mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-12-04 23:52:23 +00:00
409 lines
20 KiB
HTML
409 lines
20 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
|
|
<title>CUCC Expo 2000</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<h1>CUCC Expo 2000</h1>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Introduction</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>In the summer of 2000, Cambridge University Caving Club ("CUCC")
|
|
held its 24th annual expedition to the <span lang="de-at">Loser</span>
|
|
Plateau in the <span lang="de-at">Totes Gebirge</span> region of Austria.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>There were twenty-three expedition members; as has been the norm for the
|
|
past years the expedition lasted for five weeks. The
|
|
<a href="../../handbook/bcamps.html">base camp</a> was at
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Gasthof Staud'n Wirt, Bad Aussee,</span> where the
|
|
Club is annually made very welcome by <span lang="de-at">Hilde</span> and
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Karin Wilpernig</span> and family.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>The story so far</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Under the<a href="/guidebook/smkridge.html">
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Schwarzmooskogel</span> ridge,</a> which is
|
|
situated to the south-east of the <span lang="de-at">Loser</span> plateau,
|
|
lie the large cave systems of
|
|
<a href="../../1623/161/top.htm"><span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span></a>
|
|
and <a href="../../1623/41.htm"><span lang="de-at">Stellerweghöhle,</span></a>
|
|
each 24km in length. The
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Stellerweghöhlensystem,</span> which includes
|
|
entrances such as
|
|
<a href="../../noinfo/1623/88.htm"><span lang="de">Lärchenschacht</span></a> and
|
|
<a href="../../1623/41/115.htm"><span lang="de">Schnellzughöhle,</span></a>
|
|
has been explored by Austrian, German and CUCC groups since the 1970s. CUCC
|
|
has not explored here for many years; instead the Club's exploration has been
|
|
concentrated in <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle,</span> which was first
|
|
entered on the 1988 CUCC expedition.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Connected to the <span lang="de-at">Stellerweghöhlensystem</span> is
|
|
the <span lang="de-at">Schwarzmooskogel Eishöhle,</span> discovered in
|
|
1929. This is a large ice cave including the vast chamber of
|
|
<span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle,</span> the largest ice-bearing chamber
|
|
in western Europe. This chamber is significant as the distance between
|
|
passages leading off from <span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle</span> and
|
|
passages in <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> is very short.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>This tantalising prospect of connecting two large systems---which, if
|
|
joined, would be high in the list of caves in the world with a great length
|
|
<i>and</i> depth---has excited explorers from CUCC for the past few years. At
|
|
the start of this year's expedition the distance between the systems was
|
|
approximately 75m. Major discoveries on the
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> side had been made in 1999 via the
|
|
deep shaft entrance of <span lang="de">Steinschlagschacht,</span> but no way
|
|
through had been found. Thus searching for a passage to forge the link was a
|
|
major objective of this year's expedition.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Further out around the <span lang="de-at">Schwarzmooskogel</span> ridge,
|
|
downslope from the summit of the <span lang="de-at">Hinterer
|
|
Schwarzmooskogel,</span> lies the system of
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle.</span> This cave was discovered
|
|
by CUCC in 1999 and stood at 224m deep---with a wide open lead at the
|
|
bottom---at the end of the 1999 expedition. The second major aim of this
|
|
year's expedition was to continue exploration here.
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span> lies in a potentially
|
|
important position, 500m north of <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle.</span>
|
|
It was postulated that the cave might lead to an easier way into the Far
|
|
North areas of <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle,</span> where deep
|
|
shafts lie unexplored.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>A significant amount of time on CUCC expeditions is spent on
|
|
documenting known and new caves, surveying (both underground and on
|
|
the surface), experimenting with the use of techniques such as GPS
|
|
(Global Positioning System) and related activities. The Expo web site
|
|
provides comprehensive information about the caves of the
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Loser</span> Plateau and it is highly
|
|
important that this is kept up-to-date with the latest knowledge.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Aims of the Expedition</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The aims of the 2000 Expo are summarised below.
