mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-11-23 07:41:56 +00:00
371 lines
20 KiB
HTML
371 lines
20 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
<html lang="en">
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>1623/41 Stellerweghöhle Guidebook</title>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Stellerweg area side passages</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>This area comprises the entrance series to 1623/41 and the ramifications
|
|
of the linked entrance 1623/142, together with an apparently independent way
|
|
on in 41 itself. The passages are developed in a series of hading rifts of
|
|
considerable complexity, and only main routes through have been fully
|
|
surveyed, by two different groups, over a decade apart. Sometimes it is
|
|
clear where we have both surveyed the same passage, but in other places
|
|
it is far from obvious. If the description seems confusing, then so is the
|
|
cave !
|
|
|
|
<p>The passages are described as seen from three main routes - the way
|
|
through 142, the main way through 41, and the German route through 41.
|
|
These routes are roughly parallel, and penetrate the hillside progressively
|
|
further to the east, or down the dip of the ramps. Some of these ramps
|
|
remain unexplored but probably connect the three routes in yet more
|
|
places.
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="ent142">New entrance</a> 1623/142 (1982-83)</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p><b>Location:</b> E 35772.8 N (52)81214.6 H 1615.6
|
|
|
|
<p>This is reached by bashing up an indistinct gully from
|
|
<a href="../../noinfo/smkridge/32.htm"><span lang="de">Windloch</span>
|
|
(1623/32)</a> on the
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Stöger Weg</span> until an entrance marked P132 (sic)
|
|
in red paint is reached. Initially thought to be a possible higher entrance
|
|
to the system, it is actually a little lower than
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Stellerweghöhle</span> itself.
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="wigway">A small</a> tube at the entrance quickly leads to a short
|
|
drop and spiral round into the start of a hading rift, much like
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Stellerweg</span> on a smaller
|
|
scale. Down the first ramp on the right is "Wiggy's way to 60' pitch"
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-19" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-19">C1982-142-19</a>],
|
|
while straight on leads for 15m to where a trench intersects the floor. Down
|
|
this to the left leads to a pitch
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-20" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-20">C1982-142-20</a>].
|
|
The main way continues low past holes in the floor
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-21" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-21">C1982-142-21</a>] on
|
|
the right, then over a rock into a small chamber with a cairn.
|
|
|
|
<p><img src="142ent.png" width=650 height=870>
|
|
|
|
<p>To the left up a slope is the <a href="#142main1">main way</a>, but
|
|
various gaps on the right lead through a low section downhill
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-22" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-22">C1982-142-22</a>].
|
|
To the left after 10m,
|
|
a crawl up leads to a ramp back to the main route, while up a 1m step to the
|
|
right, a crawl leads under a low arch and continues to intersect a ramp
|
|
[<a name="C1983-142-02" href="qmlist.htm#C1983-142-02">C1983-142-02</a>].
|
|
Up to the left leads to the noise of a stream
|
|
[<a name="C1983-142-03" href="qmlist.htm#C1983-142-03">C1983-142-03</a>],
|
|
with a further QM
|
|
[<a name="C1983-142-04" href="qmlist.htm#C1983-142-04">C1983-142-04</a>]
|
|
to the right of it, undescribed but shown on the survey. Down to the right
|
|
reaches an 8m pitch landing on jammed boulders, followed by a 19m pitch in a
|
|
dripping chamber. Arge's survey suggests that across this pitch (traverse
|
|
on left) leads in a few metres to the main way in 41. An unexplored passage
|
|
[<a name="C1983-142-05" href="qmlist.htm#C1983-142-05">C1983-142-05</a>]
|
|
leads south towards the entrance - this appears to choke very close to the
|
|
main 41 passage on the Arge survey. The dripping chamber is area is very
|
|
close to Stellerweg, but below the main route.
|
|
|
|
<p>The <a name="142main1">main route</a> from the chamber (with the cairn)
|
|
goes uphill to a low section, then keeps left round a choked depression in
|
|
the floor of a chamber. The way narrows below a tight lead on the left
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-23" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-23">C1982-142-23</a>],
|
|
then enlarges at another ramp. Up and left is a way up to a tight rift
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-24" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-24">C1982-142-24</a>].
