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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
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<title>2007 Expo Logbook</title></head>
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
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<body id="logbk">
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<h1>Expo 2007</h1>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-10A">2007-07-10</div>
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<div class="trippeople">Nial Peters, Edvin Deadman, Kathryn Hopkins, Ollie Stevens, Richard Mundy</div>
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<div class="triptitle">204 - Rigging Entrance to 204-E</div>
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<p>Nial put some extra bolts (3) into the entrance pitch then showed us
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some of the high level horizontal stuff and the top of the main Gaffered
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pitch.</p>
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<p><img src="logbkimg03.jpg" alt="rigging diagram"></p>
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<div class="timeug">T/U 5 hours</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-10B">2007-07-10</div>
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<div class="trippeople">Djuke</div>
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<div class="triptitle">Top Camp - Djuke's Bedtime Story</div>
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<p>Snow greeted us on a snowy cold, misty damp bivy morning. Most of us
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(except Aaron - who kept emphasising how great his sleeping bag was) had
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spent the night shivering away and Nial in his £20 Argos sleeping bag
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was up at 6.30am preparing the stove and everyone slowly emerged. As was
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I, unfortunately discovered (after mustering all the courage in me - and
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counter my instinct - crawling out of my sleeping bag) that I didn't
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have my furry. Great! :( had left it at base camp in the tent where I'd
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used it as a pillow. So Aaron and I spent a cold day taking turns
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rigging the tarps (intermittently taking turns to rewarm our fingers). I
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was soooo annoyed <u>not</u> to be caving and having to spend my time in
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the cold bivy - am glad to be back at basecamp - am glad to be back at
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basecamp in warm hut after having shower :)</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-12A">2007-07-12</div>
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<div class="trippeople">Djuke Veldhuis, Nial Peters, Edvin Deadman, Kathryn Hopkins, Ollie Stevens</div>
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<div class="triptitle">Top Camp - It's raining - again</div>
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<p>It's raining... AGAIN! We are about to walk up the hill</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-10D">2007-07-10</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Julia Bradshaw</u></div>
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<div class="triptitle">Base Camp - Germknodel</div>
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<p>Makes 8 large/12 small or 4 superlarge plate sized</p>
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<p>500g flour</p>
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<p>1 packet germ/heffe - yeast</p>
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<p>125g butter</p>
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<p>100g sugar</p>
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<p>3 eggs</p>
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<p>Jam: powidl (damson)</p>
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<p>poppy seeds</p>
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<p>icing/caster sugar</p>
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<p>Combine butter + sugar + eggs in pan - heat, with care to avoid
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making an omelette (in Aaron style!) In a separate bowl put the flour
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and yeast. Once the butter etc has melted pour the flour/yeast mixture
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into it, take off heat and mix until no lumps remain. Put in a warm
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place to rise for 1hr. Divide into the number of required portions,
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shape into circles, and form a dip in the middle of each. Then put a max
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of a tablespoon of jam into the dough circle, and fold the edges over to
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cover the hole.</p>
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<p>Put the finished knoedel into a warm place for 1hr ish then steam -
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super large for about 40mins-1hr, large/small for 20 mins (using
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colander over pan of water). Pour melted butter over then icing sugar
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and poppy seeds.</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-07A">2007-07-07</div>
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<div class="trippeople">Anthony Day</div>
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<div class="triptitle">Anthony's journey out</div>
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<p>Those who know their expo lore will be aware of the fun and games I
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endured whilst attempting to tow a decrepit trailer across Europe in
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1995. Since then I've been pouring money into various European breakdown
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schemes without further incident - so I was about due for a return on my
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investment. Somewhere north of Hamburg I noticed that my bonnet seemed
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to be flapping around quite a lot. Having established that it was
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actually shut, I ignored the problem for 5 hours until it had clearly
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got worse. It turns out that the corrosion on the bit of bonnet that the
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catch was attached to had got so bad that it was in danger of completely
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unattaching itself - in which case the bonnet could spring open. At this
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point, I decided to make use of my breakdown cover. To make this a trad.
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style breakdown I didn't have a mobile with me, so I spent a nostalgic 2
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hours sitting in a Gasthof - completely unaware of what (if anything)
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was happening reminiscing about similar experience at the side of
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various European motorways all those years ago. Eventually the mechanic
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turned up, laughed at the state of my bonnet, bolted it together through
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the remaining bits of good metal and gaffered it shut. Overall I was
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only delayed by about 2.5 hours, and made it to Austria without further
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incident.</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-11A">2007-07-11</div>
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<div class="trippeople">Mark Dougherty, <u>Anthony Day</u></div>
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<div class="triptitle">115 - MarkD & Anthony install a radon detector in 115</div>
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<p>Tramped along the Stogerweg armed with a GPS location for 115.
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Neither of us had been there before, but I recalled seeing a marking
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showing the way to the cave from the main 204 path. This we duly found
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and wandered off in the direction of the arrow. Spotted a small entrance
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which we (erroneously) took as a sign that we were very close to the
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main entrance. Spent 30 mins thrashing around in bunde and teetering
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down cliffs whilst the distance to the cave remained stuck at around 30m
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according to the GPS. We suspected we were too high, and eventually got
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low enough down that we could see the entrance.</p>
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<p>Went in for about 5 mins, through a crawl which enlarges to a small
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chamber before a climb down. The radon detector is hung in an alcove on
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the right (on the way in) in this chamber to keep it out of the
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(considerable) draught. Satisfied with our day's work, we headed off to
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the Loserhütte for a jar.</p>
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<p><img src="logbkimg04.jpg" alt="surface sketch"></p>
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<div class="timeug">T/U 15 mins</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-11B">2007-07-11</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Julia Bradshaw</u></div>
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<div class="triptitle">Journey to Austria - Julia's journey out</div>
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<p>After quite a few trains and 6 days cycling in Italy I ended up in
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Venice. Pottered around for a day and a half, then got a sleeper train.
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Only covering was a sheet, which meant sleeping on the actual bed
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without anything separating you from the carpet-like covering on the
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bed. Very comfortable and cooling ... Got up at 5am to be greeted by the
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guard bearing my breakfast tray (only two Semmel and a cuppa but still -
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service!). Train from Attnang Puchheim to Bad Aussee, where Dour was
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waiting next to a Citroen van which was looking significantly more
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battered than a week ago ...</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-16A">2007-07-16</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Aaron Curtis </u></div>
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<div class="triptitle">Top Camp - On obtaining alcohol at top camp - password protect</div>
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<p>For the past 3 days, four friendly Hungarians who got in touch with
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us through Stuart Bennett have visited us. Thery accomplished a tourist
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trip down to Kiwi Suit, and carried enough gear to camp self
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sufficiently. More notably, they carried a substantial volume of
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intoxicating liquids - enough to keep top camp happy for a night or two.
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In the interest of maintaining contact with these amiable cavers and
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discovering a potential future source of life-sustaining fluid, their
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contact emails are: gabor dot losonci at gmail dot com and adam dot
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panker at gmail dot com. tel. 00-36-20-5200-665.</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-12B">2007-07-12</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u>, Olly Betts</div>
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<div class="triptitle">Top Camp - Setting up 76 bivi</div>
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<p>We left a bag of stuff stored at the bivi cave, most of it survived
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intact. A mouse appeared to have had a nibble at the food box but
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failed to get through the gaffer tape, let alone open the lid. It also
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nibbled the Tunnocks that we accidentally left. We left a tent and lilo
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in a drybag. The elastic in the tent poles is no longer very stretchy,
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presumably due to the cold?</p>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-13A">2007-07-13</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u>, Olly Betts</div>
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<div class="triptitle">97 - Prospecting Beyond 97</div>
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<p>We went looking for a 'back door' into 97. Olly found a promising
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looking shaft (2007-70) which he descended. 2007-70 is located on a
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slight rise on the edge of a stretch of pavement just beyond 97. The
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entrance is a approximately 1.5m diameter shaft with a horizontal
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connection to an adjacent (larger) shaft a few metres down. At the
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base, an icy snow slope drops away before the roof comes down - possibly
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passable with less ice/snow. Above this end, and ice fall comes in from
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a small passage up which I couldn't easily get to. The larger adjacent
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shaft doesn't have any leads. While walking back Olly noticed a low
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entrance (2007-71) in a slope. We took it in turns moving rocks out of
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the way, and Olly went in. It drafts out a fair amount, though not as
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much as Draft Bitter. I went back to the bivy (twice because I was
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forgettful in my excitement at finding a new cave) to get my caving gear
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and we went underground.</p>
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<p>After the low wriggly start it improved to walking/stooping/crawling
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passage. There is a currently undescended pitch early on the right,
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another at the current end, and a yet to be explored side passage. I
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have high hopes that it will be a significant cave in its own right, or
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else connect with 97 or 76...</p>
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<div class="timeug">T/U 2hrs ish.</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-14A">2007-07-14</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u>, Olly Betts</div>
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<div class="triptitle">148 - Marylin Monroe Hoehle</div>
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<p>Went back to look at 148, 20 years after it was last explored.
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Crawling entrance to a squeeze and climb into a larger passage, so far
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the same as the old description and similar to the old survey if you
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rotate it by about 56 degrees. Then at the junction right doesn't
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actually choke - there is a way on doubling back that ends at a diggable
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sandy crawl. Left at the previous junction was missing the snow from
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1987 and led to a pitch which you could reach either approximately 10m
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from the bottom of 20m up. Daylight just about comes in from above along
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with lots of drips presumably a snow plug on the surface above a big
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pitch very close to the 204 path.</p>
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<p>I got really cold cos it drafted a lot and I was only wearing one lot
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of thermals under my furry. At the base of the pitch left went to loose
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boulders, a low continuation and before that another pitch. The other
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way didn't go very far, low down, but level with the lower entry the
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pitch continued. Olly went here till he got to a big aven/chamber/pitch
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type thing, and I sat and got cold cos my arm hurt where I scalded it in
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the morning. We surveyed half of it on the way out and found some old
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survey notes on the floor - we plan to photo them before moving them out
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of the cave.</p>
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<div class="timeug">T/U 4.5hrs.</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-15A">2007-07-15</div>
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<div class="trippeople">Jenny Black & <u>Olly Betts</u> </div>
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<div class="triptitle">Cairn Cave - 2006-70 (Cairn Cave) and Marilyn Monroe Hoehle</div>
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<p>Jenny was (uncharacteristically) not feeling well so she sat in what
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little shade there was, while I went underground. First, at Cairn cave I
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put in a tag spit, then used that plus a thread backup and two
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protectors to descend. The pitch head is awkward, then bells out to
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land on a rubble floor with a dirty snowplug. A chink of light enters
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upslope from a nearby shaft, while downslope the roof lowers and chokes.
