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<title>1976: Cambridge Underground report</title>
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<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1977 pp 43-53</font></center>
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<h1>Expedition to Austria - August 1976</h1>
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<p>The following were present :<br>
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Vic Brown, Dave Fox, Hilary Bryden-Brown, Dave Harrison, Jack & Muff
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Upsall, Jont, Carole & Rod Leach.
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<p>The area visited was in the area of Bad Aussee, with camps at Altaussee
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and Goßl.
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<p>Why Austria ? - basically for a change after several successive years in
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the Pyrenees, but we had been told that Austrian Limestone is relatively
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unexplored - something of an understatement as it turned out. We contacted
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Walter Klappacher (area organiser for caving in the Salzburg region) and he
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put us in touch with Karl Gaisberger who lives in Altaussee. Karl was
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invaluable; he knew the area, told us what was worth doing, got us up toll
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roads free, fixed up a trip in Mammuthöhle, caved with us and drank with
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us. Jont was essential as Karl had no English and the rest of us no German
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unless it was Vic talking canoeing. The area is excellent - beer, caving,
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climbing, walking, canoeing, sailing, hang-gliding if you have a lunatic
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urge, so a caving expedition can have plenty of sidelines.
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<p>The area with which we were chiefly concerned was the Totes Gebirge,
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though we did some tourist caving on the Dachstein massif. The Totes Gebirge
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has less depth potential than the Dachstein by about 300m, but is less well
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explored. The massif area at our disposal is the preserve of THREE Austrian
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cavers, which perhaps helps in explaining Karl's enthusiasm for additional
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manpower. No big finds this year, but some small ones and more than enough
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to ensure that we go back next year. Below is some general information,
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followed by a description of what we did and accompanying surveys.
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<p><img alt="area map - 14k gif" width=640 height=500 src="tgmap.png">
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<h3>The Loser Plateau</h3>
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<p>The Loser Plateau is at about 1650m, relatively unvegetated - just scrub
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spruce and an assortment of alpine flowers. For much of the year the plateau
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is iced over, and the chief problem is snow plugging of the numerous
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unexplored shafts. Access to the plateau is easy - cars up a toll road to
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1500m and then a gentle walk up a dry valley for about an hour. This leads
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on to several square miles of unexplored lapiaz of which we looked at some
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hundred square yards. It is possible to camp up here, but halfway up the
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valley would be more pleasant.
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<h3>The Pühringer Hut area</h3>
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<p>This is above Goßl, as opposed to Altaussee. Access is harder - cars
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up a forestry track and then a long climb of 900m to the Pühringer hut.
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Here one can stay at Alpine Club rates or camp. We were concerned with
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tourist trips here, but feel a few days exploration will be of great value
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next year.
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<h3>The Dachstein</h3>
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<p>This is excellent for tourist caving, but access is either very laborious
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or very expensive if one is going to camp on the plateau. Many of the big
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phreatic caves are entered halfway up cliffs by loonies only.
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<p>All the caves that we visited are cold by English standards, though
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usually dry. Austrian cavers avoid water it seems, so there is scope for the
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wetsuit enthusiast to push back the frontiers of knowledge, but in other
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caves, furry wonder suits are advisable. Austrian rescue facilities are
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supposed to be good, but the remoteness of the caves and the temperature put
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safety at an even greater premium than normal. If anyone else should be
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interested in the area, some of this might be useful:
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<p>1. Maps
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<ul>
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<li>Dachsteingruppe Sonderausgabe 1:50 000 Freytag-Berndt Wanderkarten
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<li>Totes Gebirge Alpenvereinskarte 1:25 000 (there are three maps for
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this area of which the western sheet is the most useful). Both sets of
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maps are good, especially the ones for the Totes Gebirge.
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</ul>
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<p>2. A german speaker is almost essential, as from our experience people
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who can be helpful are only too willing to help, but don't speak English.
