b>Athos</b>, is 8m. The way on is up a short climb to the head of a 5m+10m ramp, <b>Porthos</b>, down to a phreatic tube with a silted up floor. Digging in the silt revealed a tight rift rising up, but as this was too tight, the dig was abandoned. The water from Aramis descends a tight rift in the base of the phreatic tube, but after 3m, this too became too tight. <p>The climb up before the Musketeers' Series leads quickly to a T-junction. To the right, a winding ramp passage of decreasing size leads on and up with several fallen blocks making progress awkward. This route ends at a small chamber with an inlet dropping from the roof. Left from the T-junction leads on down a gently sloping boulder ramp in stooping, then walking passage. This increases in size and becomes steeper before emerging into the side of an enormous boulder ramp, <b>Hillsborough Revisited</b>. The inlet passage enters three quarters of the way up Hillsborough, which is 10m wide by 5m high and drops a total of 40m at 40°. At the base of Hillsborough, an aven rises to the surface and daylight can be seen reflecting off the sides of this second entrance. A third entrance was discovered on the surface which leads down a deep grike through a tight arch and into a small chamber. Digging boulders revealed a steeply inclined squeeze leading onto a pitch at the top of the Hillsborough ramp. The base of this pitch leads onto an inclined overhanging terrace with a hole at the back which drops 2m onto another inclined overhanging terrace. A 4m climb down from this ledge ends at the top of the boulder ramp of Hillsborough. <p>The base of Hillsborough was blind until a dig in unstable boulders on the left hand side revealed a tight drop between two wedged boulders into another very sizeable ramp, <b>Penistone Road</b>. This ramp is convoluted and twists around open shafts and roof collapse to end in a huge chamber with a small muddy hole in the floor, <b>The Hole in the Road</b>. This way on is blind. <p>An alternative route from the main ramp of Penistone Road leads down an old phreatic tube decorated with calcite frost and numerous small helictites to a flat-out crawl to a 25m blind pitch. <p>Near the bottom of the Hole in the Road, a 6m rope climb up the eastern wall, <b>The Escalator</b>, leads to a series of solution tubes. A 1m diameter tube drops NE into <b>The Broadwalk</b>, a sizeable mud-floored phreatic passage. Here, following a strong draught, the passage opens up, becoming very high with a number of avens cutting down into the passage. A 4m rope climb drops down to the head of a pitch, <b>Reason to Believe?</b>. This dry shaft is disjointed and 144m deep, broken at approximately half depth by a 'saddle'. A further short pitch lands on a slope before the final drop into a sizeable chamber. The only exit from this chamber is to the east and is a muddy rift passage traversed at various levels. This leads to the head of a further series of disjointed shafts and the wet 77m pitch <b>More than a Feeling</b>. Here a 57m drop lands on a spray-lashed ledge and a further 20m drop gives way to a large boulder slope. Two wet 2m climbs lead up to the head of a 7m pitch which leads to the base of the shaft. <p>Through the small passage across the base of the shaft, a climb down through boulders leads to a rift streamway. Only a short way down is an 11m pitch followed immediately by a 17m pitch, <b>Leonie's Birthday Leap</b>. The stream leads on once more until it cuts away and a traverse along a muddy rift passage leads to the head of a fault collapse chamber running away at an angle of 70°. Over 20m above the stream a distinctly dodgy rope climb/abseil leads to a point where a climb back around rejoins the stream. A further 8m rope climb leads to the last 19m pitch which drops into a sump at a depth of 425m. <p><b>Exploration</b>: <a href="../others/luss/index.htm">LUSS</a> 1987,1989 <p><b>References :</b> <dl> <dt>87.1514<dd><cite>Austria Reconnaissance Expedition 1987, Lancaster University Speleological Society</cite> <dt>90.1341<dd><cite>Dead Mountains Expedition, Ian Rolland, Underground October 1989 pp 4-9 (Army Caving Association)</cite> <dt>90.1342<dd><cite>Dead Mountains Expedition 1989, Ian Rolland, Chelsea Speleological Society Newsletter 32(5) pp 56-9</cite> </dl> <hr> <!-- LINKS --> <img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="index.htm#la34">Index</a> and overview of 1626.<br> <img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../others/luss/index.htm">LUSS</a> explorations <img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../indxal.htm">Full Index to 1623</a><br> <img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../areas.htm">1623 Area/Subarea description</a><br> <img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a> <img alt=">" src="../../icons/lists/0.png"> <a href="../../index.htm">CUCC Home page</a> </body> </html>