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This is the source of the outward draft noted at the entrance.</p>
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<p>Then onto 148- I entered in thermals plus oversuit and drilled and
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set two spits for the pitch which bypasses the squeeze and climb. Then
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surface surveyed from 148 to 2006-70.</p>
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<div class="timeug">T/U 1 hour (total).</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-13B">2007-07-13</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Anthony Day</u>, Mark Dougherty, and Andreas Forsberg </div>
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<div class="triptitle">204 - Kiwi Suit Rig</div>
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<p>Set off at 3pm following the first wave who had gone in to rig as far
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as the bottom of Ariston. Met James C in Wolpertinger Way, he was
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heading out because he was cold, and caught up with the others at the
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head of Steel Toe Cap. Mark D rigged the last Ariston pitch, I rigged
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the first Kiwi Suit pitch, then wibbled on the start of the traverse to
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the second for long enough that Mark D took over again - pausing only to
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spit in a pot at the head of the fourth Kiwi Suit pitch, i.e. the Brown
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Trouser Pitch head. Mission accomplished we headed out.</p>
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<div class="timeug">T/U 7 hours.</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-15B">2007-07-15</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Anthony Day</u> and Mark Dougherty </div>
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<div class="triptitle">204 - Razordance Rig</div>
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<p>The previous day's team had rigged to GLAD (God Loves a Drunk). Our
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plan was to continue the rig as near to the pushing front as possible,
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so that a later team could come in and do a quick push. We also
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intended to install some radon detectors and tidy up various bits of
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rigging. I put in a higher bolt on the last hang in Ariston and was
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preparing to descend Kiwi Seat when Mark's bottom exploded. He elected
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to carry on and caught up with me at the bottom of the first Kiwi Suit
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pitch where I was installing an extra traverse bolt. Our next job was a
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bolt for a handline on Dave Dives. Mark drilled a hole, at which point
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we found that the Hilti pot was missing. It turned out that I had left
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them at the side of the previous bolts - fortunately they were retrieved
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by a later party - so the second wave could use the drill. Dumped the
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drill at GLAD, and continued rigging through Tun and Copper. Put in a
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handbolt for a deviation on Yeast which looks to have sorted out the rig
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a treat. At that pitch we called it a day and headed out, meeting the
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second wave at GLAD. Out at 19.30 and bolted down the hill.</p>
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<div class="timeug">T/U 10.5 hrs.</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-13C">2007-07-13</div>
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<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy </u>, Ollie Stevens, Dave Loeffler </div>
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<div class="triptitle">204 - Rhino Rift</div>
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<p>Dave introduced us novices to exploration in Rhino Rift. This began
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by exploring a few QM's, giving dull outcomes. 03-57C became too tight
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after 3 metres, 03-60C looped back into the passage (with a dead hole in
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the roof), and 03-70A connected to Grater. We then ventured into the
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seemingly maze-like Piccadilly Junction and tried 03-66B. This led on
|
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in a fairly tight phreatic manner, cutting back under itself and
|
||
twisting into a more rifty character, before coming across a steep
|
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slope. This was all surveyed in record time thanks to Dr Phil
|
||
Underwood's wonderful Shetland Attack Pony - a loveable device apart
|
||
from its eyeburning laser. This "Shanks Pony Passage" led to "Shetland
|
||
Incline", at which point Dave grew increasingly excited, rigging in an
|
||
increasingly swift and worrying manner. We found a muddy rift passage to
|
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the right descending this pitch, complete with footprints! Holes in the
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floor prevented further access, but Dave suspected this to be a link
|
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with "Uncomformity" ...</p>
|
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|
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<p>We then decided to get out, but found ourselves to be racing against
|
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a 22.00hr call out. Dave and I cut a deal whereby he carried the tackle
|
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sack along the passage and I pulled it up the pitches. The 204e
|
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entrance pitch at 21.50 thus left me a sweaty blob. We got back to the
|
||
Stone Bridge at 21.59 after an 11 hour trip!</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Leads uncovered by the trip included C at the bottom of pitch
|
||
descended by Dave and an aven in the roof. This was at the bottom left,
|
||
looking down the sloping pitch. At the head of this sloping pitch was a
|
||
B lead similar leads existed on the right and at the bottom. A C lead
|
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existed from the muddy footsteps passage.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 11 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-13D">2007-07-13</div>
|
||
<p>
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-15C">2007-07-15</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Edvin Deadman</u>, Kathryn Hopkins, Aaron Curtis </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - 204e Crowning Glory exploration</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>On the 13th the three of us went pushing the end of Crowning Glory,
|
||
an A grade lead. As a starry eyed novice, I was expecting a kilometre
|
||
of passage leading either to Tunnockschacht, a new entrance or
|
||
Kaninchenhoehle. Instead, the passage just fizzled out! It rapidly
|
||
became too tight, although we did find an impressive aven on the left,
|
||
which didn't lead anywhere. On the way back, we bolted and descended a
|
||
new pitch. A 20 metre descent led to a squeeze down into a chamber that
|
||
looked like it needed a handline.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>On the 15th Kathryn and I, went back and went back into this chamber:
|
||
turned out to be a 6m pitch with a very dodgy squeeze onto the pitch
|
||
head. The chamber led nowhere but had a hole in the ground. Standing in
|
||
the hole, the floor started to vanish beneath us, revealing a deep
|
||
looking rift which unfortunately looks too tight to descend.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-14B">2007-07-14</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy</u>, Ollie Stevens, Dave Loeffler, Andreas Forsberg </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Rhino Rift</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andreas joined us, all the way from Sweden, hunting meteorites, in
|
||
order to check out our link from the previous day. A couple of survey
|
||
legs swiftly led to where we had been. Dave was thus revealed as a
|
||
prophet of some considerable power and cemented the respect of us novice
|
||
cavers. Rather an easy task compared to the 200m surveying and rigging
|
||
task of the previous day. A and B leads are thought to extend from the
|
||
top of a pitch linking "Uncomformity" to the passage linking "Shetland
|
||
Incline".</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We progressed to explore 03-90A. This involved Dave cutting our old
|
||
(2003) 11mm rope into lots of teeny bits. We dropped down a very
|
||
satisfyingly shaped (rounded cross section) pitch onto a stony floor. A
|
||
climb led to a further pitch. Andreas and I were left here whilst Dave
|
||
and Ollie went back to peer at some other QM's. As I became bored, I
|
||
climbed up to watch Andreas rig. I observed that one natural in his
|
||
Y-hang was not a solid column of rock, but instead two rocks entirely
|
||
disconnected from anything. Dave had started rigging from it and now
|
||
Andreas was rigging from it. Andreas later admitted feeling considerable
|
||
fear when I wriggled the rock he was rigging off! After a change of plan
|
||
we descended. The end was dull, but Andreas kicked some mud. This
|
||
impromptu dig was hastened by the sound of water "a sump" Andreas
|
||
claimed. In fact a tiny grim loose chamber with a 2cm squared puddle! We
|
||
got out having discovered this "Spitters End". Less than the previous
|
||
day's 200 metres of survey, but still satisfying.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-19A">2007-07-19</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy</u>, Ollie Stevens, Aaron Curtis </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - Surface messing</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>After an 11 hour and a 9 hour trip, Ollie and I fancied a day off.
|
||
We travelled to Rundereisehoehle with Aaron in order to wire and start
|
||
some data loggers. We had installed thermistors 3 days before, Aaron and
|
||
I not setting a call out and thus prompting a rescue to begin at
|
||
nightfall! The weather was scorching (hence Ollie's radiation burns all
|
||
over) in contrast to last week's snow. We did well, apart from Aaron
|
||
falling and filling his USB cable with dirt, rendering it useless to
|
||
start data loggers.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Later in the day Ollie and I went surface prospecting. We found a
|
||
promising hole on the ridge just behind 03-01. We now consider this a
|
||
rediscovery of 2003-02. Our journey onwards was not fruitful, but on our
|
||
return leg, not a couple of hundred metres from the bivi, we came across
|
||
an area riddled with uncharted cave. We tagged 2007-01 and Ollie sent me
|
||
down (I was geared up). A vertical climb down opened into a hollow
|
||
plate a few metres down. A boulder floor made the "C" QM in the floor
|
||
dangerous. An edge exit was too tight. Many vertical openings existed
|
||
in a similar place. We tagged one, 2007-02, but did not descend.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 1.5 hrs.</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-16B">2007-07-16</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy</u>, Nial Peters, Kathryn Hopkins</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle"> 204 - Underworld </div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Given previous Rhino Rift and surface prospecting exploits, I allowed
|
||
myself to be tempted into a deeper expedition by Nial, despite wise seer
|
||
Dave's protestations that I wouldn't find much onward in the
|
||
Underworld.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We firstly took a promising lead from Terra Firma. I was 'on notes'
|
||
for the first time and had no clue what was going on. It disapointingly
|
||
linked quickly to Quiz Rift.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We then moved on to peering down a pitch from Quiz Rift. This
|
||
continued over a ledge to a rocky downward, becoming a muddy upward, as
|
||
is the way with the Underworld. A sharp rocky crawl led up and back to
|
||
the pitch and a downward squeeze, deemed too tight without capping,
|
||
seemed to lead downward onto a pitch.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Miserable squirmings led to the bottom of a pitch which Nial climbed
|
||
up, making me promise to catch him if he fell. Bastard. He then spied
|
||
two hard-to-reach 'C' leads up there and a further pitch close by. Two
|
||
tiny holes linked the bottom of our pitch with this further pitch. I
|
||
tried digging the lower of these and failed. Thus Nial told Kathryn to
|
||
squeeze feet first through the tiny upper one, into a 2m drop. Bastard.
|
||
Sure enough, this led nowhere. We labelled this 'Dangerous Dig and the
|
||
Gut-Busters'. A rubbish bit of nasty cave.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Sure enough Nial made it worse by then forcing me up an earlier lead.
|
||
This had a squeeze which involved removing SRT kit and hammering off
|
||
protruberances. The passage grew rifty before becoming too tight.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We surveyed a reasonable bit, but I resolve to charge Nial a 'shit
|
||
cave tax' for his transgressions. The upward pitches went on for ever,
|
||
Gaffered itself being especially epic with horrid rebelay. Lower
|
||
pitches mud on rope requires manual manipulation of jamming cams. We
|
||
finally got out for noodles and hot chocolate (mixed with vile spirit
|
||
Unicum - not as tasty as ejaculate) after an exhasting 13hr trip.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 13 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-13E">2007-07-13</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Nial Peters</u>, Djuke Veldhuis</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Rigging Gaffered</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>The plan was to rig to the underworld in one trip, so with over 300m
|
||
of rope between us (200m of 11mm in Big Bertha - which was a mistake!)
|
||
we set off. The rigging went quite fast and several improvements over
|
||
the old rig were found. However, we had accidentally left all the spits
|
||
and cones on the surface. When we reached Trihang and decided it needed
|
||
a new bolt therefore, we had no option but to turn back. The return trip
|
||
was much easier given we no longer had any rope to carry! The round trip
|
||
was 7.5hrs at an easy pace.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 7.5 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-14C">2007-07-14</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"> <u>Nial Peters</u>, Edvin Deadman, Kathryn Hopkins, Djuke Veldhuis, Sarah White</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - The Gaffered rebolting project</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>After the previous rigging trip I decided that the Gaffered rig could
|
||
be greatly improved with a few extra bolts. With lots of novices keen to
|
||
learn to bolt and an abundance of hand bolting gear (well, 3 sets) this
|
||
seemed like the perfect opportunity to sort the rig out once and for
|
||
all. Myself and Edvin went ahead to re-rig the Eyehole and Trihang
|
||
leaving the others to practice some bolting and rigging by installing a
|
||
traverse line between Gaffer Tape and Tape Worm. Edvin installed two new
|
||
spits at the top of the Eyehole pitch meaning you no longer have to
|
||
squeeze through the eyehole. This rig is perfect! Why was it not rigged
|
||
like this in the first place!? While Edvin did this, I put in an
|
||
additional spit at the top of Trihang in order to allow it to be rigged
|
||
as a Trihang (how was this done before?). Further improvements to the
|
||
rig include a deviation on Gaffer Tape just below the first re-belay
|
||
(this looks a bit strange, but it stops the rope rubbing when you swing
|
||
across for the second re-belay). A deviation on the Lx pitch also makes
|
||
staying out of the slot above the re-belay easier.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Having finished the rigging Edvin and I started pushing leads in the
|
||
Underworld. We started with 04-15B, now called "Shprinkles Pitch." This
|
||
is a ~15m pitch down leading to a sharp rifty passage which is too
|
||
tight. One wall of the pitch is made entirely of mud, which rains down
|
||
on you as you descend - hence the name. We were then joined by Djuke who
|
||
had left the other two bolting and had come to join us. The three of us
|
||
went to look at 03-14B (which looks to be the same lead as 03-15B). This
|
||
is a steeply sloping tube (-50deg) down near the start of Sirens
|
||
traverse. It descended for ~15m before becoming vertical. It has a
|
||
strong draft and looks like a promising lead! However, we were out of
|
||
time and headed back. the whole trip took 12 1/4 hours.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Meanwhile at the bottom of Gaffer Tape.....</p>
|
||
|
||
<p><u>Kathryn</u> Sarah and Djuke started to bolt the traverse between
|
||
the bottom of Gaffer Tape and the Tape Worm pitch. The traverse had not
|
||
previously been protected, but a slip there could be very serious, so it
|
||
was decided that a rope was a good idea. None of the the three of us had
|
||
much experience bolting, and so we had many aborted attempts. We only
|
||
had one bolting kit between the three of us, and this meant we got quite
|
||
cold, so Djuke decideded to find Edvin and Nial in the Underworld. Sarah
|
||
and Kathryn eventually placed 4 bolts of varying quality and rigged the
|
||
traverse, by which time it was too late to join the others pushing in
|
||
the Underworld, and so they headed out.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-15D">2007-07-15</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Nial Peters</u> </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - 204a - The New Gaffered Rigging Guide</div>
|
||
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg05.jpg" alt="rigging diagram part 1"></p>
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg06.jpg" alt="rigging diagram part 2"></p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Notes</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>- Pitches 4-8 can all be strung together with 150-160m rope</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>- 11mm rope is preferable due to the large amounts of mud</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>- Take a scrubbing brush to the bottom of Trihang for washing
|
||
ascenders and wellies</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>- Tying the bottom of the Cerberus pitch rope to something would be a
|
||
good idea - it is easy to pull up the end with you!</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>- Possible QM above Trihang pitch head. Up and behind the pitch head
|
||
appears to be a tube heading left. Requires bolting up to (although only
|
||
a couple of metres).</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-15E">2007-07-15</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Nial Peters</u>, Sarah White, *Hungarian Cavers</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - 204a - Razordance</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Tourist trip down 204a as far as Razordance to show our Hungarian
|
||
visitors around Steinbrucken. They all seemed very impressed, especially
|
||
with the pitches. However, one was overhead to say that there was too
|
||
much prussiking! Trip took 6hrs. The temperature in Kiwi Suit was
|
||
0.4°C.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The Hungarians were very keen to see more of the cave so I took Dodo
|
||
and Gabor on a through trip from 204e to 204d. The snow was low so the
|
||
climb out of d was easy. A top trip, I had forgotten how good it
|
||
was!</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We are all invited to go caving in Hungary. If you fancy it then
|
||
contact Gabor by email.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-14D">2007-07-14</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Mark Dougherty</u>, Mark Shinwell, Anthony Day, *Gabor (Hungarian)</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - northwest of 204e</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surface prospecting northwest of 204e. Descended surface shaft -
|
||
which panned out as follows:</p>
|
||
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg07.jpg" alt="pitch diagram"></p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The pitch lands in a largish chamber 'Professor Rushton's Lecture
|
||
Hall'. At one end a small room is choked and at the other s a very
|
||
narrow rift (impassable) from which the draft comes.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U (MSD) 1/2 hour.</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-18A">2007-07-18</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Duncan Collis</u>, Mark Dougherty, Anthony Day</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Razordance</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>We got underground at 9:30 and made rapid progress down to God Loves
|
||
a Drunk, Mark pausing en-route to swap his radon detectors. Regrouping
|
||
at GLAD we brewed up a couple of packets of soup and a dehydrated meal
|
||
to fuel us up for the push.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>At 1pm we reached the front and started to rig and survey onwards.
