mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-11-23 07:41:56 +00:00
279 lines
16 KiB
HTML
279 lines
16 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
<html>
|
|
<!-- from Cambridge Underground 1990 pp 5-9 -->
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
|
|
<title>1989: Cambridge Underground: Diary</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1990 pp 5-9</font>
|
|
<h1>Expedition Diary</h1>
|
|
<h3>by Daniel Mace.</h3></center>
|
|
|
|
<p>Cambridge University Caving Club (C.U.C.C.) have been exploring caves in
|
|
the Totes Gebirge, Austria for fourteen years. The 1988 expedition was the
|
|
largest of any C.U.C.C. expedition. The major achievement of the 1988
|
|
expedition was the discovery of 161 Kaninchenhöhle. Three major routes
|
|
were discovered. One, Adrian's Route, choked at -200m. The other two routes
|
|
separated after an awkward squeeze that lay directly above a 10m pitch. The
|
|
left hand route ended at an undescended pitch estimated to be 100m deep. The
|
|
right hand route followed large passages to two enormous chambers at -300m.
|
|
There were several unexplored routes from the chambers to return to in 1989.
|
|
|
|
<p>The 1989 expedition aimed to continue the exploration of 161 and resurvey
|
|
the whole cave. One of the primary aims was to find a by-pass to the Squeeze
|
|
Pitch to enable faster descent of the system.
|
|
|
|
<p>The expedition began officially on 5th August, 1989. Most of the
|
|
expedition members arrived by car, bringing with them food and tackle. The
|
|
remainder came by train or flew to Austria. Base camp was established at the
|
|
camp-site at Bad Aussee outside the Gasthof Staudenwirt. A top camp was wet
|
|
up on the Plateau itself close to the Bräuning Nase where a spring
|
|
provided an almost continuous supply of water.
|
|
|
|
<p>The first week was spent rigging the cave down to the limits of
|
|
exploration and attempting to find a by-pass to the squeeze in the maze of
|
|
small tunnels at the top of the third and fourth pitches. Several of these
|
|
choked in impenetrably tight holes but one, found by Jeremy and Mark Fearon
|
|
seemed promising. A 20m pitch descended to a loose boulder floor. A ladder
|
|
rigged from a precarious looking boulder led to a tube from which another 20m
|
|
pitch descended. From here a small hole led to a clean and rubble free ledge,
|
|
completely out of character with the rest of the cave. A longer and larger
|
|
pitch, 30m, left the ledge. At this point the route was below the level of
|
|
the squeeze and yet was only a small distance horizontally from it. There was
|
|
a strong chance that this route would by-pass the squeeze. The route was not
|
|
named after its discoverers; Drunk and Stupid.
|
|
|
|
<p>Also in the first week, much of the upper parts of the cave and a good
|
|
deal of the Left Hand Route were surveyed. The survey was to B.C.R.A. grade
|
|
5c standard. That is, all distances were measured to the nearest ten
|
|
centimetres and all angles were measured to the nearest degree. Tape, compass
|
|
and clinometer readings were taken of a centre line down the cave. Cross
|
|
sections drawn at each places where there was a change in the passage shape.
|
|
Approximate passage height and widths were measured or estimated where
|
|
appropriate. All data was recorded on permatrace paper that was kept in
|
|
aluminium binders.
|
|
|
|
<p>The beginning of the second week saw the bottoming of Niflheim; the long
|
|
pitch on the Left Hand Route. The pitch was spray lashed and cold and the
|
|
rigging trips down here were the most uncomfortable in the cave. A brief
|
|
reconnaissance at the bottom of the pitch showed there to be a way on
|
|
through a two foot diameter hole (small for Kaninchenhöhle). However
|
|
further exploration on this trip was not possible due to a shortage of
|
|
carbide underground.
|
|
|
|
<p>The pushing and surveying continued down Drunk and Stupid although a link
|
|
with either of the routes below the squeeze still proved elusive. Below the
|
|
thirty metre pitch the route continued down in a series of short pitches
|
|
separated by small ledges. There was one small section of horizontal
|
|
development in a vadose trench before another series of pitches that dropped
|
|
into a small chamber; Wet Nappy Chamber. Here a large joint between two
|
|
types of limestone was met which formed a long thin Hading Rift. The rift
|
|
was approximately 30m long and 20m deep although the easiest way through
|
|
took three pushing trips to find.
