mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-11-23 15:51:56 +00:00
130 lines
6.8 KiB
HTML
130 lines
6.8 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 92.1865: Cambridge Underground 1992 pp 18-19</font>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Puffball and Icing Sugar Cave (1623/182)</h2>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Olly Betts</h3></center>
|
|
|
|
<b>Latitude</b>: 47°48'30" N<br>
|
|
<b>Longitude</b>: 13°48'01" E<br>
|
|
<b>Altitude</b>: 1638m
|
|
|
|
<p>B.Scharte: 180°, B.Zinken: 210°, HSK: 070°, VSK: 210°
|
|
(Austria '90 survey book pp79-80). Camp is on 144°, +1.5°
|
|
inclination, but cannot actually be seen from entrance.
|
|
|
|
<p>The main entrance joins with a secondary, slightly smaller entrance in a
|
|
daylit chamber on top of a snow plug. Sky can be seen through a third
|
|
entrance in the ceiling, which is surrounded by undergrowth on the surface.
|
|
|
|
<p>A hole down the back edge of the snow plug leads to a slither down a
|
|
partially iced steep (30°) boulder slope, with a low ceiling which soon
|
|
rises. A large boulder several metres across is jammed across the slope at a
|
|
few metres further down, below which the boulder slope continues. An inlet
|
|
to the left just before an ice formation soon becomes too tight. Carrying
|
|
on, the slope soon gives way to a traverse above a vadose canyon, with a
|
|
laddered climb (20') after about 25m. It is possible to continue along
|
|
the top of the rift for a considerable distance (apparently to above Shell
|
|
Pitch?). From the bottom of the ladder, the passage soon drops down a climb
|
|
of 2m. Then there is a winding, rifty passageway, named "Magic Mushroom
|
|
Passage" due to the peculiar mushroom-like formations on the walls.
|
|
These, together with the white dusty look of the walls in places, give the
|
|
cave its name. After 100m the rift widens, and a traverse develops above a
|
|
narrower rift below. The upper level may be followed to above the first rope
|
|
pitch, but the more usual route is to climb down a rock pile into the lower
|
|
rift (40cm wide), which is known as the "Yorkshire Ripper", due to
|
|
the effect of the sharp, narrow rift on oversuits, and the Yorkshire feel of
|
|
the cave at this point. After 15m, relieved at one point by a small alcove
|
|
with an irritating spray of water, the narrow rift widens, after a final
|
|
flourish, to the head of the first rope pitch (6m). Carrying on from the
|
|
base of the pitch, the tiny rift in the floor deepens, and traversing along
|
|
leads soon to the head of Shell pitch (19m). Descending gives a fine view
|
|
of the chamber, the walls of which contain many large bivalve fossils (hence
|
|
the pitch's name). From this chamber, a short traverse leads to a
|
|
junction.
|
|
|
|
<p>Left is an unclimbable aven, whilst to the right is "Piezo de
|
|
Resistance", described below. The main route is currently down
|
|
"Q8" pitch which is broken by a ledge after 16m. After a further
|
|
9m and a rebelay, a pendulum through a window to one side leads on.
|
|
Descending further, the shaft stops after 19m and a further rebelay. There
|
|
are no passable ways on from the bottom ("Strike One"). After the
|
|
pendulum, a vast army of rebelays lies in wait ("Dot to Dot"),
|
|
eventually ending in a larger pitch (25m) the bottom of which, again, has no
|
|
ways on ("Strike Two"). Yet again, a pendulum (at -14m) yields
|
|
more cave ("Bottom Bypass"). A dubious 11m hang leads to a ledge.
|
|
At one end of the ledge, ducking under an arch enters a chamber at the
|
|
bottom of a high shaft ("Lady's Loo"), down which a vast
|
|
torrent pours in wet weather. A further 9m down from the ledge is a floor.
|
|
Progress can be made along the top of a slimy keyhole shaped rift
|
|
("Tarzan's Folly") which is irritating to pass, especially
|
|
with tackle. After 20m, a false floor appears and a few metres further on is
|
|
"The Dark Room", a high chamber with dark, textured walls. A
|
|
waterfall cascades down from unfathomable heights, and pounds onto a ledge
|
|
to the back right of the cavern. Climbing down a slimy slope, (which in an
|
|
ideal world would be lined), the way on is along a rift which exits from the
|
|
rear of the chamber on the left side. The rift has a couple of false floors
|
|
in it. The middle level leads to the head of the next pitch "Natural
|
|
Redundancy" (11m) is reached after about 10m. The rope is belayed to a
|
|
large chock stone at head level, then to a bolt about two inches from a
|
|
beautifully rounded thread, hence the name. "Cyclotron" pitch
|
|
follows immediately, then comes "Quark, Strangeness and Charm", a
|
|
rift passage with many possible traverse levels. In places there are
|
|
flowstone bosses, and near the roof, some odd "tippex" stals can
|
|
be seen. The formations are only notable due to their rarity in the caves of
|
|
this region.
|
|
|
|
<p>At the end of QS&C, the passage sweeps round to the left as the floor
|
|
drops away into "Cloud Chamber". The pitch is broken by two
|
|
rebelays. The grade 5 survey stops about 20m back from the pitch head. The
|
|
details of the passage leading to the next pitch are uncertain, although the
|
|
consensus is that it is around 20-30m long, and fairly straight. The lack of
|
|
information lead to the name "Amnesia Alleyway". The next pitch is
|
|
"NDE", an acronym for "Near Death Experience", since a
|
|
party of cavers was flood-pulsed just below this pitch during the initial
|
|
exploration. This incident also named "The Delicate Sound of
|
|
Thunder", another rift passage with a traverse along to a laddered
|
|
pitch ("Traditional Style"), which is the as far as exploration
|
|
has got to date.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Piezo de Resistance:</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>From the head of "Q8" pitch, an alternative route may be
|
|
followed. Taking the passage to the right, a traverse develops after 10m.
|
|
Water sinks into a hole in the floor after a further 10m, and beyond this,
|
|
is a 9m pitch, followed after 10m or so by a longer pitch with has been
|
|
descended for about 20m. This point is 60m above the floor of "The Dark
|
|
Room", and the horizontal separation is only a few metres, so it seems
|
|
there is a good chance that there is a bypass for the rebelay forest of
|
|
"Dot to Dot" and the awkward crawl "Tarzan's
|
|
Folly". Note: The pitches at the end of Piezo were rigged from a couple
|
|
of somewhat dubious naturals, and could do with being bolted if this is to
|
|
become the main route.
|
|
|
|
<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="wash.htm">It's a Washout</a> (flood pulse in Puffball)</li>
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="newbit.htm">161's New Bits 1991</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>
|