|
||
Mark wielded the drill, I weilded the pencil and Dour brought up the
|
||
rear with a shetland attack pony.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Four and a half hours later we had descended five pitches and were
|
||
looking down a sixth, with no hiltis left and precious few hangers, so
|
||
we headed out via another very welcome soup at GLAD.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>According to the survey data, 204 now has a vertical range of 599.99m.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Duncan 12.5, MarkD 12, Dour 14</div>
|
||
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg08.jpg" alt="Rigging Diagram - 'Battered Scones'"></p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-17A">2007-07-17</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">148 - (Maralin Munroe)</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went back to 148 with a drill and more rope. Went to the previous
|
||
pitch and traversed over it to what was 'the pitch' in 1987 nice big
|
||
aven & pitch Olly found a nice rig down and into a little rift -> thus
|
||
avoiding the loose choss at the top. Looked at the Ice Castle route
|
||
first, this roughly goes back under the higher shaft past some very
|
||
cool ice formations (big icicles) and very old snow plugs -> one section
|
||
the snow plug essentially filled the entire passage except for a small
|
||
crawl underneath it which I found a bit unnerving. More ice & snow,
|
||
including a snow plug with clear Summer / Winter layering, I saw at
|
||
least 30 layers (and it continued high up as well, so the oldest snow
|
||
was older than me!). This passage ended at an up pitch maybe 15m high.
|
||
Surveyed back along this (noting that the hanging death in the ceiling
|
||
was quite varied -- rocks, snow and ice. Back at the 20ish m pitch we
|
||
took the continuation passage, initially promising -- a huge rift
|
||
heading for 107, but soon turns a corner and chokes (as noted in 1987).
|
||
I climbed up before the choke and over the top and sadly no continuation
|
||
visible. Olly poked under the choke and you could see into the blackness
|
||
inside...</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surveyed this and left the cave.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 8.5h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-18B">2007-07-18</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Cave 2007-72 - Batter pot (2007-72) </div>
|
||
|
||
<p>It was a bit cloudy so decided that surface shaft might be feasible.
|
||
Went to look at an entrance Olly spotted in 2005 roughly above Pancake
|
||
Chips aven. It draughts slightly out and is sloping down on the side of
|
||
a shakehole. Needed to move some rocks out of the way to get in. Sadly
|
||
it didn't go much more than 10m, the draught comes out of a 5-10cm wide
|
||
rift, which appears after a few metres to open up. There is another
|
||
route lower down which checked and didn't draught. Surveyed this and
|
||
surface surveyed this to Ice Curtain cave and on to 99. Went out to look
|
||
for 102 to tie it into the surface survey as the GPS fix is old and
|
||
thought to be suspect. Sadly failed to find it so will have to
|
||
return.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Jenny:</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-15F">2007-07-15</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Dave Loeffler</u> and Andreas Forsberg</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Continuation of Razordance rig</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Headed in with 2 smallish bags of rope. Met Dour and MSD at God Loves
|
||
A Drunk, where we heard the grim tales of Mark's loose bowels and Dour's
|
||
missing hiltis which I had picked up at Kiwi Suit (thanks to Sarah for
|
||
spotting the pot lying on a rock).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We decided to ditch the 94m pushing rope and continue in with the
|
||
drill and rope for known pitches. This was a lovely idea but forgot to
|
||
take into account the bag of rope sitting at Yeast pitch. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Some shuttling of stuff through the rift soon saw the pitches rigged
|
||
as far as Pepper Pot. Here we managed to totally miss Paster of Muppets
|
||
pitch and rig the traverse with that rope instead.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andreas did the drilling to improve the traverse at the 2004 limit.
|
||
As luck would have it we got as far as the pitch and the drill
|
||
completely ran out of juice so we headed out.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 15 hrs.</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-19B">2007-07-19</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Julia Bradshaw</u>, Dour</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - Useful Walkies</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Thought I'd make myself useful by re-tagging and photoing some
|
||
entrances. First stop was Skinny Festerers, which has now been tagged
|
||
with its kataster number 244. We also photoed the entrance. Would make a
|
||
reasonable shitting grike for those who don't mind a slightly longer
|
||
walk.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Further down the backside of the Hinter we GPSed a small hole at the
|
||
foot of a cliff. Body-sized entrance led to a small chamber with a
|
||
too-tight rift and a choked shaft. Not long enough to be a proper cave.
|
||
Possibility that this is something previously noted by Dunks. Yep. GPS
|
||
confirms that we re-found 2002-x09.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Getting a bit out of sequence here, forgot to say that we tried and
|
||
failed to find 247, had a hunt where the GPS said it was but no luck.
|
||
Will study the entrance photo and try again.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Found and photoed 2003-01, which doesn't seem to have been allocated
|
||
a kataster number yet, not sure why. 248 has now been tagged as such and
|
||
photoed. Wen to Rock'n'Roll Hoehle and photoed the entrance. Found a
|
||
tagged marked 2001-04B, not 239. No knowing that the A and B entrances
|
||
are in the same shakehole we assumed that the nearest large hole was
|
||
239A. In fact this is probably 2003-X16, Earl and Becka's cave 7.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went and hid in the shade of the bridge for a bit then walked to 242
|
||
and took pics. Anthony set off in search of a hole near 204D that needed
|
||
re-tagging then changed his mind. On the way down the hill he put the
|
||
correct tag on Artischokenhoehle. All photos (with notes) on computer
|
||
under photos/Julia.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-19C">2007-07-19</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">161 - 161d</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went to 161d partly to place a radon detector for Mark D and because
|
||
I wanted to see what KH was like. Walked up to the col to get onto the
|
||
161 path, it was really hot and horribly humid. The path was fairly
|
||
clear up to where the Vord path goes up - perhaps this is used as a
|
||
walkers path to the summit? Path was then less defined and many cairns
|
||
had collapsed. I thought (wrongly it turned out) that we were too high
|
||
up the Vord side and we could see a faint path with cairns leading up
|
||
towards the Hinter. Followed this for a bit uphill to the crest of the
|
||
ridge and then down a bit to 161d. Already running out of water and it
|
||
was so hot. Finally got to VD1 and the path down to 161d. This bit of
|
||
the path wasn't as bad as I had feared but took a while as a lot of the
|
||
cairns had collapsed and Olly had only been here once before and me
|
||
never. Finally got to the entrance after hours.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The draught was amazing and nice and refreshing. Followed in to
|
||
Triassic Park. Amazing cave, nice and big and still a noticeable draught.
|
||
We so need to find something like this in 76, in fact the only thing 76
|
||
does better is the hanging death - the Guillotine isn't even trying.
|
||
</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Walked up to the top of Knossos (noticed a hibernating bat on the
|
||
way) admiring the huge passage. Were able to refill the water bottle at
|
||
a drip which was very nice. Returned leaving the radon detector in TP
|
||
quite near the Guillotine (about 3m from the conservation tape and
|
||
reflective marker we placed). Had a look at Staud'nwirt Palace and into
|
||
Zombie Slime which no longer has a ladder in situ (as suggested on the
|
||
website). Returned looking at the skull in Golgotha on the way.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surfaced to find it getting dark and a BIG thunderstorm in progress.
|
||
Decided the walk/climb back in the dark and rain would be unpleasant and
|
||
might well result in us being lost on a ledge somewhere. Figured it
|
||
would be best to wait underground till either the storm stopped or the
|
||
sun rose. Found a sheltered alcove in Mothshag and moved some rocks to
|
||
make a "bed", made a mattress from the rope, my rucksack and our wellies
|
||
and both got into a survival bag. Waited couple of hours till we got
|
||
pretty cold and noticed the drips had decreased. It had stopped raining
|
||
and was a clear starry night!</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Made our way back to the car, managed the scrambles and climbs OK
|
||
without handlines and Ol navigated very well. Got to base camp at about
|
||
6am ....</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Have at least got our annual long walk in the dark over with early in
|
||
the expo and it was made much better by the amazingly bright Princeton
|
||
Tech headtorch that could spot cairns miles away. And us being at 161d
|
||
with our waterproofs at 76 solved the water shortage nicely as well.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 7 hrs (3 of which were waiting for the storm to end)</div>
|
||
<p>T/walking: lots ...</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-19D">2007-07-19</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"> <u>Ollie Stevens</u>, Sarah White, Richard Mundy</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - The 11 second rattle story</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>It all began with one rock, one pitch, a stopwatch and a certain lack
|
||
of imagination on the part of those naming the pitch. It should at this
|
||
point be noted that it actually rattles for longer than 11 seconds. But
|
||
I digress. Armed with 105m of rope, Richard, Sarah and I began the
|
||
arduous task of negotiating Chocolate Salty Balls on the way to the
|
||
11SR, with the minor detour of liberating 33m of rope from 'Taking the
|
||
Piss.' This rope had clearly been affected by its oppressor as it was the
|
||
fastest rope I have ever witnessed. Still, I got my own back by using a
|
||
full turn round my breaking krab and twisting the hell out of it.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>After rigging the short pitch above the 11SR with a deviation
|
||
Superman himself would have difficulty passing thanks to a school of
|
||
rigging that involves ignoring obvious spits and letting the location of
|
||
naturals decide the path the rig will take, we finally met the
|
||
proverbial 11 second rattle.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Having carried a full suite of power-bolting equipment with us it
|
||
seemed sensible to put in a Y-hang with the drill. It is often noted
|
||
that problems between the keyboard and chair are the main source of
|
||
computer problems, in this case I suppose the problem existed between
|
||
the muddy floor and the trigger, when we found that the drill was not
|
||
nearly as effective in reverse. I blame my thermodynamics lectures for
|
||
teaching me that reversible systems are most efficient and my education
|
||
at Cambridge for leaving me with no common sense. With a new burst of
|
||
enthusiasm after realising our mistake, and the drill firmly switched to
|
||
forwards we continued to drill. It is indicative of the human ability
|
||
for learning that during the second attempt at a hole we noted more
|
||
quickly that the drill was still in reverse.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>One and a half holes later the drill decided that all this changing
|
||
direction was a bit too much and refused to go on.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We went all Old Skool on the hole's ass and cracked out the hand
|
||
bolting gear. One perfectly placed spit later, and we continued on our
|
||
journey. I abseiled down a few metres to place a survey station whilst
|
||
Sarah and Richard admired my beautiful spit placement, awe-stricken at
|
||
its poise, dedication and charm. One survey leg for good measure later,
|
||
and it was time to go home. Nothing would prepare us for the following
|
||
day's events. To be continued ...</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-19E">2007-07-19</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Kathryn Hopkins</u>, Djuke Veldhuis </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Slimy Sludge Chute </div>
|
||
|
||
<p>We continued pushing the lead that Djuke, Edvin and Nial started on
|
||
14th July (03-14/C) armed with a little more rope. the lead is in
|
||
steeply sloping tube - it starts as a scramble down and then quickly
|
||
becomes too steep and a rope is needed. After this steep section, the
|
||
gradient becomes shallower, and it is possible to get off the rope and
|
||
scramble down again. Exploration ended when we reached the end of our
|
||
rope (~50m) and the passage became too steep to be able to climb up. At
|
||
this point we reached where the passage widened and split into multiple
|
||
holes - "like cheese" according to Djuke. The hole was still strongly
|
||
drafting - it was very cold surveying.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-19F">2007-07-19</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Edvin Deadman</u>, Nial Peters</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Rigging down to Fat worm blows a Sparky</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>The plan was to rig down then push an A-grade lead for a bit on the
|
||
Flat Worm level. So obviously things were never quite going to pan out