|
|
Both of these ways up left seem to connect into
|
|
<span lang="de">Schwabenschacht</span>, while down the ramp is unexplored
|
|
but probably leads back down to the dripping chamber
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-25" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-25">C1982-142-25</a>].
|
|
Another constriction leads to a "bad step" over a ramp to the right
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-26" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-26">C1982-142-26</a>],
|
|
but none of the ramps are as awkward to cross as the lined traverses in
|
|
Stellerweg.
|
|
|
|
<p><img src="142-41.png" width=750 height=650>
|
|
|
|
<p>A longer crawl continues, passing small holes to right
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-27" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-27">C1982-142-27</a>]
|
|
and then left
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-28" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-28">C1982-142-28</a>],
|
|
before a step down above another ramp to the right
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-29" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-29">C1982-142-29</a>].
|
|
Straight on is a rift leading over a hole in the floor
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-30" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-30">C1982-142-30</a>],
|
|
finally to emerge at the bottom of a small boulder chamber
|
|
<b lang="de">Vereinigungshalle</b> sloping up to the left.
|
|
At the top is a T-junction, left
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-31" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-31">C1982-142-31</a>]
|
|
was soon blocked by a large boulder, which was passed by a short dig
|
|
from the far side, to provide the first connection from
|
|
<a href="../78.htm"><span lang="de">Schwabenschacht</span></a> (1623/78).
|
|
To the right at the T-junction leads on until, after 20m, the floor drops
|
|
away into blackness
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-32" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-32">C1982-142-32</a>],
|
|
which proved to be a 32m pitch into the <a href="#bigcham142"><b>Big
|
|
Chamber</b></a>.
|
|
|
|
<p><img src="142bc.png" width=600 height=560>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="l/142bc.htm" name="bigcham142"><img alt="photo - 12k jpeg"
|
|
width=215 height=296 align=left hspace=10 vspace=10 src="t/142bc.jpg"></a>The
|
|
imaginatively named <b>Big Chamber</b> is by far the largest chamber in the
|
|
<span lang="de-at">Stellerweg</span> part of the system, 90m long, 30m wide,
|
|
and 40m from the roof at the pitch to the lowest point of the floor. This is
|
|
at the South West end of the SW-NE aligned chamber, while at the other end,
|
|
the floor rises over boulders towards the arched roof. An extension to the
|
|
north at this end leads to a depression in the floor. The north side of the
|
|
chamber generally ends too low where the boulder floor meets the roof. A way
|
|
up at the NE end of the chamber
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-34" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-34">C1982-142-34</a>] has
|
|
now been connected into <span lang="de-at">Stellerweg.</span> Descents into
|
|
boulders
|
|
[<a name="C1982-142-33" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-33">C1982-142-33</a>] are
|
|
possible at various points, but progress seems unlikely. Having said that,
|
|
Arge seem to have pushed an extension hereabouts to find
|
|
<b lang="de">Richie-Meander</b>.<br clear=all>
|
|
|
|
<h4><a name="rodrunway">Rodent Runway</a> - the original connection to
|
|
41 (1983)</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>From halfway up <span lang="de">Vereinigungshalle</span> before the pitch
|
|
into the Big Chamber, an obscure route through boulders
|
|
[<a name="C1983-142-00" href="qmlist.htm#C1983-142-00">C1983-142-00</a>]
|
|
leads down to the head of a ramp. This passage is <b>Rodent Runway</b>,
|
|
after some remains of dubious taxonomy. Sketches show up to seven ways on
|
|
[<a name="C1983-142-01" href="qmlist.htm#C1983-142-01">C1983-142-01</a>]
|
|
off Rodent Runway. The route swings left across the strike of the ramp in
|
|
<a name="roofpcham"><b>Roof Pendant Chamber</b></a>, before intersecting
|
|
another, bigger ramp. Up eventually leads back to the Big Chamber at
|
|
[<a href="qmlist.htm#C1982-142-34">C1982-142-34</a>],
|
|
while down leads to <b lang="de">Megalo-Schlinger</b> at the foot of
|
|
<a href="41.htm#p21">the 21m pitch</a> in Stellerweg, emerging from
|
|
[<a href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-17">C1980-41-17</a>].