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<p>3. Official looking Club membership cards are useful since they allow you
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to stay at half price at Alpine Club Huts, and also get you up cable cars at
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half price in many cases. The more official looking letters you can have,
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the better - along the lines of the major research project you are carrying
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out ! They get you past Austrian Bureaucracy on toll roads and forestry
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roads.
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<p>4. Addresses and further information is readily available by contacting
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Jack Upsall, Sphagnum Nook, Winshaw Cottage, Chapel-le-Dale, Yorks.
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<h3><a name="hirlatz">Hirlatzhöhle</a></h3>
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<p>This is at the foot of the massive Hirlatzwand, south of the
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Hallstattersee. 'At the foot' does not mean 'by the road' - the walk is less
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than a mile but ascends well over 300m. The entrance used to be blocked by
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ice, but some Austrian genius had the idea of putting the odd hundredweight
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of salt on the ice in the autumn. Over the next few months, the inward
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draught drew the salt-laden water in and soon the ice melted. Draught doors
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now prevent it icing up again. The whole system is over 8km long and is
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largely made up of big phreatic passage, but active streamway still exists. A
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top entrance to the system is yet to be found.
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<p>A 7m ladder (more or less fixed) gains the entrance in the cliff side and
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a short crawl brings one into a series of galleries where route finding is
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easy - follow the fixed ladders unless they have no passage at the top.
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Eventually a choice of routes is reached - a 10m fixed ladder or a crawl
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below. Take the crawl to emerge in the Labyrinth. This complex section is
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negotiated relatively easily by keeping right until large passage is
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reached. Easy going down several fixed ladders, one of which no longer
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exists since it fell to pieces as soon as Jont stepped on to the top of it
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(an easy free climb anyway) leads to a double fixed ladder pitch into a
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large canyon. Here one turns left and tramps through passages of increasing
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size until a waterfall can be seen cascading down into a passage 6m down a
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boulder slope. The way on is not down the slope but along an obvious
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traverse line to emerge on top of a massive boulder collapse. Just beyond
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here a Yorkshire type streamway can be followed for several hundred metres
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but the way on is up to the left where Camp One is quickly reached. The trip
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nearly ended here as Dave Fox refused to come out of the rather battered
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tent he had found. The reason - pornography - an excellent supply of dirty
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magazines kept for the weary caver to ogle, had to be confiscated before he
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could be persuaded to proceed.
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<p>From here big passages, all looking alike, make route finding awkward
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until a long climb up a boulder slope is reached. At the top of this is a
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very wet fixed ladder pitch going we know not where, and, on the left, a big
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dry sandy route - presumably the way on. We stopped here as it was the first
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trip of the expedition and we were only about two thirds of the way in.
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After a smooth return, we exited in about six hours.
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<p>The existing survey of the system is of limited value as it seems to
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assume that the the whole cave is on the same level - just not true. Some 70m
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below the entrance to the Hirlatzhöhle is the Brandgrabenhöhle,
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which, according to the Austrians, is desperately wet. However, we saw lots
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of slides of the place and the Austrian dinghy seemed larger than a lot of
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the pools. Given wetsuits, and what Karl sees as the lunatic English passion
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for getting wet, a trip in here could answer the riddles about the stream
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passages in Hirlatzhöhle, over whose exploration the Austrians seem
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unenthusiastic.
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<h3>Fledermaushöhle</h3>
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<p>Discovered by Karl Gaisberger the previous October, there had been time
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for only one trip before the winter snows came. The entrance is in a
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fair-sized shakehole in the spruce-covered lapiaz before the col, and
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involves a 45 minute walk from the car park at the top of the Loser Road. The
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prospect was virgin cave from a 10m pitch onwards, where Karl had been
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stopped by a lack of tackle. To avoid overcrowding, Dave Fox, Muff, Karl and
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Jont explored while Vic, Rod and Jont surveyed in.