|
||
that way. We got down to the Underworld without incident (although
|
||
tacklesacks are an absolute bastard to carry). Nial started rigging
|
||
Gardener's World and Universally Challenged [sic - University Challenge]
|
||
(who thinks of these names, seriously!) before realising we didn't have
|
||
enough rope of the right length. After a bit of cheeky rebolting and
|
||
jiggling of ropes we managed to get down. A few minutes scrambling
|
||
around through some pretty passage brought us to the next pitch. It
|
||
probably has a stupid name [Chalk and Cheese]. Nial rigged this on some
|
||
11mm rope so slow you could abseil down it without a stop, and you still
|
||
wouldn't need a braking crab. The rope was kind of just about long
|
||
enough. We got to Thin Rift and as far as the previous pushing front
|
||
where a [lack of] handline had prevented the previous explorers getting
|
||
any further. Unfortunately, 5m later we realised we needed either a
|
||
traverse line over the top of the rift along a ledge or another handline
|
||
down to the bottom. So we only rigged to do an extra 2 survey legs, but
|
||
the rift was still going so we were keen to go back. Nial will now put
|
||
the new Gardener's World rigging guide below ....</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>(mwah ... hah ... ha ... I nicked your space [different handwriting]</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>damn you Mundy [Edvin's handwriting; note no rigging guide!]</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-20A">2007-07-20</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"> <u>Richard Mundy</u>, Djuke Veldhuis</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Slimy Sludge Chute continued</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Having forgotten the misery of my last trip down to the Underworld
|
||
(cold, mud, tightness, nastiness), I allowed myself to be dragged down
|
||
there by Djuke. Kathryn had wisely decided to abandon this lead. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The chute itself is steep, tight and horrid. A cold wind blows up it
|
||
and a wet mud transfers itself all over you. Sharp "popcorn" exists
|
||
everywhere and has ripped the arse from my oversuit.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surveying with the Pony I was becoming rapidly fed up, even given
|
||
some interesting phreatic passage branching off. Eventually we were
|
||
rewarded for our efforts when the shute tipped into the top of a chamber,
|
||
<u>The Happy Hippocampus</u>. Some bolting warmed me nicely and I soon
|
||
dangled onto a boulder floor set in mud slopes. Other passages led in to
|
||
the chamber ceiling (circa 15m up) and other leads included a boulder
|
||
choke and a steep mud and boulder climb down. The chamber is around 10m
|
||
in diameter. We decided to leave further exploration for when we have
|
||
courage, so beat an exhausting retreat.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-20B">2007-07-20</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Kathryn Hopkins</u>, Edvin Deadman, Nial Peters</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Convenience Series</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>We returned to the lead Edvin and Nial started on the 19th (Thin Rift
|
||
off Dead Good Bat chamber in Fat Worm). At the pushing front there was
|
||
the option of a pitch down or rigging a traverse across the rift. We
|
||
opted for the pitch option, hoping it would drop into the bottom of the
|
||
same rift as the traverse rift - unfortunately there was no way on at
|
||
the bottom of the pitch, so we rigged the traverse instead:</p>
|
||
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg10.jpg" alt="rigging diagram"></p>
|
||
<p>[rigging diagram - flake then big loop of slack for hand line down slope then thread then
|
||
traverse tied off at end. 20m rope just enough]</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>After the traverse the passage continued and there was a side passage
|
||
off to the right (returned to later). The rift continued upwards and to
|
||
the right until it reached a "toilet bowl" shaped [undecipherable word -
|
||
underrig?] where we climbed down and doubled back on ourselves to a
|
||
shallow pool of water. Through the pool to the right led to a climb down
|
||
into a rift (returned to later). At this point Edvin and Nial went to
|
||
survey the side passage mentioned earlier (ended in a QM D) while I
|
||
started to bolt the pitch down the hole that we previously traversed
|
||
across. At the bottom of the pitch (<u>Flush Pitch</u>), to the right
|
||
through a crawl (<u>Ballcock Bypass</u>), back to the bottom of the
|
||
chamber with the pool (<u>The Cistern</u>). We then returned to the
|
||
climb down across the other side of the pool - this dropped into a rift
|
||
(<u>Now Wash Your Hands</u>) which went both ways. First we went left
|
||
down the rift, which was a little awkward and tight - we passed a side
|
||
passage at floor level (QM B) and exploration ended at a pitch down (QM
|
||
A). The passage appeared to continue across the other side of the pitch
|
||
(QM A), but a traverse line is needed to get across safely. We then
|
||
explored the rift in the other direction (right after the climb down
|
||
from the Cistern). This also ended in a pitch and passed a small,
|
||
upward-sloping tube on the left (QM A).</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-22A">2007-07-22</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Julia Bradshaw</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - More Useful Walkies</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Having been down the hill and acquired a picture of the 247 entrance
|
||
I went back to where the GPS said it should be and there it was, I'd
|
||
been stood right on top of it the last time. So 247 now has its correct
|
||
tag.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Then I went to 2002-09 and tagged it. The entrance is about 30cm by
|
||
30cm and goes in at a bearing of 165°. There's one small chamber with a
|
||
too-tight rift and choked shaft. Don't think this should be assigned a
|
||
kataster number as it is v. small. The tag is above the entrance, a
|
||
photo showing the location of the tag is on the computer.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg11.jpg" alt="sketch, presumbaly of 247"></p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Next I went to Earl and Becka's cave 7 and tagged it as 2003-16.
|
||
Photos on the computer. The freeclimable entrance was very tempting but
|
||
in the end I didn't risk it as I was on my own. Will hopefully get to
|
||
stick my nose down there before going home. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Finally retagged Rock'n'Roll Hoehle (B) with the correct 239B and
|
||
checked that the A entrance was tagged correctly which it be. Photos of
|
||
both entrances on the computer. Yes, this was a very boring logbook
|
||
entry but that's just tough.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-22B">2007-07-22</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Duncan Collis and <u>Anthony Day</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Razor Dance</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>The previous trip down Razor Dance had returned with tales of a deep
|
||
pool that they had started traversing around to where they could see
|
||
into a perpendicular rift with running water audible. Could this be the
|
||
bottom? The target for this trip was to continue the traverse into the
|
||
side rift to find out whether the sound of water was a continuation or
|
||
an inlet.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Set off down at 10:30 with Dunks in the lead. I was therefore
|
||
surprised (and a little perturbed) to arrive at the pushing front to
|
||
find no sign of him. I soon heard him thrutching through the rift. It
|
||
turns out that he had missed the traverse level below Yeast pitch had
|
||
had thrashed through at stream level to emerge at a ~15-20m pitch with
|
||
no rope on it - presumably where the water drops in at Pepper Pot.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Before continuing the traverse we opted to try one of the
|
||
self-heating meals provided by Andrew that the Welsh diggers 'swear by
|
||
not at'. After following the instructions to the letter and waiting the
|
||
requisite 15 minutes, it was still stone cold, so we scoffed it
|
||
anyway.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Duncan then started work on the traverse. Andreas had bolted along a
|
||
ledge on the right-hand wall (opposite the cross-rift). Duncan elected
|
||
to take out his last two bolts and bolt on the left-hand wall instead,
|
||
then he bridged across the (narrower) cross rift. Some time later I
|
||
followed, hating every minute of it (so I took the opportunity to spit
|
||
into a pot).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>It turns out that the sound of water in the side rift comes from an
|
||
inlet, and that the deep pool is a sump - so 204 is now 622m deep. A bit
|
||
disappointing that it didn't go deeper, but at least we've bottomed the
|
||
bastard.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The inlet is keyhole passage with ~3m round phreatic part elongate
|
||
along the dip direction, and a trench that is typically 5m deep,
|
||
trending upwards at 25°. We surveyed up this for ~70m before running
|
||
out of time. Our last survey station is by a junction where the main
|
||
route continues for ~40m to a climb which may or may not be climbable,
|
||
and an inlet rift that is passable for some distance. With that we
|
||
headed out with the drill and spare metalwork at a sedate pace (set by
|
||
my), pausing for a food stop at GLAD. Duncan emerged at 04:50, and I got
|
||
out at 06:20.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Duncan had a suspicion that the inlet contained water from the
|
||
Midnight in Moscow series. Survex reinforced this suspicion: if you
|
||
project the inlet up at its current angle for ~100m along and ~25m up,
|
||
it will hit the bottom of Rasputin in 161 - so hopes are high for a
|
||
connection, which would be a satisfactory 2nd prize after its failure to
|
||
go very deep.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Dunks 18 1/2 hrs, Dour 20hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-24A">2007-07-24</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Andreas Forsberg, Mark Dougherty, <u>George North</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Razordance -> The Forbidden City</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>The trip was originally intended to compose of Andreas, <u>James</u>
|
||
and myself, but unfortunately James was feeling a touch ill, and so Mark
|
||
stepped in to take his place. The weather was looking a little overcast,
|
||
but still dry and we made a late-ish start at 11:00am. All went smoothly
|
||
until we reached the top of Copper pitch where we heard an ominous
|
||
rumble/whistling noise in the distance. Although we all heard this noise
|
||
we stayed quiet until we reached the following pitch whereupon it became
|
||
obvious that the water levels were rising. A couple of minutes later the
|
||
water levels had reached impressive heights! After a brief discussion we
|
||
decided to press on into the drier part of the rift.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Although the lower pitches were a bit damp none of them proved too
|
||
wet so we carried on to do some pushing. At the top of the long slippery
|
||
ramp that Dunks and Dour had explored two days previously we took a left
|
||
turn into a steeply ascending dry passage. We followed this up 10-15
|
||
short free climbs, via some quite nice formations. Eventually we reached
|
||
a phreatic tunnel which levelled out, and then started to head downhill.
|
||
Sensing that a connection with KH was imminent we ditched the
|
||
instruments and went for a poke around.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>A low sandy crawl emerged 2m up the wall of what was clearly a very
|
||
large passage. Unfortunately the climb down was a bit on the suicidal
|
||
side so we tried a lower crawl that emerged a bit closer to the floor.
|
||
Although still a little on the loose and necky side we all reached the
|
||
bottom and set up off the large 6m diameter tunnel. Downslope a stream
|
||
could be heard (Midnight in Moscow?) and upslope gave us some fine long
|
||
survey legs until an impressive echo started to sound. The source of the
|
||
echo was a ~40m diameter chamber which was greeted with much whooping.
|
||
Several leads go off from this and after we did a few survey legs across
|
||
it we headed out.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Again all went smoothly, we stopped for some food at GLAD, until we
|
||
reached Mystery Wind pitch where it became clear that the cave was
|
||
flooding again, only this time rather more so. It was some relief that
|
||
we reached the bottom of Kiwi Suit which was very cool, windy and wet.
|
||
The amount of water now flowing down RD was at least 10 x that of when
|
||
we had entered. I couldn't help thinking that we had got out just in the
|
||
nick of time. After a long and tedious prussik we all eventually all
|
||
reached the surface at 00:30 -> 01:00. An excellent trip!</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 13 ¬Ω hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-23A">2007-07-23</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy</u>, Ollie Stevens, Andreas Forsberg</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - 11 Second Rattle</div>
|
||
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg12.jpg" alt="'The Widowmaker' by Sarah White -
|
||
drawing of skull and crossbones and 'The Reliant Swede' by Andreas
|
||
Forsberg - rigging diagram - 3 rebelays and 5 deviations"></p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"The Widowmaker" by Sarah White</p>
|
||
<p>Abandon hope all ye who enter here.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>versus</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>"The Reliant Swede" by Andreas Forsberg</p>
|
||
<p>Rigging diagram - 3 rebelays and 5 deviations</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The previous page illustrates the work done on our trip of 23rd July.
