mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-11-22 07:11:55 +00:00
386 lines
22 KiB
HTML
386 lines
22 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
|
|
<title>1997: Cambridge Underground report</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
<center>
|
|
<font size="-1">Cambridge Underground 1999 pp 82-88</font>
|
|
<h1>Expo '97</h1>
|
|
<h3>Julian Haines</h3></center>
|
|
|
|
<h4><span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> - 10 years on</h4>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Introduction</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>In July 1997, Cambridge University Caving Club (CUCC) embarked upon its
|
|
10th annual expedition to the <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> cave
|
|
system in the Totes Gebirge (<b>Dead Mountains</b>), Austria. The first CUCC
|
|
expedition to the Totes Gebirge area of Austria took place in the summer of
|
|
1976 and, with the exception of 1986, the club has returned every year since.
|
|
Since it's discovery by CUCC in 1988, these expeditions have concentrated
|
|
almost exclusively on the <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> system.
|
|
|
|
<p>By the end of the 1996 expedition, the explored and surveyed length of
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> was 19.7km with a total depth of
|
|
just under 500m from the highest entrance. There were many unexplored leads
|
|
(almost 200) with the known southern extremity of the cave reasonably close
|
|
to the very large <span
|
|
lang="de-at">Schwarzmooskogel-Eishöhle-Stellerweghöhle</span>
|
|
system. Many very promising leads had also been left at the northern end of
|
|
the cave, due not only to the length of trip required in order to investigate
|
|
them, but also the huge number of exciting finds much nearer to the new
|
|
entrance, discovered at the end of the 1995 expedition.
|
|
|
|
<p>Around 20 cavers took part in this year's trip, most with previous
|
|
experience of caving abroad but, also a number for whom this was their first
|
|
taste of expedition caving. As luck would have it, the beginning of the
|
|
expedition coincided with serious flooding across Eastern Europe and although
|
|
Bad Aussee was on the edge of the bad weather, there was enough rain to be a
|
|
serious hindrance and for a bridge to be washed away.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Steinschlagschacht and the quest for
|
|
<span lang="de">Eishöhle</span></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>At the southernmost extremity of
|
|
<span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> is a nasty, loose, sharp area of
|
|
cave known as the Forbidden Land. This might not have been given a second
|
|
look, but for the fact that it was the only known south-westerly going lead
|
|
in the vicinity and a connection to the nearby 25km
|
|
Schwarzmooskogel-Eishöhle system was tantalisingly close. Whilst some of
|
|
the most interesting exploration was promised by the Forbidden Land, the
|
|
extremely unpleasant boulder choke entrance to this area made the prospect of
|
|
a significant number of trips here unappealing to the majority, if not all,
|
|
of this year's expedition cavers. For this reason a great deal of interest
|
|
was shown in <span lang="de">Steinschlagschacht</span> (<b>1623/136</b>),
|
|
originally explored by CUCC in 1983/4, which we knew from the survey to be
|
|
extremely close to connection with the Forbidden Land. The possibility of a
|
|
new, safer route into this area was considered sufficiently likely to warrant
|
|
a re-exploration of this cave. Old log book accounts talked of 'phreatic
|
|
ramps' at around -150m, although the exact nature of these was unclear, as
|
|
was the exact depth of them. The original exploration had not produced a
|
|
drawn-up survey and it was by no means certain that such data as existed was
|
|
connected correctly to the <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> survey.
|
|
|
|
<!-- photos/steinsurv.psSurvey of <span lang="de">Steinslagschacht.</span> -->
|
|
|
|
<p>So with considerable anticipation tempered by a little wariness of the
|
|
cave's name (<b>Stonefall Shaft</b>), a party of two began the
|
|
re-exploration. The origin of the name quickly became apparent as the
|
|
entrance consists of a steep (45$^o$), loose boulder slope opening directly
|
|
onto the first pitch! Extensive use was made of the drill in re-rigging the
|
|
pitch in a fashion that avoided the worst of the stonefall. The entrance
|
|
pitch is a fine 35m shaft, at the foot of which was found a small connection
|
|
to a large boulder strewn chamber. The original route was ignored at this
|
|
point, despite being apparent from the presence of an old spit, since a more
|
|
convincing shaft was also present. However, after a little more rigging
|
|
further spits were found, indicating that we'd merely taken the direct
|
|
descent whereas originally a more circuitous route was followed. Owing to the
|
|
presence of the old spits, rigging was swift with only a small number of
|
|
additional anchors being required, until a divergence was reached at around
|
|
-150m.
