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<h1>CUCC Austria 1997 - Why ?</h1>

<p>The 1997 expedition is now in the planning stage, with a few people
(as usual) doing most of the work. Dates are nominally 12th July to
17th August, with the usual flexibility in arrival and departure times.
Arrival dates for many depend on the timing of a pre-Expo canyonning
trip to the Alpes Marit&icirc;mes in France. Departure dates for some
depend on the International Speleological Congress, in the Swiss Jura
this year. As predicted, an Expo Prospectus has been produced, of which an
edited version appears here.</p>

<hr />

<h2 class="centre">CUCC Austria '97 (21st expo to Austria)</h2>

<p>Once again it's time to think of all those wonderful times you may
have had in Austria, lying on the sun-drenched sand by the Altaussee
lake, barbeques at the luxurious Gasthof Staudenwirt campsite,
swimming in the crystal clear (if somewhat chilly) waters of the
nearby river, shopping in the Konsum, drinking pints (well, bottles
anyway) of G&ouml;sser, festering in the potato hut, fixing the crap cars,
laughing at the radios, sampling the magnificent expo cuisine. And
don't forget the superb caving available on the
<a href="../../areas.htm">Loser Plateau</a> or more specifically in
<a href="../../1623/161/top.htm">Kaninchenh&ouml;hle</a>.</p>

<p>If you want to know what happened last year in the way of caving,
here's an extract from the sponsor's report (Anthony Day, 1996):</p>

<blockquote><p>"July 1996 saw the twentieth Cambridge University Caving Club
expedition to the Austrian Totes Gebirge and the ninth which has
primarily concentrated on the Kaninchenh&ouml;hle system. We found and
surveyed a further 5.5km of cave in this system, taking its total
length to 19.7km. These finds include two new deep routes, two new
entrances, and further extensive horizontal development in the north
of the system. The most exciting finds are to the south however. The
southern end of Kaninchenh&ouml;hle is now tantalisingly close to the
Stellerweg system. Were this connection to be made, the resulting
system would be over 40km long and 1000m deep making it an
internationally significant cave system."</p></blockquote>

<p>If you want an idea of some of the alternative activites that are
possible, you may like to visit the CUCC web site's
<a href="/handbook/fester.html">guide to expo festering</a>.</p>

<p>The contribution made by ExCS members
(and indeed anyone of similar experience) to CUCC expeditions is, as it has
always been, valued greatly. Anyone is welcome to come, caving or not, and
we (CUCC) would be pleased to see you.</p>

<h3>Some current KH statistics:</h3>

<table class="trad bigfatborder">
<tr><td>Found:</td><td>1988</td>
<td>No. of question marks:</td><td>201 in list</td></tr>
<tr><td>Length:</td><td>19.75 km</td>
<td>of which no. of huge question marks:</td><td>c.30</td></tr>
<tr><td>Depth:</td><td>498 m</td><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2">Distance from Eish&ouml;hle-Stellerwegh&ouml;hle:</td>
<td colspan="2">c.200m  and closing</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Likely year of connection:</td><td>1997/98</td>
<td></td></tr></table>

<p>I've just made these numbers up because I don't know the exact
figures, but I think they're about right. Wookey
(email: &lt;wookey (at) aleph1.co.uk&gt;)
will give you more accurate answers if you like.</p>

<h3>Dates:</h3>

<p>Expo '97 is nominally 12th July - 17th August 1997, although as usual
these are flexible according to when people want to go/leave.
Typically there are people arriving/leaving on every weekend so it is
entirely possible to go for as long or as little time as you like.
Transport is pooled to minimise cost.</p>

<h3>Cost:</h3>

<p>Cost is variable and difficult to be precise about since it depends on
factors such as how long you go for and how much beer you drink. Typically a
fortnight may cost between &#163;250 and &#163;350 (all in), of which a
large part is transport and a (fixed) tackle charge. 3 weeks probably cost
around &#163;50 or so extra.</p>

<h3>Expo Committee:</h3>

<table class="trad bigfatborder">
<tr><td colspan="3" class="centre">This year's expo committee is:</td></tr>
<tr><td>Leader</td><td>Julian Haines</td><td>
(jhaines (at) scigen.co.uk</td></tr>
<tr><td>Treasurer</td><td>Andrew Ketley</td><td>
(AJK23 (at) hermes.cam.ac.uk</td></tr>
<tr><td>Sponsorship</td><td>Rebecca Lawson</td><td>
(R.Lawson (at) Liverpool.ac.uk)</td></tr>
<tr><td>Equipment</td><td>Matthew Hicks</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Medical</td><td>?</td><td></td></tr></table>