|
||
We adapted the 11 Second Rattle rig to one that can be descended without
|
||
"Brown Alert" ensueing.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andreas commented that "this is the worst shaft that I have ever
|
||
seen" (for rigging difficulty), yet proceeded to reduce Sarah's 7 rope
|
||
to one trivial one. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andreas then helped us to descend <u>"The Super Fun Happy Slide"</u>
|
||
into <u>"Wet Dry World"</u> - via the placement of a bolt using his
|
||
skyhook and much discomfort. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The slide is a phreatic tube downward at 45°ree;. A pretty bit of
|
||
cave, dropping into the roof of Wet Dry World, a chamber with a
|
||
rocky/bouldery floor, a boulder choke, many holes in the ceiling, some
|
||
squeezes in the walls and some water dripping down one wall.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-25A">2007-07-25</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy</u>, Ollie Stevens, Sarah White</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Upper levels of 204e</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>On the 24th we had a day of top camp festering. Sarah and I completed
|
||
a Rundreisehoehle-204a surface survey started by Ollie and me
|
||
previously.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>On the 25th we went caving, surveying the slide, Wet Dry World and
|
||
its link into [undecipherable word - Wtong's ?] Fortress. We derigged it
|
||
in record time, then taking a peer at "Gosser Streamway" and at "Wot No
|
||
Butcombe" before our return.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-25B">2007-07-25</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Julia Bradshaw</u> </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Base Camp - Walk from Base camp</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>I think it's called Tressenstein, will check in the morning with the
|
||
map. But if you're at Base Camp it's the hill you see (on the right) if
|
||
you look down the road (towards Bad Aussee) with the radio mast on top
|
||
(ungrammatical). Anyway, it's a nice walk with amazing views. If you
|
||
walk/cycle to the "Bad Aussee" town sign there are paths on the right,
|
||
you want path no. 19. The sign says 2 hours, it took me 1 1/2 hours
|
||
steady uphill (slowish compared to most) to the top. You can't really
|
||
see base camp or Grundlsee, but you do get utterly fantastic panoramic
|
||
views of Altaussee and Loser on one side and Bad Aussee on the other
|
||
side.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The path is signed. I took a couple of wrong turns but made it in the
|
||
end. Chickened out of climbing the mast but I bet you'd get a good view
|
||
of Grundlsee from there. If you're festering at base camp and 2 1/2 - 3
|
||
hours to spare walk up this hill!! It's rude not to! Seriously good
|
||
views, well worth the effort.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-23B">2007-07-23</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Nial Peters, Kathryn Hopkins, <u>Edvin Deadman</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Convenience Series</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>We returned to the new stuff we'd found to push it some more. We had
|
||
cleverly decided to look at the most miserable lead: a narrow rift
|
||
leading off "Now Wash Your Hands" which needed rigging as a traverse
|
||
across a hole or down the hole. We got to the pushing front without
|
||
incident, adding a handline to the climb down to Now Wash Your Hands
|
||
(how on earth did we ever free climb it?!).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>I bolted and rigged a traverse across a hole (now know as Don't Worry
|
||
Pee Happy) whilst Nial and Kathryn surveyed a miserable QM which went
|
||
nowhere (actually it carried on - now a QM C - Kathryn). Over the
|
||
traverse we surveyed round in a loop back to the traverse, passing a QM
|
||
which needs rigging but almost certainly links in to the bottom of Don't
|
||
Worry Pee Happy. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Nial rigged Don't Worry Pee Happy, a ~20m pitch. He forgot to take
|
||
rigging gubbins down the pitch with him so when he realised a rebelay
|
||
was needed we slid slings, bolts, etc down the rope. There were two ways
|
||
on at the bottom. The first went down a pit before stopping. The second
|
||
required reigging and went down a further ~10m down to a miserable
|
||
looking duck/wet crawl which looked thoroughly uninspiring. We decided
|
||
not to go through, but Aven tells us that it's only 6-7m away from the
|
||
Subway level so might be worth another look.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-22c">2007-07-22</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">148 - Surveying</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went to MM [Marilyn Munroe] with the aim of surveying and finishing
|
||
everything below the 48m rope so we could de-rig it and rig it in 76.
|
||
Headed down and checked out the 3rd option from the bottom of the pitch
|
||
(noted in 1987 to end at an ice climb). Smallish rift passage apparently
|
||
directly underneath the passage above with a boulder floor/ceiling
|
||
inbetween. Olly climbed up to the 1st squeeze and decided he would need
|
||
to remove his helmet so retreated. I had a look and got through, and
|
||
wriggled up the next climb and attempted the next squeeze which had a
|
||
boulder in the way. I could get all of me through except one leg (could
|
||
get either leg through, but not both). I got very annoyed and eventually
|
||
gave up. I believed I could see where the ice climb was - this year it
|
||
was just wet, but appears to take you back to the passage above (the
|
||
survey confirms this). So getting through the squeeze wouldn't achieve
|
||
much.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Survey this and joined together the hanging surveys from the previous
|
||
week (which made me happy) and surveyed out, derigging the 48m en route.
|
||
Paused in the survey to look at the remaining lead (the pitch roughly
|
||
below the aven with daylight). Olly went some way down, confirming that
|
||
the draught does come from here and that it appears to continue.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Incidentally, the survey suggests that the aven with daylight is ~5m
|
||
from the 204 path, so please don't throw rocks down shafts in this area
|
||
....</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U ~7.5 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-23C">2007-07-23</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">76 - Rigging and radon detecting</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Finally got to 76, Olly rigged down to The Ledge and I followed half
|
||
an hour later to take a bag of rope through to BNW for the next trip and
|
||
the radon detectors to place. The radon detectors were placed in the
|
||
side lead in the test tubes roughly opposite the 99 connection. Surface
|
||
surveyed 102 to 103. Tagged 1998-X01 and Ice Curtain.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-24B">2007-07-24</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">76 - Sea of holes</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went into BNW with the drill and rigging gear to start looking at the
|
||
pitch leads close to QM 05- because it had been raining hard for hours
|
||
and it looked to be the driest option - in fact it was very dry, only a
|
||
few slightly drippy bits. Olly traversed across the lip of the Pleasant
|
||
But Pointless pitch, because of all the gear he was carrying it became a
|
||
bolt traverse this year, not a bold traverse that it was in 2005 when I
|
||
first saw the pitch. Olly got through to the pitch having scrambled
|
||
through the rocks (this is called <u>Scrabble</u>) and bolted down the
|
||
first short drop. This was a little drippy but the water disappeared
|
||
through the rocky floor. A ramp comes in from above (?perhaps this
|
||
connects with the boulder choke in Loopy?). This continues into a rift
|
||
with various holes and rock bridge that all connect, giving it its name,
|
||
<u>Sea Of Holes</u>. Olly rigged an excellent Y-hang to a level with
|
||
solid ledges and started down the next pitch. We ran out of hangers,
|
||
slings and warmth before the pitch ended, so surveyed out. I coped
|
||
better with the traverse on the way out.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Sea of Holes has nice, solid rock, isn't too wet, doesn't have much
|
||
choss and draughts fairly strongly (given the size) outwards which is
|
||
very cool. On the way out we noticed the draught had reversed (around
|
||
11pm to midnightish), hopefully this won't affect the radon
|
||
detecting.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 9.5 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-25C">2007-07-25</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">76 - The ledge in Plugged shaft</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went back down Plugged Shaft to The Ledge. I went in to the test
|
||
tubes to change the radon detector (incidentally the draught was back to
|
||
normal today). Olly heroically bolted across from the ledge on the
|
||
opposite side of the test tubes looking for my hypothesised continuation
|
||
the other side of Plugged Shaft. Sadly it didn't exist, which was a
|
||
great shame - it was just a big ledge in an alcove with an aven above.
|
||
Olly managed to reverse the climb/traverse removing the gear as he went
|
||
(I was very impressed!). </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We exited the cave with Olly adding a deviation and switching two
|
||
hangers on the way. The drill started to go flat having done 17 holes
|
||
and been up the hill for ages.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Jen 2.5 hours Olly 3 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-26A">2007-07-26</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - Surface shaft on Plateau</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Walked down the hill via lots of places - put permanent tags on Lardy
|
||
Festerers and 250, calibrated the instruments at old TC [Top Camp]. Then
|
||
walked up to Mystery Plus [?not Plus?] cave. I went in and discovered it
|
||
choked less than a metre beyond where I had been without a light in
|
||
2006. Surveyed it and then surface survey down to a part-drilled spit
|
||
hole near the col. I hated the surface survey lots.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Jenny 1/4 hour</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-28A">2007-07-28</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Andrew Atkinson, Andreas Forsberg + <u>George North</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Razor Dance -> Gobi Trail</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>We had meant to get underground before 9.00am, but unfortunately
|
||
Andreas and myself were feeling rather sleepy in the morning and so we
|
||
managed to get underground shortly after 11:00am. We had a smooth 4 and
|
||
a bit hour journey down to the pushing front, slowed down slightly by
|
||
Andrew A's enormous camera case (which was later left in 'The Silk
|
||
Road').</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We commenced the surveying by re-doing a couple of the legs in 'The
|
||
Forbidden City' that had gone pear-shaped on the previous visit. We also
|
||
had had a quick look down some sandy crawls at the base of the chamber,
|
||
but they would all seem to offer only long term digging prospects. We
|
||
surveyed up the large loose passage at the top of the chamber for
|
||
approximately 100m. There is a climb there where care needs to be taken
|
||
not to slip! It appeared as though the passage was going to crap out,
|
||
but a low crawl led to a complex junction. We chose the RH passage as it
|
||
was heading towards KH, but the LH passage looked excellent too. A few
|
||
survey legs with good formations led us to a junction with a passage
|
||
with a very small trickle of water flowing down it, where we decided to
|
||
call it a day. Our highest point is now 118m above the sump level.
|
||
Another uneventful if tiring, journey out had us at the surface at
|
||
1.00am ish. Lots more question marks!</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 14 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-29A">2007-07-29</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Djuke Veldhuis</u>, Dave Loeffler, Nial Peters, Stuart Bennett</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Climbing</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>In preparation for climbing Trisselwant at some point (YIKES) the
|
||
four of us set off on a slightly cloudy and humid July morning. Via an
|
||
absolute fluke we got to the carpark we were aiming for: right
|
||
underneath the Burgstall (874m; take first right after avalanche tunnel)
|
||
just by Purg. So there we were, 4 numpties in sandals ... and then it
|
||
went wrong when we turned left half way up a via ferrata and then tried
|
||
right over an extremely shoddy path which was nicely exposed. Anyway we
|
||
got to a face about 5m wide with a "path" running across the front on
|
||
which you could fit 1 sandal at a time which made belaying really
|
||
fun;-)!</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Whilst Nial set off on something with Dave L, Stuart climbed up a 4+
|
||
at a corner. well the climbing bit was fine until he took a lead fall,
|
||
his first. Climbers seem to talk things up, but after trying to also get
|
||
up this thing and failing, I too was convinced it must've been harder,
|
||
or at least more shiny than when it was first ascended. Stuart's lead
|
||
fall was interesting for me as well as I flew into some briers and
|
||
Stuart landed in a tree shortly followed by his ankle hitting the ground
|
||
at a dodgy angle which led to consistent "au"'s whilst walking.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>So after the rubbish section that made us feel weak and feeble and
|
||
getting me more and more lethargic in hot, sticky, lethargic weather
|
||
myself and Stuart eventually toddled back down the dodgy "path" and
|
||
after aimlessly wandering for 1/2 hour or so we found 2 backpacks and 2
|
||
pairs of sandals underneath some staples. Nial and Dave were nowhere in
|
||
sight. It seemed sensible to have lunch and follow the staples up as we
|
||
didn't have the guide book and were sorely hoping they had chosen a
|
||
route we could actually climb rather than the tat we had seen
|
||
earlier.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>As they say, up is the only way ... sure was as we soon realised we
|
||
were doing a superb multi-pitch route. Stuart started and soon we were
|
||
in a fairly smooth rhythm of alternating leading and seconding. Well,
|
||
"smooth" except for when we would realise (whilst leading) we were on
|
||
the middle of a slab of rock with no belay opportunities and no quick
|
||
draws left :-(. Loose boulders, wasps nests, falling rocks, crossing via
|
||
ferrataists and 2 very thirsty climbers we got to the top where Dave was
|
||
sitting, grinning, rock boots off having previously done mainly indoor
|
||
climbing. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We were exceptionally happy when it absolutely started rodding it
|
||
down ... not so much because it was raining but more so because it was
|
||
raining whilst we were <u>NOT</u> on the climbing route. Nial and Dave
|
||
had the highly intelligent idea of taking their rock boots off whilst
|
||
walking back to the car/bags which was fine until they go to the gravel
|
||
path down past a railway station (!). Crossing the railway tracks we
|
||
didn't have a dry piece of clothing left on our bodies ... indeed the
|
||
Austrian climbers sheltering under an overhang looked most bemused at
|
||
our antics. We decided to spare Tony R's car a bath and pretty much
|
||
stripped off before getting in (Dave L in his underpants, me driving
|
||
with a bra on, shirt off, etc). Despite our repeated offerings Dave L
|
||
rudely refused to let us drive straight to the station in Bad Aussee to
|
||
pick up his girlfriend who was arriving that same night.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-25D">2007-07-25</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Nial Peters</u>, Kathryn Hopkins, Edvin Deadman, Pete Harley</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Convenience Series</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Once again we returned to the Convenience Series hoping to find
|
||
further horizontal passage. Kathryn and I were first down and started by
|
||
bolting the short pitch down from "Now Wash Your Hands". When Pete and
|
||
Edvin turned up we sent them to investigate a QM back from the pitch
|
||
head. This turned out to connect into the cave we were about to push and
|
||
how now been named "Shit Chute".</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Meanwhile Kathryn and I finished descending the pitch and found large
|
||
horizontal passages leading off. All of these ended in large pitches
|
||
which we did not have the rope to descend. One pitch was descended
|
||
entirely on naturals (and a deviation using the donkey's dick on the
|
||
tackle sack). This led to a large passage filled with boulders. It
|
||
rapidly became too steep to descend (and looked horrendous to rig
|
||
anyway).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>I began to bolt another pitch but decided hand bolting it would take
|
||
too long. Instead we left the new passage (now named "Engaged") and
|
||
returned to "Out Of Order Rift" to look at a small QM "Urinal Cakes".