|
|
|
|
<p>Interest grew among others on the expedition, as it soon became apparent
|
|
that there was plenty to explore in <span lang="de">Steinschlagschacht</span>
|
|
and that it was actually much safer than the name suggested. Further trips
|
|
followed. The original route had continued straight down from the divergence
|
|
discovered earlier, however that looked a bit wet and uninviting so the
|
|
tangential Eyehole Route was pushed instead. It is unclear as to why this was
|
|
not explored previously; it is possible that the eyehole had not been noticed
|
|
previously or simply that depth was the main goal. Either way, after another
|
|
couple of trips and a lot more rigging with a further 200m of rope, an
|
|
enormous chamber was discovered. This was later named The Theatre due to the
|
|
spectacular views afforded from near the ceiling on later trips. The Theatre
|
|
is roughly 10m by 20m at the floor, with near vertical walls rising up to the
|
|
ceiling at an estimated height of around 60m!
|
|
|
|
<p>Early delight at having discovered such a magnificent chamber was quickly
|
|
followed by disappointment at the lack of ways on from the bottom. The floor
|
|
was a huge pile of boulders with a low connection through to a much smaller
|
|
chamber in one corner. Here there were a number of small wet avens (shafts
|
|
entering from the ceiling), clear pools of water and some mud, much like
|
|
elsewhere in <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span>. Back in the main
|
|
chamber was a nasty and unrewarding climb down through the boulders in the
|
|
floor and an obvious black space some distance up the walls at either end,
|
|
but no obvious continuation. Much surveying was done and a retreat beaten to
|
|
base camp to ponder on what to do next.
|
|
|
|
<p> <a href="../../1623/161/l/jh9719.htm"><img alt="" width=150
|
|
height=200 align="left" hspace=10 vspace=10
|
|
src="../../1623/161/t/jh9719.jpg"></a><b>Andy Atkinson descending towards
|
|
The Theatre, <span lang="de">Steinschlagschacht.</span></b> (Julian Haines)
|
|
<br clear="all">
|
|
|
|
<p>After entering the data into the computer, Survex showed that although
|
|
we'd not connected we were within 25m horizontally and 30m or so below a
|
|
potential connection with the Forbidden Land. The implication of this was
|
|
that the connection, if there was one, lay about half-way up the The Theatre
|
|
on the opposite wall to that where we'd entered the chamber -- not at all an
|
|
easy place to reach! However, the temptation to attempt a connection was too
|
|
great to resist, so a party of two left base camp early on the morning
|
|
following the expedition dinner with the intention of doing just that. A
|
|
considerable amount of effort was needed since a near horizontal traverse had
|
|
to be rigged around the wall, a little below the ceiling of the Theatre, 40m
|
|
above the nearest floor. The drill again proved invaluable and it is doubtful
|
|
as to whether such a traverse would have been rigged without it. Eventually a
|
|
suitable place was found to descend first to an eyehole and then to a ledge
|
|
way above the floor of The Theatre. Here was the much hoped for connection to
|
|
the Forbidden Land, although in a different place to that anticipated at the
|
|
beginning of the expedition and certainly by different means!
|
|
|
|
<p>The survey was examined once again and a plan concocted. It was apparent
|
|
that <span lang="de">Elin Algor,</span> a long straight passage in the
|
|
Forbidden Land, was roughly co-linear with the main wall of The Theatre and
|
|
apparently all one development in the formation of the cave. Since there had
|
|
been a horizontal connection at one end of The Theatre, it was surmised that
|
|
there ought to be another at a similar height but at the opposite end of the
|
|
chamber, continuing in the direction of <span lang="de">Eishöhle.</span>
|
|
Some required more than a little persuasion that this was a realistic
|
|
possibility, but eventually a number of trips were made with a view to
|
|
finding said passage. More hair-raising rigging followed in order to traverse
|
|
in the opposite direction around the wall of The Theatre and eventually a
|
|
hole in the wall was found at about the expected elevation. Unfortunately
|
|
this rapidly turned into a parallel shaft series, eventually connecting at
|
|
the floor of The Theatre and with no further obvious leads!
