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1977: Nick Thorne's Belfry Bulletin report
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<center><font size=-1>Bristol Exploration Club Belfry Bulletin 354 pp 96-98</font>
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<h2>TOTES GEBIRGE<br>1977</h2>
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<p>by Nick Thorne</center>
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<p>It is many years since Britain could offer open potholes for pioneers to
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explore, and now even Europe is fast running out of areas of genuinely virgin
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limestone. One area where almost no work has been done however is the Totes
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Gebirge in Austria. Cambridge University Caving Club had a short expedition
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to that area in 1976 and I went with them when they paid their second visit
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in the summer of 1977. Since, in their past, the B.E.C. have shown an active
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interest in Austria, I thought that members might like to know how things
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went.
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<p>C.U.C.C. set up camp by a lake in Alt Aussee, a sleepy little village some
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80Km (50 miles) east of Salzburg. The scenery is spectacular in the extreme.
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On the opposite side of the lake to our camp stood the Trisselwand, a sheer
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rock wall six times taller than the Avon gorge. Our interest was focussed on
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the nearby Loser Plateau, a sharply undulating plain nearly 2000m (6,600ft)
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above sea level. Until recently the plateau was inaccessible to anyone with
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anything short of a helicopter. However, a few years ago, a road up there was
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built for the skiers and the plateau is now a brisk three quarters of an
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hours' walk along dubious tracks from where the road ends. The road itself is
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no trifling effort but a great autobahn affair zigzagging its way up the
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hillside. Near the top, it has a heart-stopping hang gliders' take-off ramp.
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The road is a toll road, and a car plus four people would cost about £5.50
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per trip. Before we parted with cash, however, a curious aspect of local
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attitudes was utilised. Cavers in Austria, and I believe in other parts of
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the continent too, are regarded as real heroes. The words "Hohlen Forscher"
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were all that we needed to gain us free tolls, reduced camping fees and even
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free beer!
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<p>Once on the plateau, we began prospecting. The tens of miles of lapiaz
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have rather daunted Carl, the only local caver. He welcomed our extra
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manpower, pointed us in the right direction and essentially said "Explore
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whatever takes your fancy!" I found that after the British caving scene, some
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adjustment of scale was necessary, both above and below ground. Looking
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across the plateau the Schonberg looked to be within spitting distance, but
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in fact it would have been a long days' very tough walking. Crossing the
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lapiaz was a real headache. Unlike Yorkshire, this stuff is faulted, folded,
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overfolded and has patches of tough, hardy vegetation growing all over it.
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The plateau can be a very unfriendly place with its abundance of snakes and
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its very changeable weather. In two minutes, prospectors can have their
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surtbthing (Oh! what a giveaway!) interrupted by some very spectacular
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thunder and lightning and be pummelled by hailstones as big as marbles. The
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run-off from these thunderstorms is so fast as to be almost comforting. I am
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sure that if one were caught underground in a floodable passage (of which
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there are thankfully very few!) and not be drwoned instantly, one could
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almost hold ones breath until the flood subsided!
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<p>When it comes to the caves themselves, finding the deep ones requires a
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little thought and a lot of luck. At first we looked at big open shafts, and
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found many fine and undescended examples. Some were up to 4Om (150ft) deep,
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but they were invariably choked or plugged with snow. A much better type of
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entrance to look for is the horizontal type. A short section of horizontal
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development is all that is needed to protect subsequent shafts from the
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debris that chokes the open pots. An additional clue for a good site we
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learned was the presence of a draught. So healthy an indication of good
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things is a draught that we even hammered out the entrance to one cave - a
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Yorkshire trick that leaves the continentals absolutely staggered! The
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subsequent hole led to a fine series of shafts before becoming too tight at
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about 25Om (820ft) depth. Although deep, this is nothing to what Loser could
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produce with its maximum depth potential being in the order of 900m (2,950ft)
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<p>As an example of the type of caves that we were finding, I include a
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survey of one of the caves with which I was personally involved. We are
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provisionally calling our find the Eisluft Hohle. The official Austrian
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number designated to a cave initially is only worth superceding by a name
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when the cave reaches some 150m (490ft) depth. The cave draughts outwards.