|
||
After ~30m of tight rift this led into a chamber with lots of vertical
|
||
leads heading off. The chamber, now called "Indecent Exposure", also had
|
||
one horizontal lead which we pushed for 20m until it ended in a small
|
||
chamber.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">14 h underground [- DL]</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-27A">2007-07-27</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Nial Peters</u>, Mark Shinwell, Jon Telling</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Eishoehle</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Photo trip to Eishoehle. Excellent cave, although I was very glad
|
||
that I wore my Buffalo jacket under my furry! Some good photos were
|
||
taken by Mark S, hopefully our sponsors will appreciate our efforts!</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 4h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-28B">2007-07-28</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Olly Betts and <u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - 81/82/85 </div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Olly's guts weren't very happy so we picked an objective that would
|
||
never put us far from an entrance. We decided to survey 81 and 85 and
|
||
check for leads. We started with a quick look into 82 to look at the ice
|
||
stal and train tunnel passage. No ice this year at all and very little
|
||
snow. Train tunnel passage as impressive as ever, we noticed a
|
||
stooping/walking passage on the right which we followed (just a hole in
|
||
the floor and a lower passage) to the entrance of 83 - hurray, a
|
||
connection!</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Also discovered another hole in the same doline as 85 which had
|
||
another 2 entrances (at least) and appears in the 81 doline. Surveyed 81
|
||
and looked for leads - the only one was a climb up an aven which turned
|
||
out to be an inlet only.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surface surveyed 81 to 81b to 85 tags and went home - will complete
|
||
the other surveying soon. This is an interesting area with a phreatic
|
||
level not far from the surface. If some of it heads under the
|
||
Vord-Hinter ridge (like 82) it should be very cool.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-29B">2007-07-29</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Olly Betts</u> and Jenny Black</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">148</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Decided it was time for a final trip in 148 to push the remaining
|
||
lead to a conclusion and derig. So we packed all the rope in the bivi
|
||
into a very full bag and set off.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We used a boulder and a spike as backups, then I climbed down the
|
||
rift, used another spike as a backup and stuck in a spit for the hang.
|
||
This got me down to where I'd been already via the alternate tight
|
||
thrutchy route. A rebelay off a thread reached the boulder-strewn
|
||
chamber floor. I followed the rift off the far side, round a corner to
|
||
the left, and it ended, far too tight. Shouted to Jenny that it was
|
||
over, then returning noticed a tight hold down into the rift, partly
|
||
hidden by the nose of a huge slab of fallen rock. A really strong icy
|
||
draught blasted up from it! Jenny sounded a little disappointed that it
|
||
wasn't really over.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>A y-hang on spits and some awkward squirming reached a nicely
|
||
proportioned pitch. At the base, the floor was mostly clean-washed rock,
|
||
with a gravel bank to one side. The water flowed down a small hole, but
|
||
a climb up regained the rift. Round the corner to the left, the floor
|
||
dropped away. Stones rattle down the initial rift, then freefall for
|
||
perhaps 4 seconds (starting to whistle) then hit something solid, then
|
||
fell for another similar length of time. Hard to judge the total depth,
|
||
but a substantal pitch, and the 44m rope we had left wasn't going to
|
||
reach, so we surveyed out and planned to go back to base for more
|
||
rope.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 7 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-30A">2007-07-30</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">76 - Radon Detector change</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Nipped into 76 to change radon detectors. All the rain was easting at
|
||
the larger remaining snow plug which made me a little nervous but I
|
||
figured it would last a bit longer so continued. I hope it goes when I
|
||
am not nearby ... changed detectors and came out - reversed pulsing
|
||
draught today.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 1 hour</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-29C">2007-07-29</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Mark Dougherty</u>, Duncan Collis, Jon Telling, Ollie Stevens</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Razordance -> Far East</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Back down Razordance to take another look at the Far East. Uneventful
|
||
journey down. Jon took a look at the tubes at the bottom of the
|
||
Forbidden City. After ¬Ω hour working with a crowbar we decided that it
|
||
was a long-term job to dig through. We also looked downhill at the end
|
||
of the Silk Road. After descending a ~6m drop a shortish passage leads
|
||
to the top of a pitch. This is almost certainly the same pitch which can
|
||
be reached from below 'Carry on the Khyber' by following the water.
|
||
After that we continued along the phreatic passage above the Forbidden
|
||
City (the 'Gobi Trail') to the first major junction. Left here was
|
||
unsurveyed so we surveyed in, clocking up ~100m of new passage to a
|
||
point where a vadose canyon intersected. Right (up) led to a 6m aven,
|
||
reasonably climbable with some gear. Left led, via a climb down, to a
|
||
continuing rift which heads towards the left zipper/right zipper area in
|
||
Razordance. The phreas clearly continues over the top of the vadose
|
||
canyon but would require some effort to reach it. Finally we tidied up a
|
||
few minor leads. Closing a loop which led back to the Gobi Trail at the
|
||
climb (where we had previously rigged a hand line). Then out. A long
|
||
hard struggle back up Razordance and all of us ran out of puff in the
|
||
Ariston series. Ollie got slightly lost at Wolpertinger Way, but it was
|
||
his first trip in the cave. Given that he has only been caving a year
|
||
this trip was a major step up for him and all the rest of us thought he
|
||
did BLOODY WELL. We can expect HARD BASTARD exploits from this chap in
|
||
the future. Hats off!</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 18 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-31A">2007-07-31</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Mark Dougherty</u>, Phil Underwood, George North</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - Surface walk and radon detector collection</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Walked over to 161d. Mark and Phil went in to collect radon detector
|
||
from the Guillotine. We then picked our way down to the Stogerweg. On
|
||
the way down we found a promising looking entrance. Unfortunately Mark
|
||
found that it was a ~30m long through-trip! Going back along the path we
|
||
made a detour to Schnellzuhoehle. Mark and George went in and collected
|
||
another radon detector. After that a return to the carpark and down to
|
||
the Loserhutte with Djuke, Tony and Emma for a meal and beer. </p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Mark 20 + 10 + 10 = 40 min, George 10 min, Phil 20 min</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-31B">2007-07-31</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Dave Loeffler</u> and *Sarah Z</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Via Ferrata</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Sarah and I thought we'd try the Loser via ferrata. Nobody died
|
||
(almost though). The end. [Sarah writes:] But I enjoyed the last part.
|
||
Sarah.
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-24C">2007-07-24</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Dave Loeffler, <u>Djuke Veldhuis</u>, Frank Tully</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - The Happy Hippocampus</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Frank Tully (for a bit)</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Down Gaffered to explore chamber ("The Happy Hippocampus") below
|
||
Slimy Sludge Shute (a right hand lead just before Sirens Traverse).
|
||
Found out I should improve future rigging. Happy (aka stressful, muddy,
|
||
in small, sharp passageway derigging the Slimy Sludge Shute.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Then went into the Subsoil levels (turning down existing A-lead,
|
||
right hand side as you come down Chalk and Cheese pitch). As expected,
|
||
bolting down into the chamber at the end of the A lead confirmed that it
|
||
also emerged in the "Happy Hippocampus" chamber hence joining the
|
||
Underworld and Subsoil levels :-). YAY.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 11 1/2 hours.</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-23D">2007-07-23</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Dave Loeffler and <u>Djuke Veldhuis</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surface prospecting and cave tagging in the northern most area of
|
||
CUCC territory. Tagged one of Anthony Day's cave finds. Also found a new
|
||
one and then the GPS ran out of battery and we walked back. In addition
|
||
to doing the Loser via ferrata and walking up to top camp this ended a
|
||
nicely varied day!!!</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 1/4 hour</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-29D">2007-07-29</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Wookey, Julian Todd, John Billings, <u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Via Ferrata - Loser Klettersteig</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>A fine diversion as a warm-up for our carry-up to Top Camp. Checked
|
||
out the cave at the base - graffiti dating back to 1800's - and the very
|
||
small (5m) cave on the left at the start of the escape route - doesn't
|
||
go.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-30B">2007-07-30</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Wookey, Julian Todd, Andrew Atkinson, <u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Gaffered -> The Wares -> Software</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Bimbled down Gaffered, all looking very familiar. Before that, had to
|
||
scrounge rope from the pitch into On A Mission and a bag from the top of
|
||
Gosser Streamway as there was all of 1.8m of rope left at Top Camp.
|
||
Rigged from Gardener's World down and then up into the Wares. Andrew
|
||
slung a rope down QM 04-23C and reported it as short passage to ~8m
|
||
pitch (QM B) then we went into Software and continued QM 05-73A. Wookey
|
||
put in a marginal-to-the-point-of-scary rig on small naturals down ~10m
|
||
to a small chamber. He and Julian surveyed a Quaking-esque tube,
|
||
drafting slightly, heading down, leaving it as a tight QM C with sound
|
||
of water. Andrew and I headed left, back parallel to the main Wares
|
||
passage in gradually smaller passage down to a flat-out wriggle but then
|
||
it headed up steeply and into a small chamber. Left here probably linked
|
||
back to near the start of the Wares passage. Right was a steeply
|
||
descending rift, QM B. Unfortunately the strong draft coming out of
|
||
Software that had drawn me back there seems to come from the roof rubes
|
||
above the pitch. Uneventful trundle out, taking out all the rope we'd
|
||
brought in. Oh yes - had Phil's Pony to survey with and its the bee's
|
||
knees.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 10 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-31C">2007-07-31</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Wookey, Julian Todd, Andrew Atkinson, <u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Razordance -> push horizontal leads. Combined push, survey, photo + derig trip. Sigh.</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Woken up by Andrew to the news that we were going down Razordance.
|
||
Hmm, really? I was prussiking out of 204E at 10pm last night + fancied a
|
||
bit of a mellow, shallow shufty. Still, now or never as the derig loomed
|
||
+ Wookey was keen. Then Julian astounded us all by muttering that he'd
|
||
come along. He went off for a dump whilst we consulted Andrew who was
|
||
going to have to shepherd us down there. Why not? says Andrew, so we
|
||
were underground by 10am feeling a bit old, unfit + generally fragile
|
||
for all of this lark. Slowly down the pitches then into the rift. And
|
||
more rift. And more sodding rift, ye gods. Only Andrew had been through
|
||
before (+ then only once) so we got lost a couple of times, particularly
|
||
trying to find the oxbow thing but finally we hit the sump + the
|
||
unfeasible traverse. Don't worry, its easier this direction says Andrew.
|
||
Hmm, reassuring. Quick chocky stop + off up lots of scrambly climbs -
|
||
not too bad but it felt a long way from home by now. What's all this
|
||
about? asks Wookey. We have to go up 120m now says Andrew. Bloody hell.
|
||
Wish we'd looked at the survey a bit more carefully before setting off -
|
||
except that would probably have discouraged us from all this nonsense.
|
||
This is wasting my valuable getting-out energy grumbles Julian. Picked
|
||
up Andrew's camera case + did some 4-flash shots in the big chamber then
|
||
split with Andrew + Julian taking photos and Wookey + I continuing
|
||
Andrew, George + Andreas' Gobi Trail survey ~ SW for 130m including
|
||
plenty of diddly 2m legs in mainly crawly / stoopy tubes with sand or
|
||
pebble floor. A reasonable draft heading in with us. It was all quite
|
||
cosy + friendly and we could easily have notched up a few more hours
|
||
surveying but Wookey decided that enough was enough so we took some
|
||
cheesy group shots + left things at a complex junction wuth 2 QM A's and
|
||
a QM B with sound of water. One to a Razordance-like rift with water,
|
||
the other with a strong draft coming out + heading up steeply. Derigged
|
||
the hand line + I picked up the tacklesack of unrigged rope + back to
|
||
the sump to put on our SRT gear. I failed to palm off the tacklesack on
|
||
anyone + set off to the start of the traverse. I'd heard Dunks muttering
|
||
that cutting the rope for the traverse without leaving a tail down to
|
||
the sump level had been a bit overkeen on scrimping with the rope + the
|
||
muddy slope from the end of the traverse down had been awkward on the
|
||
way there but, hey, nobody had actually fallen off it yet. Andrew had
|
||
mentioned it was easier high but with the tacklesack I didn't want to
|
||
slither a long way down so I gingerly teetered forward on muddy ledges +
|
||
eyed up the slot in the sump, wondering if it was narrow enough that I
|
||
couldn't possibly fall down it. Yes I thought + promptly my foot slid +
|
||
I decided to check it out. 'Shit'. Then I've got one foot under the
|
||
water + the other braced on the far wall with the tacklesack dangling
|
||
like a Mafioso's cement sack from my waist + some serious knee shake.