|
|
|
|
<p>So for the time being the connection to <span
|
|
lang="de">Eishöhle</span> remains elusive, although prospects in this
|
|
area for next year still look very good.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Triassic Park -- the sequel</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The massive trunk passage of Triassic Park was discovered towards the end
|
|
of the 1995 expedition as a continuation of the <b>France</b> area of <span
|
|
lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span>, and soon led to the discovery of the
|
|
Scarface (<b>161d</b>) entrance. The new entrance provided much improved
|
|
access to this important section of cave and in 1996 it received considerable
|
|
attention. The main passage turns from trending north-east to north-west at
|
|
one point and it was around this area that a lead in the floor was pushed a
|
|
little last year.
|
|
|
|
<!-- photos/lwsurv.ps Survey of Lost World, <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span>. -->
|
|
|
|
<p>Named <b>Wheelchair Access</b> (in recognition of a steep ramp that
|
|
has to be negotiated and the relative age of the explorers) this was
|
|
an immediate target for the beginning of the expedition in 1997, due
|
|
to the ease of access and limited need for resources to push the cave
|
|
further. Initial exploration concentrated on two parallel rifts
|
|
partially explored at the end of the 1996 expedition. Investigation of
|
|
the series to the left was not promising, with difficult traversing
|
|
leading to blind pits, and success in the other right hand rift series
|
|
soon diverted attention. Initially an awkward, constricted, steeply
|
|
descending rift passage with mud concealing sharp calcite formations,
|
|
the passage quickly earned a bit of a reputation amongst the explorers,
|
|
and continuing the Wheelchair theme was named <b><span lang="de">Kein
|
|
Zimmer</span> rift</b> (<b>No Room Rift</b>)! Perseverance paid off however,
|
|
as just past a tight vertical section, the ramp broke out into a larger free
|
|
hanging drop, at the bottom of which, some small horizontal tubes led off.
|
|
Excitement mounted as a last short drop of 5m landed the explorers in a large
|
|
trunk passage, 4m in diameter, with a small stream in the floor heading
|
|
roughly North / South. It was inevitable this would become known as the Lost
|
|
World and was obviously a major and important piece of cave.
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="../../1623/161/l/dh1-29.htm"><img alt="" width=188 height=125
|
|
align="right" hspace=10 vspace=10
|
|
src="../../1623/161/t/dh1-29.jpg"></a><b>Mike Richardson at Lake
|
|
Bourneville, Upstream Lost World, <span
|
|
lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span>.</b> (Dave Horsley)<br clear="all">
|
|
|
|
<p>Upstream, a couple of big phreatic passages met in a large chamber in
|
|
which were found several bat skeletons - this would suggest another route in
|
|
from the surface, though whether this is accessible to cavers is another
|
|
matter! Beyond the chamber several routes unite at a 3m climb up, then down,
|
|
into a magnificent tall canyon passage over 7m wide. This had a dark pristine
|
|
flat mud floor and led to a large, old sump pool, now devoid of water, again
|
|
with a beautiful, cracked mud floor and the old water level clearly defined
|
|
by the dark mud on the white limestone walls. With reluctance, we headed
|
|
carefully (to minimise the damage to the delicate mud formations) over the
|
|
mud lake, and a 2m drop down a mud bank led to a downstream continuation
|
|
passage. This had obviously been completely under water at some stage in its
|
|
history and probably lies just below the level of the current valley beneath
|
|
the cliff in which the Scarface entrance is situated. The passage continues
|
|
down, with the current small stream weaving its way through bizarre mud
|
|
formations and ending at a small chamber with choked outlets and no easily
|
|
accessible way on.
|
|
|
|
<p>The downstream end was less complex with a single passage leading to a
|
|
pitch opening out over a large chamber with a boulder-strewn floor. A route
|
|
down through the boulders gained the true floor of the chamber where the
|
|
water disappeared into an impenetrable passage and leading up from this, a
|
|
larger passage ending at a mud and cobble choke. This may be associated with
|
|
similar choked passages in the upstream end of the Lost World.
|
|
|
|
<p>The passages were surveyed and photographed and all of the obvious leads
|
|
pushed to a conclusion, so for the time being the Lost World may be left
|
|
whilst more fruitful projects are pursued. However due to its location it is
|
|
almost certain that other sections of cave will connect through and perhaps
|
|
provide ways around the current limits of exploration at either end of what
|
|
is obviously only a small part of the original passage.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Siberia</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Siberia is roughly the most northerly point of <span
|
|
lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span>. It was discovered in 1994 and was known
|
|
to have many potentially good leads. Unfortunately by the original route it
|
|
was a somewhat long and arduous trip just to get to the pushing front. Since
|
|
the discovery of the Scarface entrance (161d) in 1995 and due mostly to the
|
|
large number of going leads near to the new entrance, Siberia has received
|
|
little attention up to now.
