mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-11-23 15:51:56 +00:00
239 lines
12 KiB
HTML
239 lines
12 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8" />
|
|
<title>1991: Cambridge Underground report</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<center><font size=-1>CTS 92.1952: Cambridge Underground 1992 pp 16-18</font>
|
|
|
|
<h2>161's new bits 1991</h2>
|
|
|
|
<h4>Wookey/Fran/Andy/Tony</h4></center>
|
|
|
|
<p>Here are the new bits discovered in KHöhle in 1991: Burble, Dewdrop,
|
|
Francophobia, Ambidextrous, and Trehala.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Burble</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>At the 90 degree corner in CFN, where the passage changes into a canyon, a
|
|
small streamway passage comes in on the left. A strong draught can be
|
|
followed up here for 20m to a high aven. A waterfall comes down on the right
|
|
(along with most of the draught). There is a traverse 2m up around the r.h.
|
|
wall leading to a 2m climb into burble crawl, the most obvious way out of
|
|
the aven. A tape assists the move up into the passage for shortarses. A
|
|
difficult 2m climb above the burble entrance on the right (one bolt placed
|
|
for security) gives access to 'shelf indulgence'. There is only an
|
|
impassable rift (in back wall) and a small chamber here (on the left).
|
|
|
|
<h4>Burble crawl</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>Burble passage starts at stooping height, but rapidly degrades to
|
|
crawling, flat out in some bits. 90m of passage leads to the head of Vom
|
|
pitch. A short traverse around to the right leads to 25m of walking passage
|
|
to a boulder blockage. The traverse to the left has also been made (another
|
|
bolt here for the retreat). It is a dead end. Vom pitch is 37m deep, rigged
|
|
with a short traverse line, a rebelay 5m down and a deviation at 20m from
|
|
naturals. Below this is a sort of ledge where the pitch intersects a hading
|
|
section, forming a large convoluted chamber. This ledge can be accessed from
|
|
'the maze'. Another natural rebelay, and a tensioned abseil reaches the
|
|
boulder floor of the chamber. There is a way out in the eastern corner.
|
|
|
|
<p>This passage is the way into the Leadmine/Maze area. This is a complex of
|
|
joint-controlled passages, generally 0.8m wide by 2-3m high with sandy
|
|
floors - very civilized. It comes almost immediately to a T-junction. Left
|
|
is the Maze, right is the Leadmine.
|
|
|
|
<h4>Maze</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>The maze passage goes uphill for 15m to a small chamber with a sandy ledge
|
|
2m up on the right, and a crawl from the top of it connecting back to the
|
|
roof of the passage just traversed. The obvious way out of the chamber is
|
|
left in a very high, pointy rift, which is awkward to traverse along over
|
|
holes, especially coming back. 15m of this comes to another T-junction. The
|
|
crawl to the left winds back to ledge 8m up Vom Pitch, and thus to a climb
|
|
back down into the chamber below it. Right, in larger passage, leads to a
|
|
widening and a 3m climb down into 2m wide passage. To the right a crawl back
|
|
towards the last junction is blocked by sand. To the left a stooping passage
|
|
through a shallow pool and lots of gloopy slime leads, in about 30m to
|
|
Exhaustion Pitch. This is a 25m deep hading pitch with a deviation on the
|
|
opposite wall 10m down. The bottom is climbed from a ledge to some
|
|
confusing horizontal passage & a way on.
|
|
|
|
<h4>Leadmine</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>Turning right at the junction gives 25m of passage to a short drop and
|
|
kink to the left, with a sand filled chamber down to the left. 5m beyond this
|
|
is a passage off sharply back to the left, leading to Repton.
|
|
|
|
<p>Carrying on forwards another 20m of passage leads round to the right past
|
|
a 1m climb up on the left to a sand-filled chamber with a hole down through
|
|
the sand in the far corner. The apparent dodginess of this 'sand
|
|
pitch' means that it has not been investigated. The climb just before
|
|
this chamber accesses 20m of high passage with a couple of 4m climbs up at
|
|
the end to boulder chokes.
|
|
|
|
<p>Back on the route to Repton 15m of passage leads to another passage
|
|
parallel to the one just left. You can go left for about 5m to a dead end or
|
|
right for 10m to a 2m climb down into 3 connected sand-floored chambers. The
|
|
only way out is the 4m climb up the sloping R.H. wall.