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Side passages in 41 entrance series</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The main route explored by CUCC in 1980 pursues a determined course into
|
|
the hill, passing numerous ramps and side passages, almost all of which were
|
|
left for subsequent explorers. The initial passage to the left just inside
|
|
the entrance crosses a ramp
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-01" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-01">C1980-41-01</a>]
|
|
by a traverse (over ice in 1980) and leads up a ramp until this becomes
|
|
lower (but continues as
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-02" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-02">C1980-41-02</a>])
|
|
and a way opens across the strike to the right. The route across this
|
|
immediately intersects a large 45° ramp
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-03" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-03">C1980-41-03</a>].
|
|
This is traversed over and a small uphill passage
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-04" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-04">C1980-41-04</a>]
|
|
is passed on the left. Three more descending ramps
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-05" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-05">C1980-41-05</a>,
|
|
<a name="C1980-41-07" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-07">C1980-41-07</a>,
|
|
<a name="C1980-41-11" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-11">C1980-41-11</a>]
|
|
are crossed in a short distance, with a small downhill passage after
|
|
the second of these
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-08" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-08">C1980-41-08</a>].
|
|
A number of small unpushed passages lead off left
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-06" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-06">C1980-41-06</a>,
|
|
<a name="C1980-41-09" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-09">C1980-41-09</a>,
|
|
<a name="C1980-41-10" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-10">C1980-41-10</a>,
|
|
<a name="C1980-41-12" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-12">C1980-41-12</a>].
|
|
|
|
<p>The final ramp is the <a href="41.htm#C1980-41-13">main way on</a>, while
|
|
across it leads to the original route at the head of a 21m pitch. A possible
|
|
passage [<a name="C1980-41-15" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-15">C1980-41-15</a>]
|
|
over the pitch would require a bolted traverse, but would almost certainly
|
|
merely connect into Doppelbodenhalle. Below the pitch, a ramp
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-16" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-16">C1980-41-16</a>]
|
|
leads down to a chamber <b lang="de">Megalo-Schlinger</b> from where many
|
|
ways lead on. These have since been looked at by Arge.
|
|
|
|
<p>A joint plane
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-18" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-18">C1980-41-18</a>]
|
|
down dip is obstructed by boulders and a climb down
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-19" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-19">C1980-41-19</a>]
|
|
leads via a squeeze into a very small vadose canyon. These both appear
|
|
to lead into Warme Duscher Rampe, a passage which appears to end wide
|
|
but inconclusive on the Arge 1998 survey.
|
|
|
|
<p>A ramp up
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-17" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-17">C1980-41-17</a>]
|
|
under the old 21m pitch leads to the two connections to 142, one left to
|
|
<a href="#roofpcham">Roof Pendant Chamber</a> and the other straight on to
|
|
emerge at <a href="#C1982-142-34">C1982-142-34</a> in the Big Chamber.
|
|
|
|
<p>A second ramp
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-20" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-20">C1980-41-20</a>]
|
|
up NE then NW is <b lang="de">Doppelbodenhalle,</b> which emerges at
|
|
<b lang="de">Quickie-Rampe,</b> which appears complex at the point of entry.
|
|
It descends steeply to the right (ESE) and ends about 20m below the post-1981
|
|
route to the Big Pitch, heading in the same direction. It seems likely to
|
|
lead to another way into the same shaft, possibly with a shorter hang.
|
|
|
|
<p>Down a ramp to the right at the start of
|
|
<span lang="de">Doppelbodenhalle</span> goes to a right turn,
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-22" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-22">C1980-41-22</a>] and
|
|
seems to be an easier way into BUS than the way used by CUCC in the 1980s,
|
|
but the CUCC and Arge surveys don't seem to correlate well hereabouts.
|
|
|
|
<p>The main route is a climb up a narrower ramp left off the start of
|
|
<span lang="de">Warme Duscher Rampe.</span> This brings one shortly into BUS,
|
|
a steeply descending phreatic passage and climbs which are followed by lined
|
|
traverses across two ramps
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-23" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-23">C1980-41-23</a>,
|
|
<a name="C1980-41-24" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-24">C1980-41-24</a>].
|
|
These are both very steep and slippery, and would require rigging,
|
|
especially in view of the fact that they head towards the vicinity of the
|
|
100m <a href="41.htm#bigpitch">Big Pitch</a>.
|
|
|
|
<p>It should be noted that some of these leads have since been pushed by
|
|
Arge, and rejoice in names such as Manhattan and Fritz's Freeway. This
|
|
description is thus somewhat out of date and rather remedial in that attempts
|
|
have been made to indicate the new passages by building description from a
|
|
survey on which many of the passages are not explicitly named, and survey
|
|
data commented in a language foreign to the writer...
