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<title>1983: Cambridge Underground report</title>
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<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1984 pp 5-6</font>
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<h2>Wolfehöhle - Act I</h2></center>
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<p>With the bottoming of Stellerweghöhle, some of the older members felt
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it was safe to return to Austria and the attractions of lemon ice creams,
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gooey cakes and a little idle prospecting in the sunshine soon had the might
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of EXCS racing in their bath chairs along the autobahns to Altaussee.
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<p>The advantage of age is that it provides the experience so valuable in the
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act of prospecting. Don't bother with the big open shafts, they always choke
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in snow or boulders - look for a horizontal draughting entrance not too far
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from the road. So the first find, 140, was a loose, open rift, just below the
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summit of Schwarzmoos Kogel, and miles from anywhere. Bunde lashed arms and
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legs were endemic, and no-one felt too sorry when it inevitably choked at
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-100m, and even Julian couldn't be forced through the final boulders.
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<p>Ambling down from 140 after a surveying trip, John and Julian deviated
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from the normal route and happened across Wolfehöhle. Its main entrance
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lies 18m above 82, and is a 2m high, 1m wide walk-in passage complete with an
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icy outward draught. From the start, Wolfehöhle had all the symptoms of
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going horribly deep - see next years journal to see if it lives up to its
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promise. The two explorers, minus lights, felt their way along the passage,
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throwing stones ahead to test for a drop, but it was soon obvious that shorts
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and T-shirts alone wouldn't be adequate to push the pot to its end.
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<p>The next day Ben, Naomi, Julian and John finished derigging 140 and with
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armfuls of rope romped off down Wolfhöhle. A rapid bolt and the team
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surged on down the 19m pitch into a chamber complete with the skeleton of a
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wolf who had fallen in via another entrance. The drop continued down; this
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was dismissed as an irrelevance but could be worth looking at, and the way on
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was a loose 3m climb up into a draughting tube. It then decided to go down an
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awkward climb, later laddered, and after a short grovel it opened up and
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popped over the edge of a great black hole. With whoops of ecstacy the
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explorers lobbed boulders over the edge and grinning listened to the
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tantalising booms as they bounded into the depths. And then Ben realised he'd
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have to go down and suddenly he didn't feel very well.
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<p>A retreat was made for some more tackle, and the next day saw frightening
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quantities of rope ferried to the edge of the pitch. Off to the left, an
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interesting crawl tempted Julian and Naomi, and they disappeared down this to
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intersect a large passage leading to another set of smaller shafts partially
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descended before it was decided to concentrate efforts on the big pitch. One
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of the attractions of this alternative route is that the large passage comes
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back to the head of the big pitch, so the crawl could be avoided by a
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spectacular Tyrolean traverse rigged across the 80m drop. Meanwhile Ben and
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John were bolting down the big pitch with a series of glorious French style
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freehanging rebelays. The shaft opened into a large rift, with some black
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peaty mud on the walls in the upper section - no explanation for this mud was
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ever found. The rift bottomed out at a small streamway which continued with a
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bit of a traverse and a short drop. There had been enough excitement for the
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day and so it was time to exit for an early evening beer in the sun.
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<p>The weather turned nasty, but after a couple of days the party returned.
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The gear had been scattered sround the entrance to dry in the sun, and
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longjohns now had to be dug out of te snow, resulting in much whimpering. But
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two slightly damp cavers were soon back on the big pitch, wondering what it
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would be like with the water flowing. Fortunately, the rope gave a fairly dry
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hang, and the descent was continued down the rift, avoiding most of the
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stream with a series of short traverses and pitches before meeting a second
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shaft. Here it was impossible to escape the water, and the icy wind and spray
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soon penetrated the thickest longjohns. While it may be great for the bolter
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at the sharp end of the rope, with much to keep him occupied and enough
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exercise to stay warm, his partner squatting on a ledge above has nothing to
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do but shiver and ask himself why he's there. There was no obvious answer,
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and the team retreated.
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<p>Ben and John now had to go home, despite wanting to stay and help derig,
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so Wiggy joined Julian in a final pushing trip. The final section of the
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second shaft was descended and a few shorter pitches followed, before a truly
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tremendous shaft was reached. The last decent length of rope (40m) was fed
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down and Julian descended. The rope hangs free after the first metre, and for
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most of its length hangs in the middle of a circular shaft approximately 6m
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in diameter. The rope ended 3m off the floor, so Wiggy sent down a short
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length of rope so the descent could be completed. Beyond, another pitch
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estimated at 15m continued, but lack of rope precluded a descent. Time had
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run out, so the cave was surveyed and detackled.
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<p>Wolfehöhle still has much to offer; there is no reason why it
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shouldn't reach -800m. Many leads have not been explored and the poit should
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provide the younger generation with fun for the next couple of years while
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EXCS return to their retirement.
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<p align=right><font size=+1>John Bowers</font>
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<p><hr />
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<!-- LINKS -->
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<ul>
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<li>Main Wolfhöhle <a href="../../plateau/145/145.html">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>Exploration and Survey of <a href="exp142.htm">1623/142</a>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="exp142.htm#possext">Possible extensions</a>
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to the 41-142-115 System</li>
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</ul></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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