|
|
|
|
<p>At the top of this climb the obvious route to the left goes dead straight
|
|
for 25m to foot of a wide inclined bedding full of boulders. To the right a
|
|
traverse around the top of the pitch leads to a small chamber with a hole
|
|
connecting back to the chambers below and a crawl up in the roof going
|
|
nowhere.
|
|
|
|
<p>The wide bedding leads for 10m up into the huge Repton chamber. It
|
|
debouches into the smaller Repton I half. There is a steep rock pile up to
|
|
the left leading into Repton II and a descending slope to the right. About
|
|
10m downslope a huge block forms a 2m high step across the chamber. This can
|
|
be passed by a hard climb on by the far wall, or an easier chimney behind a
|
|
rock against the wall just below where the bedding enters the chamber. 20m
|
|
below this step is a 30m pitch down into hyper gamma spaces. Halfway down
|
|
this pitch is a ledge/col, one side leading down into HGS, the other down
|
|
into a complex rift/collapse area which probably connects with the passages
|
|
below HGS.
|
|
|
|
<p>Climbing over the rockpile from Repton I (beside a 10m cubed block) leads
|
|
into the huge 20m high & wide space of Repton II, sloping down to an
|
|
obvious large passage going out of LHS of the end wall. 15m down here a
|
|
climb/slide down a sandbank leads to a window into a 10m diameter chamber.
|
|
The sandy passage can also be followed round to the left to overlook this
|
|
chamber.
|
|
|
|
<p>There are three more ways out of the chamber. On the right is a very tight
|
|
passage which can be followed 5m to a junction where the left branch is too
|
|
tight. Right here leads back through a tortuous crawl to the window. The
|
|
second exit is climbing up high on the right. There is a way on here beyond
|
|
a sandy climb. The third exit is the obvious passage ahead, with a small
|
|
stream flowing in the bottom. 15m down here is a 3m climb up into a chamber
|
|
where the water comes out of the roof. A further 5m of passage can be
|
|
climbed down into beyond this.
|
|
|
|
<p>The only other way out of Repton II is an obscure 8m climb down through
|
|
boulders under a drip against the RH wall about 8m back up from the foot of
|
|
the slope. At the bottom of this climb a couple of rocks have been moved to
|
|
reveal a stooping passage with a howling draught. This zig zags for 25m to
|
|
an apparent dead end. 4m back from this a crawl on the left comes out to a
|
|
T-junction with a chamber off to the left. This is two very promising
|
|
QM's.
|
|
|
|
<h3>FRANCOPHOBIA</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The 161c entrance angles in to a rift. A low bedding ahead leads to 161b.
|
|
On the right are a couple of holes. The second of these is rigged down about
|
|
15m in a complex rift, 2-3m wide, to a steeply descending 12m traverse. From
|
|
the end of this the pitch drops in a spacious rift. At the second rebelay
|
|
about 30m down it is possible to swing off 2m to the right into Robinson
|
|
Crusoe (don't let go of the rope!), a 2m diameter tube heading straight
|
|
down-dip, parallel to the one into France, 10m below. After 30m this comes
|
|
out into the FCII rift. It is (just) possible to traverse round on the left
|
|
to get into the continuation of the passage (Man Friday) on the other side of
|
|
the rift. There was a footprint found here. It is blocked by boulders after
|
|
about 10m.
|
|
|
|
<p>The Francophobia pitch drops another 10m into France. There are two
|
|
passages out of here back to FCII. Below the 5m cubed block is 'Roll of
|
|
the Dice', a 25m pitch down to a shelf. A 3m climb down through rocks to a
|
|
sloping boulder floor is possible. There is a way off about 3m up the RH
|
|
wall behind a boulder. At the foot of the slope a rift goes off to the left.
|
|
This is accessed by climbing down under a wedged boulder. Another 20m pitch
|
|
'Deja Vu' into hading rift is the current limit of exploration.
|
|
|
|
<h3>AMBIDEXTROUS</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>About halfway along Ragnarök is a large side passage. A climb down
|
|
over boulders leads to a short pitch. This can also be accessed by a 15m
|
|
walking passage coming out 15m further along Ragnarök at a 2m climb. The
|
|
6m pitch lands at the foot of a sandy slope. At the top of this the passage
|
|
turn left & after 8m comes out at a col at the top of a deep rift
|
|
passage. A direct pitch on the right of 20m into the passage is avoided by
|
|
climbing down the left side of the col and doubling back underneath to a
|
|
permanently rigged pitch of 11m. This section from Ragnarök to the pitch
|
|
is 'Time Dilation'. At the foot of the pitch there are two ways on. Up a
|
|
sandy passage to the left or down to the right.