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This we find very puzzling as the cave temperature is considerably lower than
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that outside. The draught varies with the temperature of the atmosphere -
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implying a convection draught as opposed to a stream driven one - and there
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are no higher entrances that draught in. Indeed, no entrances on the plateau
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seem to take an inblowing draught. We are still thinking this one out and
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would welcome any suggestions.
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<p>The cave has three entrances that each share the draught. These soon unite
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above a snow slope. A handline descent of this leads to the top of Plugged
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Shaft which is over two hundred feet deep and broken by numerous but very
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small ledges. The icy draught is at its strongest at the top of the shaft and
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on a good day difficulty was found in keeping carbide lamps alight. Sound
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natural belays are scarce as all good looking flakes and threads just come
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off in your hand, so bolting was the order of the day. This was very slow as
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the limestone is very hard and rock anchors soon blunted. Half an hour's
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hammering in the cooling breeze and the snow at the top of Plugged Shaft was
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nothing if not soul-destroying.
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<p>The shaft descends through snow plugs to a very dubious platform of dirty
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snow. It was while standing on this that we began to wonder about the degree
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by which the caver's presence alters the cave environment. ("I don't want to
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worr you chaps - but it's melting!") Further down, the shaft enlarges and a
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small rock bridge is met. Behind the bridge is some horizontal passage to a
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shaft. Time was short, we left this undescended and followed the draught down
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the main shaft. The shaft ends at a chamber and some short horizontal passage
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that thankfully marks the end of the snow. Saved Shaft was descended to a
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chamber and a fearful looking boulder choke. The draught filtered enticingly
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through the ruckle and, prudence lost, we crawled through to a rift beyond.
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We reached a pitch and descended 32m (105ft) and pushed on to the head of
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another shaft, when we realised that we had lost the draught. We therefore
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left this next shaft undescended anc returned and traversed over the pitch
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head to another up which the faithful old draught was blowing. We then
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descended 30m (98ft) down this one, past a ledge to a rift passage. This
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enlarged to a reasonable sized chamber with a choice of routes onwards. We
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had just about run out of tackle and, with the expedition nearing its end,
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time was short too. We started the awesome task of de-rigging. (Yes, we were
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on ladders!)
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<p>We've left the cave with enough promise and question marks that I am sure
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will draw us back to it next year. If you think that I've been a little rash
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in telling you of this unfinished find, then I might warn the would-be pirate
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that the plateau is very, very big and the Eisluft Hohle, like many of
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Loser's caves, cannot be seen from more than five yards away! And, whilst on
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his wanderings across the unexplored lapiaz, the pirate might just find
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something better than the Eisluft Hohle. How about it ? "Noch ein Bier,
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bitte!"
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<dl>
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<dt>References:
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<dd><a href="../1976/report.htm">Cambridge Underground 1977</a>
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for details of C.U.C.C. finds in 1976
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<dd><a href="report.htm">Cambridge Underground 1978</a> to be published
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next spring/summmer for details of finds on the 1977 expedition.
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</dl>
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<hr>
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<!-- LINKS -->
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<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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1977 Expedition info:<br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="log.htm">Logbook</a> (currently missing)<br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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Andy Waddington's <a href="andylg.htm">Logbook</a><br>
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="report.htm">Expo report, Cambridge Underground 1978</a><br>
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<!-- <img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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<a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a><br> -->
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<img alt="--->" src="../../../icons/lists/1.png">
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Eislufthöhle - <a href="descnt.htm">from Descent 40</a><br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1977">Index</a> to all publications<br>
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<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
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<a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a><br>
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<a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a>
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