|
|
|
|
<p>Several long surveying trips were required to survey the large chambers at
|
|
the bottom of the Right Hand Route, Knossus and Tower Blocks. Several routes
|
|
led from these chambers and the most promising was pushed down a 50m series
|
|
of short pitches; the Flapjack series. The last of these landed in a small
|
|
streamway where the water sank into small boulders into a canyon that was
|
|
reached further down the passage. A traverse along the canyon led over an
|
|
enormous drop estimated to be seventy to eighty metres.
|
|
|
|
<p>By the 16th August good progress had been made down the Right Hand Route
|
|
and Drunk and Stupid, and passages had been surveyed almost up to the pushing
|
|
front. However the momentum of the expedition was upset by a serious
|
|
accident. Rebecca descended the squeeze with her descender C-rigged and lost
|
|
control as she emerged into the wider section of the pitch. She fell 8m onto
|
|
a ledge and fractured her femur. Fortunately two teams were descending the
|
|
cave in quick succession and shortly after the accident there were five
|
|
people who were able to start evacuating her. Help was summoned from Top Camp
|
|
and the Austrian Cave Rescue were called. Mark splinted her leg and then she
|
|
was hauled up through the squeeze. She was then manhandled through the rift
|
|
section and up the third and fourth pitches with Chris prussicking beside her
|
|
supporting her leg and protecting it from the walls of the cave. The
|
|
Austrian rescue arrived by helicopter and had soon ferried several people
|
|
including a doctor to the cave entrance. They met up with the cavers at the
|
|
top of the third pitch and rigged an aerial ropeway to take her across the
|
|
boulder strewn floor between the third and second pitches. She was then
|
|
winched up the entrance pitch and rushed to hospital by helicopter. It took
|
|
eight hours to evacuate her from the cave but in spite of this she arrived at
|
|
the hospital with normal pulse, blood pressure and temperature. This
|
|
reinforces the view that practicing rescue techniques regularly is essential
|
|
and reflects very well on the excellent Austrian Cave Rescue.
|
|
|
|
<p>Not surprisingly the accident somewhat dampened the enthusiasm that had
|
|
been prevalent at the start of the expedition. Morale was further depressed
|
|
when the first pushing trip after the rescue found a sump down the Right Hand
|
|
Route. The cave plummeted down a canyon and the sump was discovered at the
|
|
bottom of a circular shaft.
|
|
|
|
<p>A team of four divers arrived in Austria at the time of the accident to
|
|
investigate resurgences in the area. Their major aim was to discover whether
|
|
a resurgence in Altausseer See was accessible. After several days of
|
|
searching in freezing water of up to 42m depth the resurgence was found.
|
|
Unfortunately it consisted of hundreds of tiny blow-holes covering an area
|
|
of thirty square metres and so was totally impenetrable. However the search
|
|
had yielded another interesting find. On the second dive the right humerus
|
|
of a human skeleton was retrieved from the bottom of the lake. After further
|
|
searching with the Austrian Authorities the following day a boot and sock
|
|
were found. The body proved to be that of a villager from Altaussee who had
|
|
drowned in the lake thirty years previously.
|
|
|
|
<p>The diving team stayed in Austria for almost two weeks and spent most of
|
|
their time investigating promising resurgences in the area. They found
|
|
several leads that are worth pursuing including resurgences in Wolfgangsee
|
|
and Kessel. One resurgence in Goldloch was pushed to -65m. They hope to
|
|
return again next year.
|
|
|
|
<p>Work was continued down the routes in Kaninchenhöhle by the dry
|
|
cavers. A camping trip down the Right Hand Route saw the completion of the
|
|
survey to the sump which lies 499m below the surface. Several routes from
|
|
Tower Blocks were explored including the Olympus series. This consisted of a
|
|
long series of muddy passages that finally looped around to the other side
|
|
of the head of the Flapjack pitches. Another route, also leading off Tower
|
|
Blocks, ascended a large boulder ramp before dropping down 25m into an
|
|
impenetrably tight slot. A pitch at the end of the inlet near the camp was
|
|
also rigged but remains undescended. Several other smaller routes from Tower
|
|
Blocks were also explored and surveyed.