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="41bp.png"><img src="41bp2.png" width=535 height=575></a>
|
|
|
|
<p><a name="alice">Various routes</a> converge on the Big Pitch, but either
|
|
of two up-ramps, above the pitch heads, lead to a small junction chamber,
|
|
where a steep slope up on the left
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-26" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-26">C1980-41-26</a>]
|
|
leads back to the ramp used to gain access. Other
|
|
ways [<a name="C1980-41-27" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-27">C1980-41-27</a>,
|
|
<a name="C1980-41-28" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-28">C1980-41-28</a>]
|
|
from this ramp remain inadequately described, but are probably the passage
|
|
explored by Arge, <span lang="de">Alice im Wunderland,</span> which trends
|
|
north, then NE for 100m, changing name to <span lang="de">blödes
|
|
Eck</span> and ending at an unexplored pitch, which seems 99% certain to drop
|
|
into the <a href="144.htm#ybr">Yellow Brick Road</a> in 1623/144, probably
|
|
about a p20m.
|
|
|
|
<p>Straight on from the above junction chamber, a small passage
|
|
leads after 20m to a small inlet on the left, also unexplored
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-29" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-29">C1980-41-29</a>].
|
|
The water from this falls into a deep canyon below the passage ahead. A
|
|
descending traverse leads after 30m to the foot of an aven
|
|
[<a name="C1982-41-38" href="qmlist.htm#C1982-41-38">C1982-41-38</a>]
|
|
from where hammering at the bottom of a nearby pothole (entrance numbered
|
|
<a href="../143.htm">143</a>, 140m deep) can be clearly heard, though a voice
|
|
connection could not be achieved. The top of the aven is about 15m below the
|
|
end of 143, and perhaps 20m away horizontally. The connection would add no
|
|
new depth to the system.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="germanr">The German Route</a> in 41 (1954 or 1972?, 1980)</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>From the snowbank in the entrance chamber, a narrow ramp down to the east,
|
|
Extrablatt, curves round left to meet a larger ramp coming down. This ramp
|
|
also comes from the entrance chamber, by a right turn from he north exit.
|
|
Continuing north from the junction, two more ramps from above also come from
|
|
the passage to the north of the entrance chamber. The CUCC sketch notes
|
|
a couple of ramps downwards too. The main way is a roped traverse over a
|
|
choked pot
|
|
[<a name="X0000-41-03" href="qmlist.htm#X0000-41-03">X0000-41-03</a>]
|
|
(reported to be 28m deep, though not descended by CUCC).
|
|
Heading north from this point, then keeping left, an ascending ramp is
|
|
DIN-Rampe, connecting back to the main route not far before Megalo-Schlinger.
|
|
|
|
<p>Shortly beyond the choked 28m pitch (and presumably one of the unsurveyed
|
|
ways to the right on the Arge survey) is the head of a series of pitches
|
|
[<a name="X0000-41-04" href="qmlist.htm#X0000-41-04">X0000-41-04</a>],
|
|
best rigged from the far end of a further traverse. This series came to be
|
|
known as <b lang="de">Stalaglufthöhle.</b> The pitches were originally
|
|
reported to be 220m deep by the German explorers. Although the shafts
|
|
descended by CUCC are pretty much where we were led to believe the German big
|
|
shaft lay, there is a niggling suspicion that the Germans had in fact found a
|
|
route [<a name="C1980-41-39" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-39">C1980-41-39</a>]
|
|
from here to the <a href="41.htm#bigpitch">Big Pitch</a>, which would be a
|
|
much more convincing fit to the description we have.