|
||
'Andrew's coming' shouts Wookey. He gets his long cows tail into the
|
||
traverse + I manage to clip my cow's tail into his footloops + then do a
|
||
flailing prussik up him and onto the traverse. <u>Still</u> nobody
|
||
volunteered to take the fucking tacklesack. I hauled myself across the
|
||
traverse trying to maintain enough stress that my 8pm spit sample on the
|
||
far side was a good 'un. Right, that was my low point, literally as well
|
||
as figuratively. Andrew derigged the traverse whilst collecting his spit
|
||
+ gobs as soon as he gets over. Were you holding the spit pot whilst you
|
||
derigged? asked Wookey. Er, he's good but even Andrew probably didn't
|
||
have a spare hand there. Tootled up the rift - not as bad as feared,
|
||
route-finding easier than on the way down + it didn't seem any more
|
||
energetic than on the way down, especially as all the pitches are nice +
|
||
bite sized. I didn't let anyone have a cup-of-soup at the camp as we
|
||
didn't deserve it. On + on, I'd forgotten all the pitches by now. I
|
||
managed to do an awkward section right at the bottom whilst everyone
|
||
else wandered around trying to find the way higher up. Then a really
|
||
long pitch, followed by another largish one. I got a bit concerned as
|
||
Julian would be slow on this + I knew Razordance started with an awkward
|
||
section + a couple of short pitches so we must still have quite a long
|
||
way to go in the rift... Andrew came up swearing at his dysfunctional
|
||
jammer. How many more pitches? I asked. 12. OK altogether, but how many
|
||
to go? Well, we've done 1 or 2. No, but the first ones in Razordance are
|
||
short... ah! You mean I'm not in the rift any more??? Great news -
|
||
halfway up Kiwi Suit before I knew it. No time out from here. Andrew + I
|
||
got out + rehydrated, went to bed + Julian + Wookey came out a couple of
|
||
hours later. Julian did an ad hoc spit sample just to see what euphoria
|
||
hormones look like (though how he gets his 4am baseline comparison I
|
||
don't know). A fine trip - once in a lifetime, literally, for Julian at
|
||
least... Combined age of 4 team members = 152 years, what's the
|
||
retirement age for this kind of nonsense?</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 16-17 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-01A">2007-08-01</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Andrew Atkinson and <u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Prospecting - Prospecting from 204</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andrew and I decided to get a bit of gentle exercise so did a walk
|
||
towards 161d/g and found not v. many promising holes for quite a lot of
|
||
stomping.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>1 2007-03 Elev 1747m 36970 82767 Horizontal entrance to ~3m pitch,
|
||
slight draft out. Not very promising.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>2 2007-04 Elev 1750m 37017 828845 Low, wide entrance at base of 3m
|
||
cliff - a dig!</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>3 2007-05 Elev 1758m 37070 82945 5m deep surface hole with two
|
||
horizontal entrances at either end. The most likely-looking lead
|
||
probably.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>4 2007-06 Elev 1810m 36931 83264 20m deep surface shaft - possible
|
||
way off from base, to SE.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>5 2007-07 Elev 1873m 36916 83559. Horizontal tube sloping down, ends
|
||
after 10m, no draft.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 15 minutes</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-01B">2007-08-01</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Nial Peters</u>, Pete Harley, Sarah White</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Overnight pushing trip to Convenience Series</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Despite getting up at a reasonable time, lots of faffing (mostly by
|
||
Pete) meant we didn't get underground till after midday. There was a
|
||
serious lack of enthusiasm as we crawled through Germknoedel's Revenge.
|
||
I had knackered my knee on the previous day's walk up the hill and the
|
||
trip got off to a slow start as I limped my way down Treeumphant.
|
||
Eventually we arrived at Engaged in the Convenience series and began to
|
||
feel a bit more enthused about the trip. Unfortunately, Pete had taken a
|
||
wrong turn and had dragged the heavy bag of rope down Out of Order rift
|
||
- silly bugger! By the time he arrived I had put in the bolts for a
|
||
Y-hang at the top of the pitch series we were planning to rig. I was
|
||
extremely pleased to find that the power drill we had dragged down there
|
||
worked perfectly. Four rebelays later and I found myself at the bottom
|
||
of a very drippy and cold shafter. It didn't go anywhere, but did have
|
||
two sumps at the bottom. Unfortunately it turned out that me power
|
||
bolting is considerably faster than Pete and Sarah surveying (despite
|
||
the fact that they had a Pony and a disto!) so I had to sit and freeze
|
||
for 1 1/2 hours at the bottom while they caught up. When they finally
|
||
arrived they were hypothermic too and had failed to finish surveying the
|
||
shaft. I set off back up the ropes and left them to finish their survey
|
||
and derig. This took much longer than expected since Pete had forgotten
|
||
his spanner and in an attempt to give him hers, Sarah dropped it down
|
||
the pitch! Pete managed tot derig most of it using a maillon but in the
|
||
end I had to abseil back down to the first rebelay and give him my
|
||
spanner. Having been sat at the top of the pitch for over two hours,
|
||
Sarah and I were once again hypothermic so set off out as soon as Pete
|
||
arrived. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We stopped briefly in Dead Good Bat chamber for soup, but due to the
|
||
passing of time we were starting t come close to our 9am callout so we
|
||
didn't stop for long. At the bottom of Cerberus I left the other two
|
||
(and my tackle sack) in order to get out in time for our callout and
|
||
extend it for the others. I was extremely glad of Wookey's double
|
||
strength Ibuprofen which made prussiking with my dodgy knee bearable. I
|
||
surfaced at 7am and Sarah and Pete emerged at 11am. A ridiculously long
|
||
trip considering the amount of progress we had made.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Things that went wrong:</p>
|
||
<p>- had to derig Dave and Djuke's rope - which got stuck</p>
|
||
<p>- Sarah lost her foot jammer</p>
|
||
<p>- Sarah's chest tape broke</p>
|
||
<p>- My foot jammer broke</p>
|
||
<p>- We all got freezing</p>
|
||
<p>- Pete didn't have a spanner and Sarah dropped hers</p>
|
||
<p>All in all a great trip :-)</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Pitch series is now called S.L.T.R. for reasons known only to its surveyors.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-02A">2007-08-02</div>
|
||
<p>
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-03A">2007-08-03</div><p>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>John Billings</u>, Aaron Curtis, Jon Telling</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - John Billing's account of Razor Dance derigging trip</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>(+ Duncan Collis, Mark Dougherty, Richard Mundy + George North) -
|
||
which somehow have to fit into this schema</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Left basecamp for an 'early start' at (maybe) 10am. (Duncan + Mark
|
||
had been talking about a R.D. trip the day before...) Got to Stone
|
||
Bridge early afternoon. JonT was itching for a RD derigging trip -
|
||
already up there for a few days, wanted a 'decent' trip. Aaron + I
|
||
pulled on our gear quickly, & then the three of us set off down 204A...
|
||
Duncan & Mark to follow after a few hours.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>My second trip in Austria, first one was with Aaron to do some
|
||
science stuff in a shallow cave. This RD trip turned out to be quite
|
||
vertical. Not much horizontal caving, at least to start with. Stopped
|
||
briefly for my 2pm spit sample. We carried on downwards (later learnt
|
||
that this was the Kiwi series).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>After a couple of hours we hit Razor Dance. Much more horizontal &
|
||
quite tight. Had a few problems finding the correct level - it's quite a
|
||
deep vertical rift in a few/most places. Lots of grunting. JonT: 'flow
|
||
with the rock, not against it'.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Got to final pitch before sump at bottom. Jon + Aaron already down.
|
||
Just as I was half-way down, Jon shouts for me to start going back up.
|
||
What the fuck? Shouts that it's getting very wet. Bloody hell, he's got
|
||
a point, this little RD stream <u>has</u> got a lot wetter. Better had
|
||
get out. Oops, no chest jammer on central MR (in dangly bag) - have to
|
||
go right down. Thunderstorm?</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Put chest jammer on. Jon volunteers to derig - yes please! Start
|
||
heading out, followed by Aaron then Jon. Bottom pitches very wet - get
|
||
quite soaked. After a while, bump into Duncan & Mark. Good to see them.
|
||
Say they've re-rigged Paster of Muppets pitch 'cause it's a bit damp.
|
||
Follow Duncan up to top of Pepper Pot. Duncan, Mark & I wait there for
|
||
an hour (<u>damn</u> cold!) until Aaron & Jon turn up. Given heavy
|
||
tacklesack full of wet rope, carry on pushing up through RD. Duncan goes
|
||
on ahead.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Turns out that it's quite a mission to push a tackle sack through
|
||
tight, vertical rift. Almost leave it a couple of times. Arms tired.
|
||
Actually, there <u>is</u> a technique to it. Push it ahead and wedge it,
|
||
then follow.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Got to basic 'camp' (stove + food) called 'God Loves a Drunk' [GLAD
|
||
in other write-ups] - passed straight through on way down. Hot food,
|
||
courtesy of Duncan. Richard & George also there! Set off again after a
|
||
bit, following Jon. Hear him now & then at top of pitches.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Leave tacklesack at bottom of Kiwi Suit next to Jon's. Start up,
|
||
bloody hard work. See Duncan following at the bottom of pitches. Should
|
||
have brought more chocolate bars. Find my discarded water bottle on way
|
||
up - very thirsty, quite welcome! Also a flap-jack cache :)</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Eventually got to the surface at 2am. 'Job's a good 'un'. Food then
|
||
sleep. Won't do that again in a hurry. Appears there <u>was</u> a ~7pm
|
||
thunderstorm.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Finis.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U John+Jon+Aaron 12hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">Duncan + MarkD: 11hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">Richard + George: 8 ¬Ω hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-03B">2007-08-03</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Wookey, Andrew Atkinson + <u>Becka Lawson</u>, Ollie Stevens</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Razordance - Finish derigging</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Down 10am. Wookey + I fetched the tackle sack of rope from Mystery
|
||
Wind + derigged the two pitches. By the time we were back at the bottom
|
||
of Kiwi Suit Andrew had unbagged all the rope and done paella number one
|
||
(and two) up the first pitch by himself... at which point we were
|
||
committed... to 9 more paella stacks until the last one emerged onto the
|
||
slabs outside of Top Camp. Ollie came along to help when we were on the
|
||
big pitch below Wolpertinger Way, which made life easier (down to only
|
||
one tackle bag each) and on the final pull we had an excellent surface
|
||
support party of Aaron, Richard, John + Jon to do all the hard work.
|
||
Rope dried overnight, coiled the next day so all the RD derigged in 2.5
|
||
trips - not bad.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Wookey, Andrew + Becka: 11 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">Ollie S: 5hrs (the last third)</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-04A">2007-08-04</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">John Billings, <u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Rigging Tunnockschacht</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Neither of us had been before but the magic of GPS and a good set of
|
||
cairns got us to the entrance. John then whinged all the way down the
|
||
entrance pitch about rubs. I just thought he was seeing some standard
|
||
CUCC rigging but as I went down it went rub, twang, rub along with a
|
||
hail of loose rocks. On the way out we realized that some of the problem
|
||
were that the snow level was way down on last year‚ but we'd also not
|
||
been warned about the three rope protectors needed. After that comes a
|
||
small sloping crawl. Should I take the tacklesack? Asks John. No, it's
|
||
OK if you just roll it ahead says I. Oh no - you OK? Er, do you want to
|
||
go check out this QMC down this little shaft? Fortunately John could get
|
||
down & reported it kept going as a QM B‚ and fetched the tacklesack. We
|
||
then looked at 06-19A which looked an excellent lead. After some
|
||
gardening there was no time left to survey so nosed around the rest of
|
||
the passage there and then out. Be a lovely cave if someone with a drill
|
||
rigged the entrance more creatively.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 4 ¬Ω hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-30C">2007-07-30</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Pete Harley</u>, Jon Telling, Nial Peters, Sarah White, Frank Tully</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Fucking about in the Quarries (?)</div>
|
||
|
||
<p> (Maybe others not listed)</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Some of the people at top camp decided that caving was effort. They
|
||
were right. Therefore we decided to look at some hole we had walked past
|
||
on a previous slack day showing newcomers where Tunnocks is.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We passed 204 E to find some reasonably deep but snow filled holes.