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<p>The initial hands and knees crawl of 20m or so is just what is needed in
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this area to avoid the entrance choking with ice and/or boulders, and it
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soon enlarges. Past a couple of oxbows, one leading to within sight of
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daylight up an aven, the main route reaches twin climbs of 8m, the easier
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route being through a hole on the right. Soon afterwards is the first pitch,
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a sloping 8m. From here the pleasant passage with occasional bat-droppings
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(hence the rather unimaginative name) leads to short, muddy crawl, an earth
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bank and sizeable chamber. The new pitch is reached after more easy passage,
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and although Jont climbed/jumped down via a side rift, the pitch is best
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laddered for the return.
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<p>The easy going continues past a right turn to a complex junction at
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several levels. The water can be followed down a rift to a drop into an
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impenetrable fissure. Back at the junction, a traverse and a thrutch through
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lead to a small tube, which crosses a cross-rift and ends at a filthy sump.
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Left at the cross-rift, however, a low crawl gives onto a greasy chimney
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climb of 4m with very little in the way of holds. At the foot of this the
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water reenters, presumably just below the point at which it can no longer be
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followed down. To our surprise, Karl was bored and disappointed by the
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stream passage which follows. Quite reasonably, given the area, he had been
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hoping for huge phreatic tunnels, and it seems that the active passages
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never lead very far.
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<p>Still, we were enjoying it and the clean streamway soon developed acute
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verticality. Dave was attached to a piece of string and fed over the edge,
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followed, shortly, by Jont. The first 15 ft are technical, and best lined,
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but after that, the spiralling descent is quite easy in, for the most part,
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solid rock. About 30m down, things start to get more shattered and muddy,
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and the climb drops into water, leading, after only a few feet, to a sump.
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<p>On the way out we tried to clean up odds and ends. Only two points worth
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mentioning. The right turn mentioned earlier is an inlet leading past a slot
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through to the Main Passage, over a traverse and a false floor, to,
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eventually, an aven, climbed to about 25m and still continuing, but it is
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unlikely to go anywhere worthwhile. Second, from the chamber, a traverse can
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be entered at the top of the rock slope. The level closes off after about
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15m, but below a climb down, a pitch was excavated dropping into a larger
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passage which choked comprehensively.
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<p><img alt="survey: 15k gif" width=560 height=650
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src="../../1623/71.png">
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<h3>Holes on Plateau - Loser area.</h3>
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<p>The following notes are rough owing to:-<br>
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a) the fact that all sketches were to grade 1<br>
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b) the fact that only two of the holes are really significant and only one
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of these offers promise.
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<dl>
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<dt><a href="../../1623/a1.htm">A1</a>:-
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<dd>Situated some 50m vertically below the col, up valley from the
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Loser Hut. An obvious open entrance leads to an 11m pitch into a rift
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chamber choked in both directions.
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<dt><a href="../../1623/b1.htm">B1</a>:-
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<dd>situated some 40m from A1, up valley and slightly higher up
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the east slope, the hole lies in an obvious E-W fault. A 14m pitch drops
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into rift passage quickly choking to the east. To the west a short walk
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reaches a 3m climb to a higher level choking rapidly.
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<dt><a href="../../1623/b2.htm">B2</a>:-
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<dd>Up the bottom of the valley from B1, B2 is met just at the
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foot of the last steep pull up onto the col. A 4m climb leads to two 5m
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drops and a snow plug. Across the snow, a direct pitch can be reached.
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<dt><a href="../../1623/b3.htm">B3</a>:-
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<dd>Just a few metres up valley from B2, a series of holes. The
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lowest drops steadily over boulders to a choke. Up rift from the pitch,
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daylight is reached from one of the other holes (Loser 238°,
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Bräuning Nase, 292°)
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<dt><a href="../../1623/b4.htm">B4</a>:-
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<dd>Again just a short distance up valley from B3, a significant
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shakehole with snow at the foot. Descent of 45 degree snow slope reaches
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a choked rift. Above and ahead, water enters via a small aven, but no sign
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of a way on. (Loser 234°, B.Nase 292°)
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<dt><a href="../../1623/b5.htm">B5</a>:-
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<dd>Right on the col - the scar to the west has large holes
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immediately below it. Descent over snow of 10m or so ended in a snow choke.