|
|
|
|
<h3>Stalaglufthöhle</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The first two drops are 6m and 18m to the floor of a rift. At one end of
|
|
this is a 20m pitch with a small outlet at its base (not explored)
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-43" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-43">C1980-41-43</a>], but
|
|
in the other direction pitches of 2, 12 and 14m lead to an awkward traverse
|
|
above a canyon. The route turns left (straight on has not been pushed
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-40" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-40">C1980-41-40</a>])
|
|
and soon drops down a 10m free climb to a low crawl which looks like a
|
|
dried out sump. Beyond this, the crawl continues unexplored
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-41" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-41">C1980-41-41</a>] but
|
|
through a window to the right, a climb down and traverse (over an unexplored
|
|
hole [<a name="C1980-41-42" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-42">C1980-41-42</a>])
|
|
leads to a 14m pitch (sloping at the top) which lands in a chamber. Pitches
|
|
of 8, 12 and 6m follow in a rift until the route narrows at the head of a
|
|
pitch (estimated 6m) which has not been descended
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-44" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-44">C1980-41-44</a>].
|
|
|
|
<p>The route as described had survey cotton for some way, but there was no
|
|
sign of previous exploration at the end.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Connections below the Big Pitch</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>From the lower part of the 100m pitch, a rift window is visible in the
|
|
opposite direction from the way on below. This rift pitch
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-32" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-32">C1980-41-32</a>]
|
|
marks the entry from <b lang="de">Lärchenschacht</b> (1623/88).
|
|
|
|
<p>Unfortunately, the group that explored this cave, whilst being very keen
|
|
to hear from CUCC about our finds in the early eighties, were reluctant to
|
|
reveal anything of value about their explorations (which were not then
|
|
complete), so we have no written description from them. However, recent
|
|
improvements in dialogue mean that we have a survey of the cave, from which a
|
|
<a href="../../noinfo/smkridge/88.htm">description</a> has been built. The
|
|
further ramifications of this cave connect through to the
|
|
<a href="../../noinfo/smkridge/40.htm">Schwarzmooskogeleishöhle
|
|
(1623/40)</a> with a further 2.5km or more of passage.
|
|
|
|
<p>Downstream in Wet 'n' Wild, about 10m from the Big Pitch, a climb up to a
|
|
passage on the left
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-34" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-34">C1980-41-34</a>]
|
|
remains unexplored (and was not mentioned in the published description).
|
|
Downstream about 20m from the pitch, a chimney in the right wall
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-33" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-33">C1980-41-33</a>]
|
|
marks the entry of the route from CUCC's highest entrance,
|
|
<a href="../144.htm">144</a>. The continuation of the rift can be followed
|
|
in a sharp passage until the stream disappears into a hole
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-35" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-35">C1980-41-35</a>],
|
|
apparently reputed to be a sump, but in fact, no attempt to follow it has
|
|
been formally recorded, so this may be in error.
|
|
|
|
<p>Above the hole, in the main way on after 90m (before regaining the water),
|
|
a large (2.5m+ diameter?) unexplored passage
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-36" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-36">C1980-41-36</a>] with no
|
|
obvious draught comes in from the right. This may be the passage shown on the
|
|
Arge survey as turning right after 10m or so, then ending a similar distance
|
|
beyond.
|
|
|
|
<p>After the 20m pitch, the 9, 5, 6 and 6m pitches are increasingly tight,
|
|
and it is thought likely that a much larger continuation could be found by a
|
|
(possibly heroic) traverse or pendulum from the vicinity of the 9m pitch -
|
|
though it has to be said that this QM
|
|
[<a name="C1980-41-37" href="qmlist.htm#C1980-41-37">C1980-41-37</a>] has not
|
|
actually been seen.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
|
<a href="survey.htm">The surveys</a><br>
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
|
<a href="../41.htm">Back to overview</a><br>
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
|
<a href="../index.htm#41">Schwarzmooskogel ridge area</a><br>
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
|
<a href="../../indxal.htm">Full Index</a><br>
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
|
<a href="../../areas.htm">Other Areas</a><br>
|
|
<img alt=">" src="../../../icons/lists/0.png">
|
|
<a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|