|
|
|
|
<p>The sandy passage goes dead straight, sloping up dip for about 20m to a
|
|
steep rift climb down into a chamber. The continuation can be seen at the
|
|
top of a 10m pitch. It seems likely that this is close to the foot of
|
|
candlestick pitch on the LH Route.
|
|
|
|
<p>From the bottom of Time Dilation pitch the other route involves
|
|
traversing out for 2m and then a step across into a slot on the right which
|
|
leads into the continuation of the passage. A small inlet comes in at this
|
|
step, opposite the pitch. The passage now widens to the size apparent at the
|
|
top of the pitch, and goes for 10m to a squeeze on the left, following the
|
|
water. A difficult climb on the right here apparently gives access to a dead
|
|
end ledge, but it has not actually been done to confirm this. Beyond the 2m
|
|
narrow section is a small chamber where the route almost doubles back. The
|
|
stream goes off impassably to the right whilst the route is a 2m climb up.
|
|
At the top is a sharp right (although the rift continues higher up). Here is
|
|
wider passage and another parallel rift after 10m. On the right is about 5m
|
|
of tight passage - only passable at the top - 'Pretty pointless'
|
|
(it had a small stal in it).
|
|
|
|
<p>To the left is an easy traverse giving a 6m pitch back down to the floor.
|
|
This can be by-passed by climbing down 5m through boulders just after the
|
|
corner. 5m beyond this climb the main passage turns sharp right, but a
|
|
narrow route can be followed to the left to look out over an 8m diameter
|
|
hole. A short stream passage (10m before it gets too small) comes in from
|
|
the left.
|
|
|
|
<p>The main passage is 5m wide here as it skirts round the hole to another
|
|
view in from the opposite side. Quite a lot of water comes in from the roof
|
|
above the hole & a short pitch can be seen at the bottom (5m down). This
|
|
could be the water from the powerstation series.
|
|
|
|
<p>The passage continues large to the right for 20m before closing down
|
|
somewhat to 1m wide for another 10m to a small chamber. Beyond here is
|
|
'the Wormhole'. The passage shrinks to crawling size and then
|
|
executes a couple of tight bends. Two short down climbs follow, and the
|
|
passage comes out in Wobbling on the RH Route.
|
|
|
|
<h3>DEWDROP</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Following downslope from the ledge at the foot of Automatic Doors leads to
|
|
an obvious rift/hole. Just to the right of this an unobvious wiggle through
|
|
boulders leads to the head of S'not Pitch. This is a 35m rift pitch with 3
|
|
rebelays & a deviation. The pitch lands in a joint-controlled high
|
|
passage. Uphill to the right a crawl can be followed for 5m to a parallel
|
|
rift with a couple of blocked ways off.
|
|
|
|
<p>Following the graded stones downhill leads via a sharp left to easy
|
|
passage leading after 60m to the Left Hand Route. This passage (Dewdrop)
|
|
splits for the last 10m, the LH route having rocks in it, the RH route being
|
|
a bit smaller. About halfway along dewdrop there is a hading rift on the
|
|
left which can be climbed up for 4m to the foot of a big aven (8m diameter).
|
|
This may connect with the bottom of Dungeon Pitch.
|
|
|
|
<h3>TREHALA</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>On the right of the Black lagoon, 5m from the end there is an obscure, low
|
|
(0.3m) passage off. This leads after 17m to a large chamber in two sections,
|
|
about 25m by 10m. It appears to have been filled to a depth of about 5m with
|
|
conglomerate. This can be determined because it is possible to climb down
|
|
against the RH wall to floor level in several places. It seems to be a dead
|
|
end.
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
|
<ul id="links">
|
|
<li>Cambridge Underground 1992,
|
|
<a href="http://cucc.survex.com/jnl/1992/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
|
|
<li>1991 Expedition info:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="index.htm">Index</a> (more detail than in this list)</li>
|
|
<li><a href="report.htm">Austria '91</a> Report</li>
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="182.htm">Puffball & Icing Sugar Cave</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../1623/161/top.htm">current 161 guidebook</a></li>
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1991">Index</a> to all publications</li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|