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Push leads in the <span lang="de">Eishöhle</span> to attempt
|
|
to forge the link between the
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Stellerweghöhlensystem</span> and
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle.</li>
|
|
<li>Push leads in <span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle.</span></li>
|
|
<li>Continue exploration in <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span>
|
|
---there are over 200 documented ways on.</li>
|
|
<li>Document and survey every new passage discovered.</li>
|
|
<li>Continue surface surveying and documentation work from previous
|
|
years, in parallel with prospecting for new caves on the plateau.</li>
|
|
<li>Fix positions of cave entrances more accurately using GPS (now
|
|
that the Selective Availability accuracy restriction has been lifted
|
|
by the US Government).</li>
|
|
</ul></p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>And so to Austria</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>With the tackle having been prepared and packed, five cavers set off
|
|
from England on the weekend of the 15th July. Others who had set off
|
|
previously joined this contingent in Austria and Base Camp was established
|
|
over the next couple of days.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The caving area is situated on the Loser plateau at an altitude of 1600m,
|
|
some 800m higher than Base Camp. A toll road ascends the mountainside to a
|
|
restaurant and car park at the top. From here it is approximately a
|
|
45-minute walk to Top Camp on the plateau, more if one has hundreds of metres
|
|
of rope and other caving gear on one's back!</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Initially this year the weather was poor but Top Camp was finally set up
|
|
after a few days and the rope and tackle ferried there.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The next few sections of this report detail the work which was undertaken
|
|
in each of the major target areas of work for the expedition.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Discoveries in the <span lang="de">Eishöhle</span></h2>
|
|
|
|
<img src="ice.jpg" width=500 height=375 hspace=10 vspace=10 align=left>
|
|
|
|
<p>Initially much work was undertaken to document the
|
|
<span lang="de">Eishöhle</span> entrances and other holes in the region.
|
|
The main entrances to the <span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle</span> side of
|
|
the <span lang="de">Eishöhle</span> lie in a "portal row" together with
|
|
other, unconnected entrances to small caves. Two of the latter were
|
|
investigated and some naming ambiguities resulting from the decades of
|
|
<span lang="de">Eishöhle</span> exploration (the cave was first
|
|
discovered in 1929) were resolved.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>There had been rumours before the expedition that the "40h"
|
|
entrance, which provides a quick way into
|
|
<span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle,</span> was open
|
|
(rather than being blocked by snow as is usual). CUCC had not
|
|
explored from this entrance before and there was some confusion as to
|
|
exactly which entrance it was.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Cavers from CUCC found a Spit (a self-drilling anchor placed
|
|
in the rock to use as a belay point for descent) in a large entrance
|
|
partly plugged with snow. A small ice-floored tube blowing a
|
|
formidable and very cold draught led off from the bottom. This was
|
|
descended and <span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle</span> entered after less
|
|
than five minutes from the start of the descent.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Mission Impossible</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The first aim in <span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle</span> was to bolt up
|
|
alongside a frozen waterfall, which had been identified previously by
|
|
geologists as being in an important location. This is because of the
|
|
proximity to <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> and the fact
|
|
that the passage seen at the top of the climb is believed to be on the
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> side of the large fault plane
|
|
which bounds <span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle</span> on its northern side.
|
|
No other passages of any significance are known which cross this plane.</p>
|
|
|
|
<img src="climb.jpg" width=350 height=528 hspace=10 vspace=10 align=right>
|
|
|
|
<p>The climb was bolted quickly and led at the top to a climb round an
|
|
ice buttress and a 24m pitch, the start of <b>Mission Impossible</b>.
|
|
It is believed that this point may have been reached many years
|
|
earlier by a French group (using an alternative route up when the ice
|
|
was in a different state from at present). However, at the bottom of
|
|
the pitch an icy duck led to a further 3 second drop. This was
|
|
certainly in undiscovered cave and the new shaft was quickly rigged.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Forty-five metres lower, large chambers and passages were encountered.
|
|
These led precisely towards <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle!</span>
|
|
However, despite much searching, no ways on were found at the end, save for
|
|
some large avens rising above. This year there was insufficient manpower to
|
|
bolt upwards; the series hence stopped 20m below
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> and virtually underneath (plus or
|
|
minus survey error).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Wookey and Atkinson bolted across the top of the 45m pitch to enter a
|
|
parallel shaft, which unfortunately, although of impressive
|
|
proportions, did not lead to a closer point to
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle.</span> Additionally, the area in the
|
|
region above <b>Mission Impossible</b> in
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> was thoroughly searched but no
|
|
ways down were found.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Although Mission Impossible did not lead in itself to a connection, it
|
|
has proved that significant development exists in the gap between
|
|
<span lang="de">Eishöhle</span> and
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle.</span></p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Night Manipulations Series</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Whilst the bolting up to Mission Impossible was in progress, a very
|
|
low wet crawl under a side wall of <span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle</span>
|
|
led to further passages, believed to have been partially explored previously.