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<dt><a href="../../1623/b6.htm">B6</a>:-
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<dd>Small shaft on the plateau just over the col - descent of 8m
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to a choke.
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<dt>B7:-
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<dd>Does not exist - numbering error !
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<dt><a href="../../1623/197.htm">B8</a>:-
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<dd>This is situated on the plateau just on a major fault where
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one climbs down over bare rock for 4m. A large open hole with snow in the
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bottom. 20m of ladder were fed down between snow and rock before snow plug
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totally blocked the way on. (B.Nase 208°, Schönberg 350°, Spot
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point 1828, 240°)
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<dt><a href="../../1623/190/190.html">B9</a>:-
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<dd>An open hole west of B8. 5m climb gains snow and passage leading
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off. This leads to a 10m pitch leading to a big rift. Ahead over boulders
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and ice an 8m pitch descends through (sic) spectacular ice stalactites. Way
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on is effectively blocked by ice but could well connect with a major shaft
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nearby, not descended on account of the condition of the ice. The small
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alternative hole back in the rift is blocked by ice at -6m. (B.Nase
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204°, Schönberg 14°)
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<dt><a href="../../1623/b10.htm">B10</a>:-
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<dd>Lies in the maze of lapiaz N of B9 and is simply a 5m climb to
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two short pitches choked at foot of second.
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<dt><a href="../../1623/198/198.html">B11</a>:-
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<dd>To give some idea of what we may have missed, this 55m shaft is
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utterly invisible from 5m away. A fine climb is broken by a ledge halfway
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down. The shaft narrows towards the bottom, and from the foot of the ladder,
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boulders lead to a choke a few metres further down.
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</dl>
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<p>B9 is worth a return visit (later in the summer, after maximum melting
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time) but in fact, we think we stopped looking where we should have started.
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B9 and B11 are close to the northern limit of exploration so far. Beyond are
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several square kilometres of totally unlooked at lapiaz.
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<h3><a name="elmh">Elmgrubenschacht</a></h3>
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<p>A long way to walk for a pleasant but unimpressive pot - an even longer
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way to carry tackle which we thought we didn't need for Elmhöhlensystem.
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Still, we were expecting a horrifically wet system, which, after miles of
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huge phreatic stuff would have been quite refreshing. However, despite a
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fortnight of almost uninterrupted rain, there was barely enough water to keep
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our six stinkies going !
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<p>A 20m entrance pitch, loose at the top but otherwise OK, leads on to a
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series of 6m and 10m pitches, interrupted with easy rifty passage and some
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pools. In due course the final 25m pitch was reached, dropping a few feet
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above a crystal-clear sump - a very promising dive if you feel like lugging
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a bottle up the 1000m to the entrance. Vic discovered a network of tubes and
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chimney climbs which brought her out to the astonishment of all, about 15m
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above the top of the pitch, whence a hairy-looking traverse led her to the
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floor of the main passage, some way upstream. We exited swiftly to continue
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along the track to the Pühringer Hütte. Hot soup, Goulasch, beer
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and a very hot dormitory awaited us, plus the company of the Hut Warden,
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whose son-in-law is English and who, therefore, is very impressed by us
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English, especially if one is a höhlenforscher as well.
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<h3>Elmhöhlensystem</h3>
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<p>Another very long system, situated by the side of the track about twenty
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minutes before the Pühringer Hütte, where we had spent the night
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after doing the Elmgrubenschacht. The two entrances, das Kleine and das
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Große Windloch, have entered into local folklore. It seems that one of
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the favourite regional pastimes consists of dropping Tyrolean Hats down the
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hole, and then catching them as they are lashed back into your face by the
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howling gale. This phenomenon appeares to be dependent on weather conditions,
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and the day we were there, it would have been struggling with a helium
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balloon.
