mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-11-24 16:21:56 +00:00
333 lines
18 KiB
HTML
333 lines
18 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8" />
|
|
<title>1623/136: Steinschlagschacht underground description</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/main2.css" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<p><center><a href="161.html"><img alt="Overview "
|
|
src="ovview.png" width=40 height=40></a>
|
|
<a href="pixsf.htm"><img alt=" Photos "
|
|
src="vtour.png" width=40 height=40></a>
|
|
<img alt="Rigging" src="rigbut.png" width=40 height=40>
|
|
<a href="names.htm"><img alt=" Glossary "
|
|
src="idx161.png" width=40 height=40></a>
|
|
<a href="../index.html#id161"><img alt=" Desc "
|
|
src="desc.png" width=40 height=40></a>
|
|
<a href="../../index.htm"><img alt=" Expo "
|
|
src="ausbut.png" width=40 height=40></a>
|
|
<a href="../../infodx.htm"><img alt=" Topics "
|
|
src="index.png" width=40 height=40></a>
|
|
<a href="../../indxal.htm"><img alt=" Index "
|
|
src="indxal.png" width=40 height=40></a>
|
|
<a href="../../../index.htm"><img alt=" CUCC"
|
|
src="cucc.png" width=40 height=40></a></center>
|
|
|
|
<h2>1623/136: Steinschlagschacht</h2>
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="forbidden">Overview</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>1983 description is : shaft -194m. The bottom was reached in 1984, at depths variously
|
|
estimated -240m, -260m and -285m, when the rift became too narrow. 1983 survey (which
|
|
was never drawn up) only goes to -194m.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><i><a name="id136p1" href="/years/1997/index.htm">1997</a> rigging</i></p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="onleft"><a href="fullsize/136elv.png">
|
|
<img alt="Elevation - 26k GIF" width="300" height="709" src="inline/136elv.png" />
|
|
</a></div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="centre"><a href="l/jh97-3.htm">
|
|
<img alt="Photo - 57k" src="t/jh97-3.jpg" width="150" height="225" /></a></div>
|
|
|
|
<p>The rope (60m used in 1997, though this is not generous) for the first pitch is belayed
|
|
to the 3m boulder. A short drop from the surface (c.3m) leads to the top of a steeply
|
|
inclined boulder slope which is also very loose. The head of the main entrance pitch hang
|
|
used to be immediately at the foot of this slope, however it has now been rigged from the
|
|
right hand wall, out of the immediate line-of-fire from the boulder slope. A traverse line
|
|
of around 10m at 30° is rigged on the right hand wall to reach the pitch head. The
|
|
main hang is around 35m almost free-hanging, but for a minor deviation about 8m below the
|
|
pitch head.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="centre"><a name="p1" href="l/jh97-7.htm">
|
|
<img alt="Photo - 38k" src="t/jh97-7.jpg" width="148" height="225" /></a></div>
|
|
|
|
<p>From the foot of the entrance pitch, a fairly narrow slot with a short climb down
|
|
(c 1m) connects to a large boulder-strewn chamber. This chamber is entered from the top
|
|
left corner (standing looking down the slope) and the main way on is around 10m down the
|
|
slope, under a very large boulder towards the right hand wall. At the foot of the chamber
|
|
are two large holes of around 5m depth, one in each corner. One of these holes has a spit
|
|
above it, suggesting it was descended in 1983/4, however no descent was made of either
|
|
hole in 1997. It is speculated that these may connect to the second pitch at a lower
|
|
point than that used as the pitch head in 1997.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p style="clear: both"><i><a name="id136p2">Second</a> Pitch</i></p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Returning to the main route down, the head of the second pitch is a belay point on the
|
|
right hand wall of the chamber immediately above a very large perched boulder at "floor"
|
|
level. A 130m rope was initially used here, though some spare was later cut off. Beware
|
|
of apparently sound footholds here as they have a habit of falling off down the next 70m
|
|
or so of the pitch series! A rebelay is required just below the take-off point on the
|
|
boulder to avoid rubbing the edge of the block on the way up. This rebelay is particularly
|
|
awkward on the way up since the rope tends to pull into the crack between wall and boulder.