|
|
|
|
<p>On the 23rd August, a week after Rebecca's accident, Niflheim was finally
|
|
redescended. Several routes were found from the bottom; the most obvious
|
|
ending in a small slot at the bottom of a 6m pitch. However a side passage
|
|
led across a boulder floor to The Black Lagoon, a chamber with what appeared
|
|
to be a silted sump. From here there were at least two ways on; one leading
|
|
down into a canyon and the second entering a maze-like area of passages.
|
|
|
|
<p>Exploration continued down Drunk & Stupid. At the base of the Hading
|
|
Rift was a small section of horizontal development ending in an 18m pitch
|
|
with awkward take-off. This led to a series of climbs that became ever more
|
|
spectacular in the widening rift. These finally dropped into a chamber with a
|
|
side passage leading off to a short pitch and a waterfall dropping into the
|
|
far end of the chamber. The chamber had a sandy floor with 1m high sand
|
|
ledges around the edge.
|
|
|
|
<p>The surveying continued down Kaninchenhöhle until all the routes
|
|
except sections of the Left Hand Route had been surveyed. Elevations and
|
|
projections were drawn at Base Camp. Drunk and Stupid appeared to pass within
|
|
10m of the Right Hand Route below the squeeze. Several attempts were made to
|
|
link the two routes although no connection was forthcoming.
|
|
|
|
<p>A second camping trip was mounted to push the routes at the bottom of
|
|
Niflheim. Before this could be done, rope had to be retrieved from the
|
|
bottom of the Right Hand Route. However after retrieving the rope and whilst
|
|
en route for Niflheim, the camping team discovered a route down at Over The
|
|
Rainbow at -200m on the Right Hand Route. This was named the Pot of Gold and
|
|
was a 'Swiss cheese labyrinth' of phreatic passages that were half clogged
|
|
with soil. The way on looked very promising and so the exploration at the
|
|
bottom of Niflheim was abandoned in preference to this. A day of exploration
|
|
yielded several rift pitches that led to a few small chambers. Finally the
|
|
rifts became too tight. The area was surveyed and the campers emerged after
|
|
48 hours underground.
|
|
|
|
<p>Up until this point, the weather in Austria had been reasonable. There had
|
|
been a few impressive thunder storms but we had had more than our share of
|
|
sunshine. At the end of August the weather turned for the worse. Top Camp
|
|
was miserably cold and base camp became soaked in mud; the entrances to the
|
|
tents becoming muddy pools. After a night of storms we awoke to find snow on
|
|
the tops of the mountains. We walked up to the plateau to investigate the
|
|
damage to Top Camp and found it almost completely destroyed. Of the six
|
|
tents that were there, only two had survived unscathed and three were
|
|
unusable. Almost all the caving trips from this point were conducted from
|
|
Base Camp making for very long days.
|
|
|
|
<p>A further pushing trip down Drunk and Stupid saw the termination of the
|
|
route that left the bottom chamber in a tight squeeze. However another way on
|
|
was found beside the waterfall. This followed a series of small tubes that
|
|
led upwards and finally emerged at the head of a ten metre pitch with a large
|
|
phreatic passage doubling back from the pitchhead. This linked up with the
|
|
pitch that left the chamber. However descent of the pitch led to the
|
|
discovery of a rope descending from the other side. Unfortunately the next
|
|
pitch choked and so the bottom of Drunk & Stupid had been found. The
|
|
unknown rope was very clean washed and was assumed to be that of a group of
|
|
French Cavers who were exploring a cave close to Kaninchenhöhle. A note
|
|
was attached to the bottom of the rope explaining that C.U.C.C. had found a
|
|
connection and the cave surveyed to the bottom.