|
|
|
|
<p>However, this year new enthusiasm was found by a small group of expedition
|
|
members, none of whom had ever been to this area of the cave before. This
|
|
highlights the importance of painstakingly surveying and documenting the
|
|
cave, as often an area may be left several years until a good reason is found
|
|
to revisit it, more often than not, by a completely different group of
|
|
people. Much effort could be wasted if previously visited cave has to be
|
|
re-explored and re-surveyed.
|
|
|
|
<p>The Scarface entrance and connection of Triassic Park with Knossos in 1996
|
|
has reduced the journey time to Siberia by probably a couple of hours for
|
|
moderately experienced cavers. However, owing to some reluctance to re-rig
|
|
the tyrolean traverse (Strange Acrossfall), which would have been a long trip
|
|
in it's own right, all of this years trips took the more awkward and slower
|
|
route through the Burble Crawl instead. For a number of reasons it took three
|
|
trips before the pushing front, the top of a very large shaft called Somebody
|
|
Else's Problem, was reached. Since all members of the party were new to the
|
|
area, route finding (still difficult despite the existing surveys) was
|
|
certainly an issue and dragging tackle through the 100m Burble Crawl is hard
|
|
work. En route, Vom Pitch had not been rigged for several years and
|
|
complications due to the loose rock in this area caused a certain amount of
|
|
re-rigging to be necessary (A flake previously used as a rebelay had fallen
|
|
off in 1995). Unfortunately having eventually reached the shaft and placed a
|
|
number of bolts, it quickly became apparent that the shaft was much deeper
|
|
than had been anticipated and the rope was too short!
|
|
|
|
<p>The fourth trip was more successful. Enough rope was carried that it was
|
|
relatively straightforward, although slow, to rig the pitch. A 75m almost
|
|
free-hanging pitch was found in a large shaft with a strong breeze blowing up
|
|
it. At the foot of the pitch were a couple of climbs, one leading to a crawl
|
|
and another to a ~15m pitch with strong upwards breeze. This 15m pitch was
|
|
later descended and found to connect to a phreatic passage with an
|
|
undescended climb at the end of it, accompanied by the now ever present gale.
|
|
In the interests of maintaining reliable documentation, no further
|
|
exploration was carried out in this area, since there was already plenty of
|
|
surveying required! This was duly completed, including numerous side passages
|
|
in Siberia, which had only received cursory attention previously.
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="../../1623/161/l/dh1-17.htm"><img alt="" width=150 height=150
|
|
align="left" hspace=10 vspace=10
|
|
src="../../1623/161/t/dh1-17.jpg"></a><b>Mike Richardson in the tube of
|
|
Downstream Lost World, <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span>.</b> (Dave
|
|
Horsley)<br clear="all">
|
|
|
|
<h3>Other Work</h3>
|
|
|
|
<h4>Puerile Humour Series</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>By the end of the 1996 expedition it was clear that Where the Wind Blows,
|
|
one of the Northward trending passages in the Puerile Humour series, could
|
|
potentially provide a significantly easier route to The Far End due to it's
|
|
close proximity at the 1996 exploration limit. This was an obvious question
|
|
mark to return to at the beginning of this year's expedition. The end of the
|
|
passage was drafting from three separate places, suggesting significant cave
|
|
beyond, and the nature of the passage suggested that the end was merely a
|
|
collapse area in an ongoing passage. A small hole in the mud floor was found
|
|
to lead to a large aven above and an ongoing pitch series below, however
|
|
progress down was stopped by a constriction. Continuing horizontally, the
|
|
passage quickly chokes at a boulder collapse, probably associated with the
|
|
aven / shaft series already mentioned. Some effort was made to dig through
|
|
the choke but concerns over the stability of the excavated passage soon
|
|
halted exploration. This remains an interesting area, but further progress
|
|
may require somebody experienced in the digging and shoring techniques
|
|
required to pass such a boulder choke safely.
|
|
|
|
<h4>Moomintrol</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>In another series of passages leading off from Triassic Park, just beyond
|
|
an impressive aven, known as Zebedee, is a climb named Moomintrol. It was
|
|
discovered last year and noted because (a) it looked to be not too difficult
|
|
and (b) a large black space was visible at the top.