|
|
The shaft continues down more or less vertically for a further 3 rebelays (50m) until the
|
|
first substantial ledge is reached. (A deviation is required below the 3rd rebelay from
|
|
the pitch head to avoid an otherwise serious rub just below the rebelay bolt).</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="centre">
|
|
<a href="l/jh97-9.htm"><img alt="Photo - 55k" src="t/jh97-9.jpg" width="225" height="150" /></a>
|
|
<a href="l/jh9711.htm"><img alt="Photo - 60k" src="t/jh9711.jpg" width="150" height="225" /></a>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<p>From this ledge, a further pitch descends, rigged from two bolts on the
|
|
left hand wall with an immediate deviation off the right hand wall. Traversing
|
|
ahead over the pitch, it appears that there is a parallel shaft visible through
|
|
an eyehole in the left hand wall. It is believed that this is the shaft
|
|
described as being accessed by a "desperate step across" which was descended
|
|
in 1984 and found to reconnect to the wet route lower down.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Descending from the ledge, a further substantial ledge is reached after c8m.
|
|
On the way up it is advisable to cower under the overhanging wall of this ledge
|
|
to avoid exposing yourself to rocks dislodged by people on the pitch above -
|
|
the pitch head is especially loose.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><i><a name="id3rdp">Third Pitch</a></i></p>
|
|
|
|
<p>From the ledge an awkward take-off to an almost immediate rebelay leads to a
|
|
connection with a wet shaft - the main source of water below this point. The
|
|
hang is fortunately almost dry, aided by a very wide rebelay about 12m below
|
|
the ledge. A further 15m hang reaches another large ledge where water continues
|
|
through a large slot in the floor at the foot of the pitch. It is at this point
|
|
that the two routes diverge into <a href="#wetdream">Wet Dreams</a> (the way
|
|
explored in 1983/4) and the <b>Eyehole Route</b>.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h4><a
|
|
name="eyehole">Eyehole</a> Route (<a
|
|
href="/years/1997/index.htm">1997</a>)</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>The Eyehole Route
|
|
is to-date the main route in 136, leading eventually to the 1997 connection
|
|
with the <a href="fbl136.htm">Forbidden Land</a> in 161, and the 2½km
|
|
<a href="chile.htm">Chile</a> series, found in 1999.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The eyehole is reached by means of a traverse over the slot in the floor
|
|
(through which the water disappears) and is the obvious large hole on the
|
|
right. A short horizontal rift, with a steeply-inclined hole in the floor,
|
|
connects to the head of the fourth pitch series. This pitch series is about 30m
|
|
of dry shaft, broken by three ledges and landing on a much larger ledge with a
|
|
couple of large boulders jammed in the exit rift. A 54m rope was sufficient in
|
|
1997. From the foot of the fourth pitch, the head of the fifth is only a few
|
|
metres away over the jammed boulders.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="pitch4">The head of</a> the fifth pitch does an extremely good job
|
|
of hiding the enormous cavern into which it breaks some 10m below. Do not be
|
|
mistaken into believing that the floor, as it appears, is only 5m below your
|
|
feet, nor that your light will be even remotely adequate for ensuring maximum
|
|
exposure on the multiple hanging rebelays below. The pitch starts with a large
|
|
Y-hang across the rift at the pitch head.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="centre"><a href="l/jh9715.htm"> <img alt="Photo - 21k"
|
|
src="t/jh9715.jpg" width="150" height="225" /></a></div>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="over5">An airy</a> traverse around the corner to the left (<a
|
|
href="../../fixaid.htm#over5">rigged rope</a>) leads eventually to the
|
|
<a href="#footlight">Footlights Traverse</a>. (The eyehole immediately opposite
|
|
the pitch head connects with the climb around to the left).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Below the Y-hang is a large, mud-covered outcrop of rock, over which you