|
|
This led to approximately 200m of passage including a connection through to a
|
|
point half-way up the Radio 3 pitch in the <b>Persistence of Vision</b>
|
|
series (discovered in 1999). Despite filling in a significant gap on the
|
|
survey this series did not unfortunately lead to any passages closer to
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle.</span></p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Persistence of Vision</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>In 1999 the <b>Persistence of Vision</b> series was discovered---to
|
|
quote the words of the original explorers:<br />
|
|
|
|
... An interesting series off <span lang="de">Schneevulkanhalle,</span> with
|
|
some tortuous small passage of a highly "Mendip" nature, including tight
|
|
bends, squeezes, ridiculous climbs, insane bolt traverses, and bizarre hading
|
|
rift. This connects a selection of rifts and pitches which are largely
|
|
blocked at the bottom. The passages trend steeply up between the pitches.
|
|
There is an awful lot of "varied caving" in the 400m of passage found so
|
|
far...</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>In 2000 further exploration was conducted at the very end of the
|
|
series, where a tight slot led to a further pitch down and
|
|
unfortunately became too tight. Some of the series was derigged, but
|
|
there is still an interesting lead part way along which could trend
|
|
towards <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle.</span></p>
|
|
|
|
<h3><span lang="de">Kalter Gang</span> and
|
|
<span lang="de">Spinnenfriedhof</span></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>On the last day of exploration in the
|
|
<span lang="de">Eishöhle</span> the blocked squeeze
|
|
through into <span lang="de">Kalter Gang</span> (surveyed by VfHM in 1984)
|
|
was excavated and the passage beyond re-explored. This area is approximately
|
|
200m ENE of Mission Impossible. A lack of rope prevented descent to the
|
|
bottom of the continuing rift; this will almost certainly be looked at again
|
|
in 2001 to check that no passage was left unexplored by the original
|
|
explorers.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Discoveries in <span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>As mentioned previously
|
|
<a href="../../1623/204/204.html"><span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span></a>
|
|
stood at 224m deep at the end of the 1999 expedition. Unfortunately work
|
|
early in this year's expedition was hindered by the discovery of a large
|
|
amount of snow at the bottom of the entrance pitch. This necessitated work to
|
|
find an alternative route down; at one stage it was feared that the whole
|
|
cave might be inaccessible but thankfully a new shaft was found, bypassing
|
|
the old second and third pitches and the snow plug too.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Exploration then continued apace and after some effort the cave was
|
|
been rigged down to -224m. In parallel with this rigging other
|
|
exploration was conducted. This alone led to two large pitch series
|
|
of approximately 100m depth each, with shafts of large diameters.
|
|
Unfortunately both stopped: one in a too-tight rift and another in a
|
|
boulder choke.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The shaft visited in 1999 was pushed from -224m; unfortunately no
|
|
horizontal level (as postulated in 1999) was found; instead, the
|
|
series of shafts continued until an eventual end at -368m, where a
|
|
tight stream passage led off. It is possible that further passage
|
|
could be found here, but it does not appear especially promising. In
|
|
addition, the lead requires a large amount of tackle to reach, which
|
|
could possibly be better used in other areas.</p>
|
|
|
|
<img src="sb.jpg" width=594 height=387 hspace=10 vspace=10 align=left>
|
|
|
|
<p>Throughout the expedition two of the members new to Expo spent a
|
|
considerable amount of time pushing a series of crawls leading off
|
|
from <b>110 A Day</b> in the upper levels of
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle.</span> These alone led to the
|
|
discovery of a significant amount of passage, but in the last few days of the
|
|
expedition a very significant discovery was made here: large horizontal
|
|
passage trending northwards.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>In this direction lies terrain not explored by CUCC; 1500m further west
|
|
lies the great system of <span lang="de-at">Raucherkarhöhle,</span>
|
|
80km in length. The new passage in
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span> will be pushed in 2001
|
|
to investigate the extent of the horizontal development at this level. This
|
|
will form part of a general shift to a larger amount of exploration around
|
|
the <span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span> area in general, both
|
|
above and below ground.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Discoveries in <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>In addition to the major work being carried out in the
|
|
<span lang="de">Eishöhle</span> and
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle,</span> a team set off to explore
|
|
the <b>Regurgitation</b> area of <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle.</span>
|
|
This is an interesting area, explored from a large chamber at the bottom of a
|
|
huge wet aven. A winding stream rift descends steeply from the chamber; this
|
|
was explored and surveyed for a considerable distance. There is still the
|
|
possibility of further discoveries at the bottom but the amount of water
|
|
descending the shafts may begin to pose a problem.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Surface work and other caves</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>As is usual for modern-day CUCC expeditions, a large amount of surface
|
|
work was undertaken. This year this included surface surveys to known
|
|
and new entrances, prospecting for new caves and documenting some
|
|
earlier finds whose documentation had been lacking in some respect.
