Altitude: 1478m, depth -740m, +231m.
Position: E 35840 N (52)81049
Marking: number painted on right (east-facing) wall of entrance

Location: Follow Stögerweg beyond Windloch to a steep descent. Just below this, by a large tree on the right of the path (permanent survey station P3), descend steeply to the right on a barely discernible trod.

This involves at least one freeclimb which is awkward with lots of kit. Make lots of noise if you are first, especially on the first trip, since snakes seem to like it here. Eventually a large horizontal railway-tunnel-like entrance appears. If you fall off a cliff, you've gone a little too far downhill.

This is the main entrance through which the majority of the Stellerweghöhle system was explored. See the separate full guidebook description for details, just an overview is given here.

The entrance leads to a non-obvious way on to the head of the short Bell Pitch, from where very awkward going leads out to a bigger passage to reach The Ramp a series of off-vertical pitches. The damper but technically easier Inlet Pitches drop to a Big Chamber, from where Pete's Purgatory starts, and leads in 800m of tortuous going to The Confluence and the larger streamway leading to the deepest point.

Better is the Purgatory Bypass which starts as dry fossil tubes, with a choice of routes to reach Junction Chamber where the Big Rift of Stellerweghöhle enters. Opposite, the huge fossil tube of Dartford Tunnel makes for easy progress to the Confluence, about halfway down the system. The continuing main streamway is interrupted by a bypassable sump and numerous pitches before a low airspace duck at the end of an unpromising canal leads to the spectacular Orgasm Chasm. Careful rigging avoids the water in this 140m shaft, ending in muddy passage and another short drop to a deep and terminal sump.

Exploration: CUCC 1980-1985

Note: The Austrian Kataster has adopted a very perverse way of numbering things. Their numbers are as follows :

• 115a   Stellerweghöhle entrance   41a
• 115b   Stellerweghöhle entrance   41b
• 115c   Stellerweghöhle entrance   41c ( where ? )
• 115d   Schnellzughöhle entrance   115
• 115e   unnamed entrance   142