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<p>Still, to begin at what should logically have been the end but was, in
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fact, the beginning... We enter the Kleines Windloch via an interesting and
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unbalanced climb of 3m into a large, boulder strewn passage, at which point
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we abandon the crampons, under the erroneous impression that the ice section
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is in the other direction. So, we rush down the passage to... a choke. An
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arrow is located pointing down a short crawl to the head of an 8m pitch, for
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which, of course, we have no tackle. The rift beyond looks promising however,
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and we find a bypass to the pitch via a descending traverse back under the
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crawl. Still intending to return, we leave a sling on the traverse and
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continue along the rift, past a couple of holes to a sharp left-hand bend.
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The passage continues fairly easily apart from a few climbs of dubious
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reversibility, and we soon emerge in what is traditionally described as an
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earthquake in suspended animation, and which, from time to time actually
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looked like the large chamber it was meant to be. At this point the company
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becomes confused and starts to scurry about here and there below what we had
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taken for the floor. At one place Muff and Jont reach a point at about -30m
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only to be halted at the lip of nothingness, and by acute neurosis. The
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cottage sized boulders there haven't a clue about the elementary principles
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of stability. Meanwhile Vic has found a rope hanging down another very loose
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hole, and down she goes, possessed by her customary lack of imagination. More
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specifically she ignores what to us seem to be two crucial facts:-<br>
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a) The rope comes to an end<br>
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b) The climb becomes distinctly more difficult than it was where there was a
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rope.
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<p>Followed by Jont, she lands on a steep boulder slope in a largish
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passage. Descending with vast amounts of debris, Vic reaches a draughting
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hole at the bottom, whereas Jont finds a stable boulder and, limpet-like,
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stays there, so they return to the climb. Using the tried and tested
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potrtable hold technique, developed in Betzula a few years ago, they reach
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the foot of the rope where Dave, would you believe, has found a large tunnel
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leading off.
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<p>So off we go in a very easy passage, up and over various collapses, and
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it is getting noticeably colder, and soon bits of ice are detected in the
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roof. From here onwards, the formations get more and more impressive until
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the floor, roof and walls are covered. Curtains, complete columns, cascades
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and other alliterative phenomena which I won't list for fear of getting
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poetic and lyrical. Even a wall covered in at least 3m of ice laid down in
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clearly defined strata. Apart from the splendour of the scene, the lack of
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crampons caused mild hilarity, while Lord and Lady Snowden flip their lids
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and run a very real risk of melting it all with their flashbulbs.
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<p>The rest of us suddenly slide into a pile of snow !? "Evidently a
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surface/cave interphase situation in the vicinity" says Jack. "Or
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an entrance ?" says Jont. But no entrance is visible, so, ascribing its
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presence to a bizarre subterranean micro-climate, we continue leaving the ice
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and entering a rift, the floor of which soon disappears into more and more
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ludicrous depths. Our nerve runs out before what is presumably the
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Dianaklamm, and we return to find that Vic and Dave have, in the afterglow
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from several hundred PF5's, discovered a shaft leading up above the snow.
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<p>The first obstacle is the gap between the snow and the ledge leading
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round to the foot of the shaft, where we could now see a few bits of wire,
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pegs, etc. Rod and Dave are called upon to do their impersonation of the
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Clifton Suspension Bridge and we scramble across to leave Dave to prusik up.
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Muff and Jont continue up to a ledge at about 35m and in sight of daylight,
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but in better sight of a 4m overhang. Now the difficult part of this climb
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happens to be about the height of Jont on tiptoes under Muff on tiptoes on
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Jont, and with admirable insouciance, she scrambles up, finds a belay and
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allows the rest of us to prusik up on our two cloggers and one leg-loop.