|
|
|
|
<p>On drawing up the survey however, it was found that the bottom of Drunk
|
|
& Stupid was exceedingly close to the bottom of Niflheim. The connection
|
|
between the two was 'proved' when a group who were pushing down Niflheim
|
|
found the note only hours after it had been placed there. The pushing team
|
|
down Niflheim explored the maze-like passages that led off from the Black
|
|
Lagoon. After rigging down two short pitches a small chamber was found with
|
|
a gurgling sump, 'Thumper' in the bottom of it. A rift that was too tight
|
|
led up out of the chamber; no other routes left the chamber. At this stage
|
|
it was almost time to detackle the cave. A short exploratory trip across the
|
|
very loose and dangerous section above the third pitch yielded a large
|
|
section of phreatic passage. This ends in an undescended pitch that might
|
|
drop into the Right Hand Route, thus by-passing the squeeze.
|
|
|
|
<p>Detackling eventually arrived with a vengeance on the 3rd September. Three
|
|
teams of three descended each of the three major routes. Unfortunately
|
|
disaster struck again at the squeeze. This time it was Chris, (Rebecca's
|
|
boyfriend) who was the victim. He descended the pitch with four bars rigged
|
|
on his rack when it caught in the ladder in the squeeze. After struggling to
|
|
release it the fourth bar came off the rope and he found himself descending
|
|
the pitch at high speed with three widely spaced and ineffectual bars. He
|
|
landed on the same ledge and in the same position as Rebecca. However he was
|
|
much less badly hurt and thought he was just severely bruised. Unfortunately
|
|
all other expedition members were either much further down the cave or at
|
|
base camp. Dan and Juliette hauled him up through the squeeze and rifts and
|
|
then used a counter balance technique to haul him to the top of the third
|
|
pitch. At this point the other detackling teams caught up and it was decided
|
|
that there was little point in calling out the rescue. It was midnight and
|
|
the weather outside was appalling; the rescue would take many hours to
|
|
arrive and we had enough man power to carry him out of the cave and off the
|
|
mountain. We reached the surface seven hours after the accident and bundled
|
|
Chris into an Alpine rope stretcher. Carrying him across the plateau in the
|
|
dark and sleet was extremely exhausting and very slow progress was made
|
|
until dawn. As it grew light, spirits rose and our progress speeded up.
|
|
After a rest at what was left of Top Camp we carried him to the car park. We
|
|
were met by the others from Base Camp near Top Camp and we carried him down
|
|
to Top Camp on two poles. Chris arrived in hospital two minutes before
|
|
Rebecca was discharged. After a romantic reunion Chris was wheeled away to
|
|
the x-ray room where it was found that he had fractured his pelvis.
|
|
|
|
<p>After this accident there was no time for recuperation. The cave had to be
|
|
detackled and so people had to cave the day after the accident. After much
|
|
effort all the rope was brought out from the cave. A further two days of
|
|
carrying saw all the gear down at Base Camp. There was just time to wash and
|
|
dry everything before we had to leave.
|
|
|
|
<p>Although two sumps were found, there are still several ways on in
|
|
Kaninchenhöhle. Down the Right Hand Route there is an unexplored lead
|
|
from Knossus and two leads just above Over The Rainbow. At the bottom of
|
|
Niflheim there is an unexplored canyon. There is also a pitch to be descended
|
|
at the end of the phreatic passage that leads off from over the third pitch.
|
|
There are certainly bound to be many other routes that have not been noticed
|
|
yet. Kaninchenhöhle is an extremely complicated system and there is
|
|
much to investigate next year. There are also many possibilities of
|
|
exploration in other caves on the Loser Plateau.
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
|
<p><ul>
|
|
<li>Cambridge Underground 1990,
|
|
<a href="../../../jnl/1990/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
|
|
<li>1989 Expedition info:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="index.htm">Index</a> (more detail than in this list)</li>
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
|
|
<li>Cambridge Underground Expo Report:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="rescue.htm">The Rescues</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="cavegd.htm">161 Description</a> to date (ie. 1989)</li>
|
|
<li><a href="survey.htm">The 1989 survey</a> of Kaninchenhöhle</li>
|
|
<li><a href="camp.htm">Underground Camping</a> experience in 1989</li>
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
<li><a href="sumup.htm">1976-89 summary</a> of caves found</li>
|
|
<li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="sponsr.htm">Sponsors</a></li>
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1989">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>
|