|
|
Other follow-up work on previous surveys was also undertaken.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Caves are tagged with discreet aluminium tags and new minor
|
|
discoveries (of which there were several this year) are documented,
|
|
surveyed to and surveyed inside. The most significant of these
|
|
discoveries this year was <b lang="de">Traungoldhöhle</b>, opposite the
|
|
entrance to <span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span> and with seven
|
|
entrances. Two entrances lie underneath the rock bridge which gave
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span> its name, portrayed in
|
|
Figure 3 above. The new cave was fully explored to 200m in length.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Other work</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Much work was conducted using GPS receivers to fix cave entrances and
|
|
other navigational landmarks. New coordinate conversion software
|
|
enables translations between Austrian grid and latitude/longitude
|
|
coordinates to be made with reasonable accuracy. A map was prepared
|
|
of the GPS fixes and surface survey points which helped to resolve
|
|
some inaccuracies.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>In addition some design work on a new version of the surveying
|
|
software <i>Survex</i>, designed and written by CUCC members, was
|
|
undertaken. The new release is expected by the end of 2001 and will
|
|
greatly enhance the software's capabilities, with a modular
|
|
architecture and a fully graphical user interface. Details of the
|
|
project, nicknamed <i>Project Spud</i>, are available from the
|
|
<a href="http://www.survex.com/spud.html">Survex web site</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Follow-up work</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The usual follow-up work in Cambridge and elsewhere is continuing even
|
|
as you read this report. Survey data is processed on computer using
|
|
<i>Survex</i>. Surveys have to be drawn up and passage descriptions
|
|
written.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The CUCC Expo documentation archive, maintained as a Web site, is
|
|
currently being updated with the finds from Expo 2000. This
|
|
comprehensive cross-referenced resource provides an excellent
|
|
knowledge base of information for future expeditions.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="../../index.htm">The archive can
|
|
be viewed on the Web here.</a></p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>A total of 2.5km of cave was discovered this year; the length and
|
|
depth of <span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span> were extended to approximately 2.5km and -368m respectively. The prospects for further
|
|
discoveries leading off from the newly-discovered large horizontal level in
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle</span> are good. Significant
|
|
systems such as <span lang="de">Organhöhle</span> lie in the direction
|
|
in which this passage trends; there are certainly more discoveries to be made
|
|
here.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The expedition in 2001 will continue the work of previous years, again
|
|
searching for the elusive
|
|
<span lang="de">Eishöhle---Kaninchenhöhle</span> connection and
|
|
also prospecting around the area of
|
|
<span lang="de">Steinbrückenhöhle;</span> many large surface shafts
|
|
lie unexplored here. It is possible that an attack on the connection will be
|
|
made from <span lang="de">Steinschlagschacht</span> and the nearby Hall of
|
|
the Mounting Choss. Here there are at least two deep unexplored shafts and
|
|
other descending question marks. Although these could not drop directly into
|
|
the currently-known parts of the <span lang="de">Eishöhle,</span> they
|
|
may drop into passages nearby. The discovery of Mission Impossible this year
|
|
has shown that significant cave passage does lie in the gap between the two
|
|
systems; it seems increasingly likely that any connection which exists will
|
|
not be in a direct line across the gap.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Planning for the forthcoming 2001 expedition has now begun in earnest.
|
|
Any enquiries should be directed to the Expedition Leader,
|
|
Martin Green, Corpus Christi College,
|
|
Cambridge.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Thanks</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Thanks go to the following for their gracious sponsorship of Expo 2000:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><b>Thomas Tunnock Ltd.</b> for Tunnock Bars;
|
|
<li><b>Finlay McKinlay, Chemists</b> in Glossop and
|
|
their suppliers for first aid and photographic supplies;
|
|
<li><b>The Ghar Parau Foundation</b> for their support.
|
|
</ul></p>
|
|
|
|
<p><span lang="de-at">Hilde, Karin</span> and the other folk at
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Staud'n Wirt</span> must be thanked for
|
|
their excellent food and hospitality and the use of their campsite and
|
|
hut. Finally the expedition members are also thanked for their
|
|
individual contributions to this year's expedition.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Mark Shinwell --
|
|
Expedition Leader 2000<br />
|
|
Queens' College, Cambridge, England. CB3 9ET</p>
|
|
<p>19th November 2000</p>
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
|
|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
|
<ul id="links">
|
|
<li>2000 Expedition info:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="index.htm">2000 index</a> (more detail than in this list)</li>
|
|
<li>Expedition <a href="report.htm">Report</a> 2000</li>
|
|
<li>Pre-expo <a href="goals.htm">mission statement</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a> (70k)</li>
|
|
<li>All the 161 trips written up in the logbook are
|
|
<a href="161.htm">indexed</a> in the history page.<br />
|
|
(40 and 204 trips will be indexed soon)</li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs2000">Published accounts</a></li>
|
|
</ul></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">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|