|
|
|
|
<p>The first party to attempt the climb this year considered, after putting
|
|
in a few bolts by hand, that it would be a much easier prospect using the
|
|
drill. As a justification to commandeer this important expedition resource,
|
|
they claimed that the shaft on the hammer of the hand bolting kit had snapped
|
|
(albeit by accident) and thus they were unable to do anything but return to
|
|
the surface to collect the drill. The second party had more success, despite
|
|
being unable to use the drill because the battery appeared flat, and after a
|
|
bold attempt at climbing, the top was reached. Another 30' shaft was found
|
|
and the sound of water ahead. Unfortunately it was by now time to derig, so
|
|
further exploration must once again wait for next year.
|
|
|
|
<h4>Alternative Universe</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>This passage is an offshoot from the large Triassic Park trunk route, and
|
|
being only 10 minutes from the Scarface entrance was an obvious target for
|
|
further exploration. Work concentrated on a descending shaft series, wet in
|
|
places -- making this a potentially serious proposition since the average air
|
|
temperature in the cave is only just above freezing. The series descended
|
|
100m down, over several pitches, but ended in a tight, committing rift and a
|
|
further very tight descent which was abandoned due to the lack of a
|
|
sufficiently thin backup team member!
|
|
|
|
<h3>Surface Activities</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>As a background activity we are always on the look out for other possible
|
|
entrances to either <span lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> or as yet
|
|
undiscovered caves. The limestone plateau is riddled with holes, most of
|
|
which go to an insignificant depth, but also some quite large holes which are
|
|
still to be found and investigated. This surface prospecting work is
|
|
essential not only to further understanding of the cave systems in the area
|
|
but also in sustaining interest in the area for future generations of CUCC
|
|
members. Over the past 20 years we have discovered a great many such
|
|
entrances and shafts, however until recently documentation and labelling of
|
|
such finds has been sporadic. Over the last few years and indeed on this
|
|
year's expedition this problem has been addressed by the use of stamped
|
|
aluminium tags that are fixed to the cave entrances, these bearing numbers
|
|
assigned by the local caving group (VfHO) who maintain records of all known
|
|
caves in the area. To complement this work all important entrances are
|
|
located and mapped with the aid of GPS technology, backed up with more
|
|
accurate surface surveys. This ensures that re-exploration of caves is
|
|
minimised and has proved an essential tool in the investigation of possible
|
|
connections between existing cave systems.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Summary</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Over one hundred underground photographs were taken, many of different
|
|
subjects, some of which are shown here. Thanks are due to the expedition
|
|
photographers and in particular to all those 'extras' who stood (or hung)
|
|
shivering whilst the flashes failed and the lenses fogged! By the end of the
|
|
expedition a further 2.4km of cave had been surveyed and the overall depth
|
|
increased to just over 500m, owing to the slightly higher entrance of <span
|
|
lang="de">Steinschlagschacht.</span> There are still many promising leads,
|
|
with the exciting prospect of linking two, already very large, cave systems.
|
|
There will no doubt be many more trips to <span
|
|
lang="de">Kaninchenhöhle</span> in the future.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Acknowledgements</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Caving expeditions such as this are anything but cheap, especially when
|
|
viewed through the eyes of the increasingly impoverished students who make up
|
|
a significant proportion of the expedition. We owe a debt of gratitude to all
|
|
those organisations who have provided us with sponsorship in various forms,
|
|
for which we are very grateful and which has certainly contributed hugely to
|
|
the success of the expedition. Particular thanks must go to both the
|
|
Foundation for Sport and the Arts and also to the Sports Council for their
|
|
generous financial assistance. Thanks are also due to the Ghar Parau
|
|
Foundation for their assistance with grant application and recommendation.
|
|
|
|
<p>Other companies provided sponsorship in terms of food and equipment. Barts
|
|
spices, Campbells, Thomas Tunnock Ltd., Thorntons plc and Wander Ltd.
|
|
provided spices, sauces, caramel wafers, fudge and Ovaltine all of which
|
|
added dietary interest and improved morale of the expedition members. Aleph1
|
|
Ltd loaned us a computer for survey analysis, Nikwax donated a tub of their
|
|
famous boot waterproofing wax and Terra Nova provided discounts on tent
|
|
purchase.
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|