|
|
must traverse before proceeding further to a very wide deviation, hated by
|
|
those with short legs, just below the muddy "floor". A further 5m descent leads
|
|
to a smallish ledge with another rock outcrop to cross to a hanging rebelay on
|
|
the left-hand wall. This point is around 60m above the floor of the chamber
|
|
and is where the <a href="#thegods">Gods' Traverse</a> begins. A 35m rope was
|
|
sufficient to reach this point in 1997.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="theatre">Continuing</a> straight down from the rebelay, first a
|
|
parallel shaft is reached and the wall of the chamber becomes convex, requiring
|
|
another hanging rebelay 21m below the last. A further 24m hang drops to a
|
|
boulder floor at the top of a huge chamber - <b>The Theatre</b>. The landing
|
|
point for the main route into the Theatre is at the top of the steeply inclined
|
|
floor.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="centre"><a href="l/jh9719.htm"><img alt="Photo - 38k"
|
|
src="t/jh9719.jpg" width="150" height="200" /></a></div>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="orchestral">Standing</a> at this point, looking down the slope of
|
|
the floor, an opening at the bottom of the chamber of the left-hand wall leads
|
|
to the <b>Orchestral Pit</b>. From the foot of the chamber up a short (c 8m)
|
|
climb over mud and boulders and then up another (c 8m) climb on steep rock,
|
|
leads to a small opening. (The rope has been left <a
|
|
href="../../fixaid.htm#opit">permanently rigged</a> on this climb). On the
|
|
right hand wall at the foot of the chamber is a boulder choke through which it
|
|
is possible to climb down around 10m. No recommendable leads were found here.
|
|
Immediately behind the landing point and around 30m higher up the wall is the
|
|
connection to the <a href="fbl136.htm">Forbidden Land</a> (161) which must be
|
|
reached via the God's Traverse.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="exitsl">Proceeding</a> up the 16m climb from the floor of the
|
|
Theatre, a narrow opening leads to a precarious climb down the other side
|
|
(c.5m) over the top of a large wedged boulder in a rift chamber, <b>Exit Stage
|
|
Left</b>. There is an aven in the roof of this chamber, which can be descended
|
|
as a pitch (the 30m continuation of Plughole Pitch) from the end of the <a
|
|
href="#footlight">Footlights Traverse</a>. A second aven is reached by a short
|
|
(c 3m) climb up opposite the entry climb. A small window (too small for human
|
|
access) in the left hand wall of the chamber connects to the undescended pitch
|
|
accessible from the <a href="#plughole">rock bridge</a> 18m down Plughole
|
|
pitch, 26m above. Rocks can also be thrown in through a small gap in the
|
|
boulder floor. This pitch continues below this level.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>In the Orchestral Pit, a number of wet shafts connect from the ceiling in
|
|
addition to a number of dry avens. The dry avens nearest to the Forbidden Land
|
|
have been connected to an eyehole on the God's Traverse around 15m above the
|
|
connection to <a href="fbl136.htm#ealgor">Elin Algor</a>. The floor of the
|
|
Orchestral Pit has a number of pools and also a considerable amount of brown
|
|
powdery mud, similar to that found in the horizontal areas of
|
|
Kaninchenhöhle such as <a href="offffr.htm#mmudpie">Mississippi Mud
|
|
Pie</a>, <a href="triasp.htm#triasp">Triassic Park</a> etc. , of which the
|
|
majority of 136 is devoid. No leads were found in the Orchestral Pit.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4><a name="thegods">The Gods'</a> Traverse (<a
|
|
href="/years/1997/index.htm">1997</a>)</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>The earlier (and lower) of two impressive traverse routes off the fifth
|
|
pitch, The Gods' Traverse heads NE towards Kaninchenhöhle, to which it
|
|
eventually connects.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="onleft"><a href="l/godst.htm"><img alt="Photo - 48k jpeg"
|
|
width="150" height="200" src="t/godst.jpg" /></a></div>
|
|
|
|
<p>From the hanging rebelay 10m below the head of the 5th pitch (on Eyehole
|
|
