expoweb/1626/la34.htm

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<table id="cavepage">
<tr><th id="kat_no">LA34</th><th id="name">Ratselh&ouml;hle</th><th id="status">3/S +</th></tr>
</table>
<p><b>Altitude</b>: 1835m</p>
<p><b>Location</b>: 13&deg; 50' 30&quot; E, 47&#176; 42' 20&quot; N<br />
Slightly to the right of a hillock visible from Sternloch (<a
href="la12.htm">LA12</a>) approx. 200m SE of <a href="la11.htm">LA11</a>.<br
/>(This is borderline 1626 or 1623.)</p>
<p>Originally thought to be a choked shaft, it was noted as &quot;worth
another look&quot; in 1987, but was not relocated in 1988. Closer inspection
with a ladder revealed parallel slots in the rift and a noticeable draught.</p>
<p>The original entrance is a &quot;walk-in&quot; open shaft which leads on
to a twisted vertical pitch of 17m, <b>Parthos</b>, into a sizeable chamber
at the top of a rubble slope. The obvious small wriggle at the bottom of the
slope leads to the <b>Musketeers' Series</b>, while a bolted climb leads to
the main way on.</p>
<p>The Musketeers' Series consists of stooping phreatic passages, with a 5m
pitch, then a couple of climbs to the head of an 11m pitch, <b>Aramis</b>,
into a chamber. At the far end, a further pitch, <b>Athos</b>, is 8m. The
way on is up a short climb to the head of a 5m+10m ramp, <b>Porthos</b>,
down to a phreatic tube with a silted up floor. Digging in the silt revealed
a tight rift rising up, but as this was too tight, the dig was abandoned.
The water from Aramis descends a tight rift in the base of the phreatic
tube, but after 3m, this too became too tight.</p>
<p>The climb up before the Musketeers' Series leads quickly to a T-junction.
To the right, a winding ramp passage of decreasing size leads on and up with
several fallen blocks making progress awkward. This route ends at a small
chamber with an inlet dropping from the roof. Left from the T-junction leads
on down a gently sloping boulder ramp in stooping, then walking passage.
This increases in size and becomes steeper before emerging into the side of
an enormous boulder ramp, <b>Hillsborough Revisited</b>. The inlet passage
enters three quarters of the way up Hillsborough, which is 10m wide by 5m
high and drops a total of 40m at 40&deg;. At the base of Hillsborough, an
aven rises to the surface and daylight can be seen reflecting off the sides
of this second entrance. A third entrance was discovered on the surface
which leads down a deep grike through a tight arch and into a small chamber.
Digging boulders revealed a steeply inclined squeeze leading onto a pitch at
the top of the Hillsborough ramp. The base of this pitch leads onto an
inclined overhanging terrace with a hole at the back which drops 2m onto
another inclined overhanging terrace. A 4m climb down from this ledge ends
at the top of the boulder ramp of Hillsborough.</p>
<p>The base of Hillsborough was blind until a dig in unstable boulders on
the left hand side revealed a tight drop between two wedged boulders into
another very sizeable ramp, <b>Penistone Road</b>. This ramp is convoluted
and twists around open shafts and roof collapse to end in a huge chamber
with a small muddy hole in the floor, <b>The Hole in the Road</b>. This way
on is blind.</p>
<p>An alternative route from the main ramp of Penistone Road leads down an
old phreatic tube decorated with calcite frost and numerous small helictites
to a flat-out crawl to a 25m blind pitch.</p>
<p>Near the bottom of the Hole in the Road, a 6m rope climb up the eastern
wall, <b>The Escalator</b>, leads to a series of solution tubes. A 1m
diameter tube drops NE into <b>The Broadwalk</b>, a sizeable mud-floored
phreatic passage. Here, following a strong draught, the passage opens up,
becoming very high with a number of avens cutting down into the passage. A
4m rope climb drops down to the head of a pitch, <b>Reason to Believe?</b>.
This dry shaft is disjointed and 144m deep, broken at approximately half
depth by a 'saddle'. A further short pitch lands on a slope before the final
drop into a sizeable chamber. The only exit from this chamber is to the east
and is a muddy rift passage traversed at various levels. This leads to the
head of a further series of disjointed shafts and the wet 77m pitch <b>More
than a Feeling</b>. Here a 57m drop lands on a spray-lashed ledge and a
further 20m drop gives way to a large boulder slope. Two wet 2m climbs lead
up to the head of a 7m pitch which leads to the base of the shaft.</p>
<p>Through the small passage across the base of the shaft, a climb down
through boulders leads to a rift streamway. Only a short way down is an 11m
pitch followed immediately by a 17m pitch, <b>Leonie's Birthday Leap</b>.
The stream leads on once more until it cuts away and a traverse along a
muddy rift passage leads to the head of a fault collapse chamber running
away at an angle of 70&deg;. Over 20m above the stream a distinctly dodgy
rope climb/abseil leads to a point where a climb back around rejoins the
stream. A further 8m rope climb leads to the last 19m pitch which drops into
a sump at a depth of 425m.</p>
<p><b>Exploration</b>: <a href="../others/luss/index.htm">LUSS</a> 1987, 1989</p>
<p><b>References :</b></p>
<dl>
<dt>87.1514</dt><dd><cite>Austria Reconnaissance Expedition 1987, Lancaster University Speleological Society</cite></dd>
<dt>90.1341</dt><dd><cite>Dead Mountains Expedition, Ian Rolland, Underground October 1989 pp 4-9 (Army Caving Association)</cite></dd>
<dt>90.1342</dt><dd><cite>Dead Mountains Expedition 1989, Ian Rolland, Chelsea Speleological Society Newsletter 32(5) pp 56-9</cite></dd>
</dl>
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