<h3>What to do next:</h3>

<ol>
<li>A deposit of UKP40 is payable immediately. This is returnable in
the unlikely event of you changing your mind, but we need some money
to pay for things like insurance and carbide in advance. Cheques
should be payable to "CUCC Expo Account" and sent to Andrew Ketley,
Trinity Hall, Cambridge, CB2 1TJ.</li>

<li>It would be helpful if you could indicate (to me or Andrew) when
you are likely to be going and whether or not you have transport for
sharing. Clearly this is only a first impression and is not expected
to be final.</li>

<li>Book some leave if you have to!</li>
</ol>

<p>Julian Haines<br />
Expo '97 leader</p>

<hr />
<p>Many of the objectives of the 1997 trip are already pretty obvious to the
participants of the 1996 expedition. How many of these, and how many new ones
are addressed in 1997 depends mainly on the manpower and experience of the
intending participants.</p>

<p>Perhaps the most obvious single objective is the one which time and
deteriorating weather conspired to stop at the end of 1996. This was the
redescent of <a href="../../1623/161/136.htm">Steinschlagschacht</a>
and an attempt to connect this to the passages of the
<a href="../../1623/161/fbland.htm">Forbidden Land</a> in
<a href="../../1623/161/top.htm">Kaninchenh&ouml;hle</a>. These
passages are approached through a potentially very dangerous loose
choke at the southernmost point of "Flat France", and a new way in,
either from the surface, or via some bypass, is urgently needed. A
bypass proved elusive in 1996, and a connection with Steinschlagschacht
seems by far the best hope.</p>

<p>The Forbidden Land heads very promisingly under the Vorderer
Schwarzmooskogel, towards the great linked system of
<a href="../../1623/41.htm">Stellerwegh&ouml;hle</a>,
<a href="../../noinfo/1623/78.htm">Schwabenschacht</a> and
Schwarzmooskogeleish&ouml;hle, explored by CUCC and a
variety of other groups over many years. It is hoped to find a connection
(already provisionally named <b>The Promised Land</b>) linking these into a
single system, which would be approaching 40km in length and over 1000m deep.</p>

<p>There are many more accessible leads in Kaninchenh&ouml;hle,
reached via the 1995 "Scarface" entrance
(<a href="../../1623/161/sftotp.htm">1623/161d</a>), mainly
by relatively easy horizontal caving. The 1996 discovery of a
<a href="../../1623/161/triasp.htm#minoan">connection</a> from
Triassic Park into Knossos chamber will also make access to the
furthest reaches of the "old cave" much easier, and a return to
<a href="../../1623/161/sibria.htm#siberia">Siberia</a> and
various pitches below the ways north, beyond
<a href="../../1623/161/sibria.htm#cfn">Chicken Flied Nice</a>
are on the cards.</p>

<p>As well as the tenth year of exploration in Kaninchenh&ouml;hle,
there are a variety of other leads, and much relocating and better
documenting of smaller caves to be done. Though less glamorous, this
is no less vital, and provides easier caving for days between big
pushes in the deeper systems. A lot of the work needed is listed
in the Expedition <a href="../../handbook/look4.htm">Prospecting
Guide</a>.</p>

<p>As CUCC caves link up with other caves explored by different groups, one
emerging problem is the lack of available documentation from these
explorations. A number of groups have worked "unofficially" in the area, and
neither ourselves nor the local Austrian group have any information or
surveys. Other caves were explored so long ago that the existing surveys are
not up to current standards, and the raw data are lost. This will necessitate
a program of resurvey work over the next few years. Although at first sight,
this seems an unrewarding task, all past experience shows that the more
detailed examination of a cave which occurs whilst surveying it reveals
previously unnoticed leads. Thus, it is hoped that reexploration of
Larchenschacht and Schwarzmooskogeleish&ouml;hle will reveal important new
links north towards the Kaninchenh&ouml;hle area, hastening the linking of
all these caves into one system of world significance.</p>

<p>One overriding goal in all of this is to provide a consistently high
standard of documentation of all our work. This will avoid the need for
future cavers to repeat all the explorations again, placing new bolts
and otherwise having an adverse impact on the caves. Descriptions,
photographs and all CUCC's published material will appear on this website
over the years.</p>

<hr />

<!-- LINKS -->
<ul id="links">
<li>1996 Expedition info:
<ul>
<li><a href="../1996/log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
<li>Expedition <a href="../1996/bcracc.htm">Report</a> 1996</li>
</ul></li>
<li>1997 Expedition info - <a href="index.htm">index:</a></li>
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm">Index</a> to all publications</li>
<li><a href="../../sponsr.htm">Current year's</a> sponsors</li>
<li><a href="../../index.htm">Expo intro</a></li>
</ul>
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