Route), a short (4m) descent with a swing leads to a small muddy sloping ledge,
|
|
with precipitous drop. A bolt in the middle of the traverse "protects" a caver
|
|
who teeters around the ledge and up a short (c.2m) climb over a corner bulge
|
|
onto the main face of the traverse. This roughly horizontal section is about
|
|
12m in length across a slab of limestone inclined at 70 - 80 °. Should your
|
|
lighting equipment allow, you will be able to admire the enormous vertical
|
|
rock-face which forms the opposite wall of the Theatre and the precipitous drop
|
|
to the floor 40+ metres below. Hand holds (barring the rope) are non-existent
|
|
on the second half of the traverse and most foot ledges were of the disposable
|
|
type (single use only), now long gone. At the far end of the traverse a hanging
|
|
rebelay just over the edge of the wall leads, with a wide swing, to a large
|
|
eyehole on the opposite wall. A short (15m) pitch against the wall on the
|
|
outside of the hole leads to a large muddy sloping ledge at the back of which
|
|
is a hole into narrow traversy passage. This is the final impressive overlook
|
|
reached in <a href="fbl136.htm#ealgor">Elin Algor</a> from the Forbidden Land
|
|
in Kaninchenhöhle in 1996. The whole of the pitch - traverse - pitch to
|
|
this point was <a href="../../fixaid.htm#gods">left rigged</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Back
|
|
through the eyehole, a couple of pitches lead eventually to the Orchestral
|
|
Pit.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4 style="clear: both"><a name="footlight">Fifth pitch and
|
|
Footlights</a> Traverses (<a
|
|
href="/years/1997/index.htm">1997</a>)</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>The later traverse route off the fifth pitch (starting at the pitch head,
|
|
some 10m higher than the Gods'). This heads generally SW, and is in two
|
|
sections, split by a 16m pitch. The lower section is strictly the Footlights
|
|
traverse, but the name has been applied to the whole route, causing some
|
|
confusion.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>A short, unobvious (<a href="../../fixaid.htm#over5">roped</a>) traverse,
|
|
<b>Service Duct</b>, starts from the left hand side of the Y hang at the head
|
|
of the fifth pitch. It goes left round the corner into a window, then climbs up
|
|
3m above a deep hole to a lip into a chamber with a large hole in the steeply
|
|
sloping floor that drops down near the start of <a href="#thegods">Traverse of
|
|
the Gods</a>. Traversing to the right of this chamber, past an eyehole with a
|
|
view back to the Y hang, a pitch (<b>Ventilation Shaft</b> p.16, 1 bolt
|
|
rebelay, -5m) descends to the <b>Box</b>, a platform with a fine view to the
|
|
left across the Theatre to the Gods' Traverse. Looking out and to the right
|
|
from the Box is the start of <b>Footlights Traverse</b>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="foottrav">This airy,</a> diagonal, section around and down the
|
|
south-western corner of the Theatre, 30m off the floor was <a
|
|
href="../../fixaid.htm#footl">left rigged</a> after the 1997 expedition, but in
|
|
1999 was deemed easy enough to rig afresh on each expedition, so the rope was
|
|
taken off. Two bolt rebelays reach a Y hang, and descending from this a window
|
|
can be reached by an entertaining pendulum to reach a rift in the wall. This
|
|
window enters a choss-filled passage whose boulder floor is apparently
|
|
suspended above a void (traverse line recommended). An old phreatic level was
|
|
hypothesised to exist at a similar height to the connection with Elin Algor,
|
|
and this seems to correspond roughly to that level, although at this point the
|
|
morphology is a tall rift, passable at various levels, with many windows,
|
|
climbs and pitches, difficult to explore exhaustively.</p><p><a
|
|
name="plughole">The passage</a> leads, after a 3m climb up and a 2m climb down,
|
|
to a narrow slot opening out into the spacious <b>Plughole pitch</b> below,
|
|
which drops 18m to a rock bridge.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>At the rock bridge the single shaft splits into three. An inlet enters from
|
|