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Next a climb, a thrutch, a squeeze through and the surface visible the far
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side of a tantalising 5m climb. Not impressed, Jont traverses across towards
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the far end of the shaft only to freeze again, thwarted by looseness and
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sheer unmitigated terror. Fortunately, in situations like these, we have a
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secret weapon, and, with an ear-splitting cry of "LOONY!" we summon
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Vic who executes a fine bridging climb to the belay point for the 50m ladder
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pitch - I knew we had forgotten something. Muff exits followed by Rod, Jont
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and Dave, still quivering from a narrow victory over several hundredweight of
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boulder which had been aimed at them in the shaft. Jont still refuses to
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move, so a rope is lowered to him and he exits via a convenient rock-window.
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<p>For the benefit of the uninitiated, there follows a brief, sensible
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version of the trip. Put 160ft of ladder down the Großes Windloch
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(where we came out), having previously rigged a 6m ladder in the Kleines
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Windloch (where we went in), and a further ladder on the pitch just inside
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the entrance to this hole. Then do what we did, but backwards. This trip is
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far less interesting, but is less likely to involve the Austrian CRO, or, in
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view of the location, the Austrian Quicklime and Polybag Company.
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<h3>Nagelsteghöhle</h3>
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<p>A Sleets Gill type entrance leads at the head of a large stream bed NW of
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Altaussee. The 60 degree slope leads to a short walk round a pool to a short
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greasy climb. One soon emerges in the huge main passage, floored at the
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lower end by vast amounts of very unpleasant mud. The sump is reached by a
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|
right turn over some fine stratified sand, but our main aim was to
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|
investigate some holes in the roof at the top end, hopefully leading to a
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high-level continuation and, if you are really optimistic, the further
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reaches of the long and nearby Raucherkarhöhle.
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<p>The mud eventually runs out to be replaced by more and more inclined
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slabs, which were very easy on the way up. The gradient steadily increases
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until the floor merges into the end wall, and the trickle of water enters
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from high up. We had already passed a couple of holes in the roof, so we
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slithered back down to a point below and across from these. Here some
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entertaining acrobatics were performed, principally by Vic, and, rather less
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|
voluntarily, by Jont. Vic reached the limit without bolts, which we had
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|
conveniently forgotten, and pendulumed back across the slabs on a dubious
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nut and not a little faith. Jont, left on the wrong side of the traverse,
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derigged, set off back, ran out of holds and friction in that order and was
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|
grateful for Vic's outstretched arm. We exited, intending (but not very
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|
convincingly) to return suitably equipped. The holes may go, but only after
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|
a fairly serious and time-consuming bolting operation, and time can be more
|
|
productively spent elsewhere.
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<h3>Mammuthöhle</h3>
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<p>Karl fixed us a trip beyond the show cave so that we would be able to name
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drop. A very simple trip in the care of two Austrians called Bengesser and
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|
"Hardy". We had a quick look at the west entrance, now closed to
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|
tourists and then trogged round the upper levels - ie. the Old Series. Most
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|
of the passage is huge, with one aven getting to within 30m of the plateau,
|
|
but still no top entrance. Eventually we reached a huge chamber where the
|
|
done thing is to blacken pieces of clay with carbide and then scratch your
|
|
name on them - the only authorised graffitti in speleology - the only other
|
|
British name was someone from SWCC. Other pastimes here are burning
|
|
magnesium, flashing PF5's in people's faces, eating sardine sandwiches etc.
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|
More large boring passage and then a quick exit, pausing only to let the
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tourists gaze upon "die echten Höhlenforscher!"
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|
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<p>Apart from the size of the passages, there is little to recommend the
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|
place, though we gather that in the new stuff, the Krippensteingang is stuck
|
|
at an inconclusive climb, if you fancy bolting up more than a day away from
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the entrance.
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|
|
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<hr />
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|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
|
<ul id="links">
|
|
<li>Cambridge Underground 1977,
|
|
<a href="../../../jnl/1977/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
|
|
<li>1976 Expedition info:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a> (currently missing)<br>
|
|
<!-- <li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a><br> -->
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1976">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>
|
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</body>
|
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</html>
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