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<title>1983: Cambridge Underground report</title>
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<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1984 pp 7-8</font>
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<h2>Exploration and Survey of 1623/142</h2></center>
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<p>The 1623/142 entrance lies in thick pine-scrub above the Stogerweg (path
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201) roughly halfway between Windloch (32) and Stellerweghöhle (41). It
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takes about ten minutes to climb/fight/thrash through the bunde to get to
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it from the path. The entrance is labelled "P132" in red paint because the
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1982 expedition used cave numbers which had been allocated to a german team.
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Thus, caves described in "<a href="../1982/newbit.htm">Cambridge Underground
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1983</a>" as 131 and 132 have been renamed as 141 and 142. Cave 142 is the
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one with the Big Chamber in it, "half the size of Gaping Gill" according to
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last year's grade 1 survey. In fact, it is about 90m by 30m, and 40m high.
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<p>142 was originally explored by Phil Townsend, Doug Florence and Mike
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Thomas in 1982, and almost caused Mike and Doug to call out a rescue for
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each other when they got separated in its intestinal complexities. This
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year Wiggie found a 20m pitch near the entrance which he nearly lobbed off
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(which didn't go anywhere). Gail and Philip had great difficulty finding
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the Big Chamber (3rd time lucky) but found a dripping shaft with
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caravan-sized jammed boulders in it instead. This was later pushed by
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Julian and pronounced to be very reminiscent of the German Series in
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Stellerweg (41), but smaller and more miserable. Later that same trip
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Julian, with Philip and Naomi, found the connection with 41 along the
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Rodent Runway; named after a nondescript skeleton with big teeth found
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in the connection chamber at the bottom of the first pitch in 41. This
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party had set out to find the connection but had given up after pushing
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innumerable 45 degree rifts to their conclusions and were looking for a
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pitch-less way to the Big Chamber when they found themselves in
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Stellerweg.
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<p>Apart from the entrance grovel, a few active drips, the shaft pushed by
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Julian and the Big Chamber, the entire 142 system is a dusty abandoned
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series of hading chambers formed phreatically on a set of joints at 45°
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to the horizontal, parallel to the very similar Stellerweghohle entrance
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series. The joints run almost precisely NE-SW and are tilted such that
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the chambers all slope down to the SE. The bedding is not obvious in the
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cave, but in two widely separated locations it also appeared to lie at
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45° to the horizontal, but at right angles to the joints such that it
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dipped to the NW. Surface features in the area of the caves, the south
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end of the Schwarzmooskogel, supported this observation.
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<p>Traversing across the tops of the 45° ramps was generally easier
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in 142 than in 41 and so this new discovery provides a slightly easier
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way in to this part of the Stellerweghohle-Schnellzughöhlensystem.
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(However, it is extremely dry and dusty and cannot be recommended for
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contact lens wearers). The chamber where the routes to the Big Chamber
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and the connection diverge was pretty thoroughly investigated, as were
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all leads from there back to Wiggie's pitch near the entrance, but there
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are lots of leads in Rodent Runway itself that have not been followed
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and the ways out of the Big Chamber have not been entirely exhausted.
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There is plenty of scope for more discovery in this cave which is not
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only close to the path, but requires very little tackle.
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<p align=right>Philip Sargent
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<hr />
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<h2><a name="possext">Possible Extensions</a> to the 41-142-115 System</h2>
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<p>At the end of the 1982 exploration, it was thought that 141 (aka 131)
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would connect with the 41-115 system. The 1983 expedition actually
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connected 142 instead, 141 being found to get too small quite rapidly.
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This connection is not a very significant discovery and added nothing to
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the depth of the system. However, the perched phreatic tube found in 144
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by Pete and Chas is a very much more interesting possibility: it is at
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the same altitude as the Big Chamber in 142 and the confused series of
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passages at the head of the Big Pitch in 41 (see area survey), and is
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only 150m away from either of these horizontally. If we could push a
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connection to 144 next year from the 41-142 leads, we would not only
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add 74m to the total depth of the system (making a possible total of
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972m) but we would have found our own highest entrance to the system
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so that it would become a cucc/EXCS discovery from top to bottom. In
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these circumstances we should perhaps take care with the name we give
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to 144. We couldn't have our biggest and best discovery go down in
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history under its interim description: "Tony's-secondhöhlen-system"!
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<p align=right><font size=+1>Philip Sargent</font>
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<p><hr />
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<!-- LINKS -->
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<ul>
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<li>1623/142 current
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<a href="../../smkridge/41/off41.htm#ent142">guidebook page</a></li>
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<li>Cambridge Underground 1984,
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<a href="../../../jnl/1984/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
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<li>1983 Expedition info:
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<ul>
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<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
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<li>Main Expo report, Cambridge Underground 1984:
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<ul>
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<li><a href="wolf1.htm">Wolfehöhle</a> - Act I</li>
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<li><a href="143144.htm">143 and 144</a> Guidebook descriptions</li>
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<li><a href="41svy.htm">142/41 Survey</a> - the truth</li>
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<li><a href="list.htm">Summary of Caves 1983</a></li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a></li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1983">Index</a> to all publications</li>
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<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
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<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a></li>
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</ul>
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</body>
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</html>
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