an aven and goes down an undescended clean-washed shaft [99-xx A]. This
|
|
descends about 8m to a ledge where a slot drops at least 30m, past the choked
|
|
floor at the bottom of the Footlights pitch (determined by rocks thrown in from
|
|
two points below). This apparently does not connect (at least directly) with
|
|
the Orchestral Pit - rocks were not audible from there. The second of the
|
|
shafts is more like a 3m blind pit, of little interest.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The third, and biggest, of the dry shafts is a further drop of 30 m (bolt,
|
|
tape deviation at -10m) and lands on the floor of <a href="#exitsl">Exit
|
|
Stage Left</a> (originally reached by the 16m climb up from the
|
|
Theatre).</p><p>Across the rock bridge, over a few boulders and through a
|
|
smallish slot, is a short 5m pitch. This is the way on to <a
|
|
href="chile.htm">Chile</a>, 1999's major find.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4><a
|
|
name="wetdream">Wet Dreams</a> (1983/4)</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>Wet Dreams is the original
|
|
route, explored first in 1983/4, but named in 1997 in memory of the anticipated
|
|
connection with 161 by this route. In fact no such connection has yet been
|
|
found, but the shaft series has not yet been bottomed and so it's still a
|
|
possibility.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Continuing from the foot of the <a href="#id3rdp">third
|
|
pitch</a> and crossing the traverse to the point where the Eyehole Route
|
|
diverges, a dry hang is possible to the bottom of the rift down which the water
|
|
disappears. At the foot of this 15m pitch is a narrow rift, leading quickly to
|
|
a further 12m pitch followed by another narrow rift to another pitch.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a
|
|
name="pfantasy">Around</a> the head of this pitch, <b>Phreatic Fantasy</b> -
|
|
so called because of the anticipated large sloping ramps expected from a
|
|
previous cave description - are a number of small, clean and fairly
|
|
uninteresting roof tubes, probably phreatic in origin. The shaft at this point
|
|
becomes roughly vertical and descends in a number of sections a further
|
|
surveyed 35m, becoming increasingly wet towards the bottom. From the surveyed
|
|
limit a further pitch of around 30m (estimated) can be seen descending
|
|
immediately below.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><i>1983 rigging</i></p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The split between Eyehole
|
|
and Wet Dreams is about three quarters of the way down what the 1983
|
|
description had as a broken shaft of c 100m. This was in sections of 14m
|
|
vertical, 24m sloping, 13m vertical to a ledge. Here a desperate step across
|
|
(worse on exit) attained a parallel shaft which apparently connected back lower
|
|
down. The main way dropped 9m sloping, 29m vertical, to a 9m slope and a final
|
|
3m vertical to what is assumed to have been the Phreatic Fantasy level -
|
|
though the pitch lengths (mainly deduced from survey data) don't correspond
|
|
well with the 1997 experience and this may be below the next pitch. 1983
|
|
figures put the next pitch as 17m sloping, then 15m vertical to a bolt at
|
|
-194m, which may be a similar point to that reached on this route in 1997, or
|
|
not quite as deep.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><i>1984 series</i></p>
|
|
|
|
<p>A further drop is 5m to "a very bad bolt" and either 15m total, or a
|
|
further 15m from the bolt, to a spray lashed ledge with only one small alcove
|
|
in which to cower and brew up. A rift in the floor leads 6m to a rebelay and a
|
|
final 20-25m pitch into a chamber with two ways off. One was very tight to an
|
|
aven and small drop which stones indicate ends blind in mud floor after c10m.
|
|
The main way was a squeeze past a very large boulder, down a 10m pitch to a
|
|
stream which flows into the classic too-narrow draughting rift. Logbook
|
|
describes this as -260m, which fits with the non-existence of a 30m "virtual"
|
|
pitch which is believed to be the result of an ambiguity elsewhere in the 1984
|
|
log book.</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|