|
||
Armed with a drill Nial bolted our way down a hole. Our team (Nial, Pete
|
||
and Sarah) was joined by Jon after Pete had descended and decided we
|
||
didn't have enough rope. Aided by Jon what we decided was 2007.03 was
|
||
descended to a snow plug and a slot followed by Jon. We surveyed down
|
||
the slot to a choke. It turns out this place was probably already
|
||
explored in 2002. Frank laddered down a hole that had a vital connection
|
||
to where we had been. Sarah and I looked [continued 3 pages later:
|
||
'Quarries continued'] in another hole that had a bolt already in place
|
||
and found no leads. Sarah + Jon looked at some other places further in
|
||
the Tunnocks direction which one of them will have to write about. To
|
||
conclude: Time wasted - 1 day.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-01C">2007-08-01</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Shaft</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Having failed to find 2004-04 the previous afternoon we had another
|
||
go and it was still hidden sadly. Then went to look for 84 which we also
|
||
failed to find, I guess it is either well hidden or not close to 83 to
|
||
the WNW.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Found an interesting looking hole (2007-73) walking entrance down a
|
||
snow slope which then went down a bit to a chamber. Olly looked at the
|
||
continuation which was a bit snowy & small. We will return later in
|
||
expo.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-02B">2007-08-02</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">82-85</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went over to survey the connection with 85. Shortly into the
|
||
connection is an aven up to the surface a new higher entrance! As we
|
||
surveyed we could hear very loudly a thunderstorm overhead, and a
|
||
waterfall appeared near the 85 entrance. Olly had a look at the
|
||
continuation of 85 but thought the climb wasn't freeclimbable due to the
|
||
current snowline position.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-03C">2007-08-03</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">76: Boiling Tubes</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>It had rained a lot overnight + was still raining so decided the
|
||
pitch in 148 might be unpleasant, so decided on 76 instead. Went to the
|
||
end of the Boiling Tubes where we left 3 leads in 2004. None of the
|
||
leads looked great, but we started with 04-62B, the straight-on lead.
|
||
This was crawling then wiggling to a boulder which was followed shortly
|
||
by a stal blockage - unusual for Austria. The stals weren't huge, but
|
||
neither was the passage. I surveyed back while Olly took notes, and
|
||
sadly my promising lead heading straight for 2007-71 was no more. (There
|
||
was a small red spider there).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Olly removed some soil from the RH lead 04-63C and discovered that
|
||
the soil continued for quite some way, so we left off that and looked at
|
||
the final crap lead (04-04C). After moving some rocks I crawled down,
|
||
slightly downhill and over rocks. I was really hoping that I would be
|
||
able to turn around at some point as I wasn't looking forward to
|
||
reversing back.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Then I noticed the passage was echoing. In my experience so far,
|
||
small crawls tend not to make large echos. This made me excited and
|
||
optimistic that I might be able to turn round. After a few more metres
|
||
the crawl enlarged enough that I could just turn round, yay! Rocks
|
||
dropped down the pitch went for ~2.5s then bounced a bit more. Shame it
|
||
would be a crap place to carry gear.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Returned to BNW and looked at 04-25C, surveyed down to
|
||
where it got small - is very easy to move rocks though. It looks like it
|
||
connects with Loopy so probably easier to get through from the
|
||
south.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Finally looked at 04-26B, scramble in (easily) [something] - the A+
|
||
pitch ledges into a narrow walking height passage followed this up to a
|
||
T junction, left is low crawling and right a bit larger - both are C
|
||
grade leads. The RH one may join 04-41C perhaps. Surveyed this and left,
|
||
removing the radon detectors on route.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 7 1/4 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-04B">2007-08-04</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">81</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went back to 81 to survey the new stuff. Not a hugely long cave but a
|
||
lot of entrances (which we have put hiltis in for the tags and for 82b
|
||
tag). There are still a couple of leads to look at later as well. What
|
||
we surveyed was mostly walking passage and quite pleasant.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 2hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-19G">2007-07-19</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Dave Loeffler</u>, Andreas Forsberg, James Carlisle</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Razor Dance</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Our hopes of an early start were sabotaged by the realisation that
|
||
the drill battery was (a) flat and (b) broken. Several hours of charging
|
||
and some gaffer later, we got underground around noon.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>At the pushing front, James + I cowered damply while Andreas rigged
|
||
the pitch with a Y-hang + rebelay 2m further down. This landed in an
|
||
elongated rift chamber, with a fairly narrow but ruler-straight slot
|
||
leading off. Andreas went ahead with the bolting gear while we started
|
||
surveying.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The slot widened out somewhat + a scramble up onto a ledge led to a
|
||
keyhole-type phreatic tunnel + slot in the floor. Andreas rigged a
|
||
traverse where the slot began to widen + reached a stance overlooking a
|
||
deep, dark pool of water.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andreas attempted to answer the question 'is this a sump?' by
|
||
traversing out along the ledge to see round a corner, but ran out of
|
||
battery. So we headed out, leaving the depth certainly over 600m.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 15hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-25E">2007-07-25</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Dave Loeffler</u>, Djuke Veldhuis, Frank Tully</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Random leads in Insignificant</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>We felt like a short trip so went to try & tick off some annoying QMs
|
||
in the Insignificant area.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>01-3C is clearly too tight.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>01-7C went to a short crawl & climb up into a tall passage. This went
|
||
maybe 10m to a big pitch (probably Pleasuredome). Side passages high &
|
||
low on the right led to the same pitch.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>A window just before the pitch was some more crawls & a steep ramp
|
||
down to a complex loopy junction. On the right is another big drop
|
||
(Pleasuredome again?). On the left various tubes lead off. QM C.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>New passage is 'Swiss Cheese'.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>At this point I gave up in disgust realising that my goal of making
|
||
the survey easier to draw was clearly hopeless, and we exited via No
|
||
Pain No Gain (modulo getting lost after turning left instead of right on
|
||
hitting 110 A Day).</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 6 Hours 45 Min</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-25F">2007-07-25</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Wookey</u>, Nial Peters, Andrew Atkinson</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Trisselwand - the IVth</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Niall felt it was time to attempt the trisselwand again, 15 years
|
||
after the last disastrous attempt. Wookey 'Volunteered' as a previous
|
||
incumbent, and Andrew was mugged into coming too. Packed in advance
|
||
with trepidation and got up by 6am to omelette already made by Andrew.
|
||
Hiked in to bottom from Sattel to start by 9am. To find the start go
|
||
down a bit (30m?) after the heli-landing zone open area & just follow
|
||
obvious path. We went off up wrong scree slope & wasted half an hour
|
||
faffing. First couple of hundred metres is just scrambling up path to
|
||
start.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We decided to do 'Hoferweg' route (5) as it is in guidebook with
|
||
topo. Previous trips have done the easier 'Stügerweg' route
|
||
(3-4+). Wook led 1st couple of pitches, getting a bit lost on 2nd.
|
||
Then Andrew took over for the next couple of pitches back into the
|
||
gulley. We whizzed up there, mostly moving together. Chilly in the
|
||
shade. Had lunch at 1pm above pitch 8. We were overtaken by 3 groups
|
||
further down - 2 heading up 'seeblick' sport route & one pair going
|
||
our way. They had no gear beyond extenders - using body belay or
|
||
italian hitch for belay!, but were clearly mch better climbers than
|
||
us. Soon we were at the headwall where there really is a bench fixed
|
||
in place to look at view from.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Next bit was obviously hard so we send niall first. Turned into
|
||
proper climbing at this point. 1st pitch (#12, 4-) OK, Next really
|
||
quite tricky - a fine lead. System we used was 2 half-ropes, leader
|
||
had no sack, both seconds carried rucksacks, on easy pitches both
|
||
seconds moved together. Pitch 14 was nasty-looking overhang - not as
|
||
bad as it looked but still scary & with desperate slab back into gulley,
|
||
not designed for short-arses (drop onto tiny ledge from one handhold.
|
||
wobbly piton for pro). more gulley & a couple of slabs, now quite hot
|
||
after 3½ hours in the sun. Andrew suffering from sun but saved by
|
||
cave at stance for pitch 18.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Now quite strung out with 2 hard pitches right at the top; tired,
|
||
hot. Having the hard stuff at the end like this is really rather
|
||
unhelpful. 2 more fine leads from Niall - bloody good job we brought
|
||
him along! nasty move out from cave, and marvellously exposed climb
|
||
round overhang looking right down 800m to lake, finally gets you off
|
||
horrible cliff to marvellous views that you could have had by walking
|
||
up.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>very tedious 1&quarter;hrs trog back down to well-earned beer.
|
||
Niall liked the hard bits on good rock (& really didn't like the
|
||
chossy pitches). Wook and Andrew hated those and liked the easy bits
|
||
on shitty rock. Finished at 6:10pm.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>9hrs on the rock. ~13hrs total trip.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Not epic, but bloody hard work & quite scary;
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-03D">2007-08-03</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">'Quest to BS17'</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>The previous night I had been down to 'God Loves A Drunk' with George
|
||
North. On the 3rd I therefore hurt and my caving gear was thoroughly
|
||
soaked through. Given no sun to dry it, a day of top camp festering
|
||
ensued. I erased the memories of prussiking through 2 deg C Razordance
|
||
waterfalls ("the wettest I have ever seen it" - Mark D) by going on a
|
||
mission for Dave L; a quest to BS17.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>BS17 is about a 1h10 walk away, with no heavy pack in ordinary
|
||
clothes. One travels over the ridge behind the bivvy and over two
|
||
subsequent hills, before coming across a fairly low ridge, perhaps 500m
|
||
long and running E-W. On the far (North) side of the ridge, the
|
||
limestone takes the form of a series of 5m cliffs up the slope.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Organhoehle, BS17, is likely to be one of the many holes in these
|
||
cliffs. The GPS point did not correspond to one exactly, but there were
|
||
half a dozen possibilities within 50m. The area around the ridge appears
|
||
very promising for caves. The limestone is not very broken-up and there
|
||
are holes, big & small, everywhere. The side of the ridge is
|
||
particularity nice in that it offers many horizontal entrances.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>I took my photographs using Ollie S's camera before stumbling back in
|
||
thick fog, hoping the GPS did not pack-up.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-04C">2007-08-04</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Ollie Stevens, Aaron Curtis, Richard Mundy</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">'Lead 03-75A'</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>My caving gear still wet & cold, we set off to the 'Wot no Butcombe'
|
||
end of the 'Rhino Rift' area of 204. We rigged pitch 03-79A; a phreatic
|
||
pitch wead [sic] tackled nicely with a single backed-up bolt. The
|
||
fortuitous bolt placement occured purely by chance.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>03-76B leads out from the opposite side of the pitch head, but would
|
||
require a handful of bolts to access. Aaron took some time rigging, at
|
||
one point succeeding in incorporating his chest tape into the rig
|
||
accidentally. We descended the pitch, now named 'Hollow Sausage.' It is
|
||
phreatic in character, with a shelf around halfway down before the shaft
|
||
balloons out, then contracts again.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>At the bottom of this 9m pitch, one finds one's body in a small
|
||
widening of a tall, narrow, and windy rift. This had a small stream at
|
||
the bottom and had been named "Dover's Last Stand". The crawl to the
|
||
pitchhead is likewise rocky.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>A boulder choke prevents one travelling far downhill the rift. Uphill
|
||
there are fine mud formations on the left wall. A 4m climb leads to a
|
||
narrowing of the rift. It gets too tight, but there seems to be a route
|
||
above of B/C QM calibre. This is tough and may qualify as being a pitch.
|
||
Would be better explored downhill.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-05A">2007-08-05</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Ollie Stevens, Aaron Curtis, Richard Mundy</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Chocolate Salty Balls</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Ollie, Aaron and I went for a 2.5 hour jaunt down 204e. The main
|
||
purpose was to place some thermistors in Chocolate Salty Balls for
|
||
Aaron.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Meanwhile, Ollie and I looked at some QMs 01-39 C should be
|
||
downgraded to a D lead. It seems to be boulder choked.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The nearby B lead, if it corresponds to the hole in the floor, looks
|
||
really very tight and very steep.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>01-36C was pushed. It turns right, then becomes too tight.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>It is worth noting that Andrew 'Andy' Atkinson and co have replaced
|
||
the handline in Cave tree chamber with some red 2006 9mm. I would have
|
||
put in some 2003 myself, but don't ultimately care.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-03E">2007-08-03</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Richard Mundy</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Top Camp - VERMIN</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Top Camp is now home to:</p>
|
||
<p>-30 massively fat and well fed insulted mice.</p>
|
||
<p>-THE FLAPJACK BEAST</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Frank has scored a victory over the mice by altering the food
|
||
hammock, rendering it inaccessible to them.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>However, we saw THE FLAPJACK BEAST (a small squirrel thingy) access
|
||
the hammocks via running upside down across the Stone Bridge roof. This
|
||
animal will thus prove hard to defeat.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-04D">2007-08-04 DATE MISSING</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Wookey</u>, Andrew Atkinson, John Billings</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Gösser Streamway - Rig push, survey, derig</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Needed an easy trip in order to walk down hill for Trisselwand, so
|
||
picked a QM on the survey which was interestingly above the huge aven in
|
||
Hippocratic Oath. QM 06-7A at the end of Goesser Streamway. Also took in
|
||
a rope to replace 1996 traverse line in Cave Tree Chamber (9mm bit of
|
||
2006 red stuff ~15m).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Discovered that top of line was tied to 2 large but loose boulders.
|
||
One moved 3 feet with a slight touch! Took opportunity to get rare
|
||
photos of large falling boulder. 2nd shot (boulder) was great. Put in 2
|
||
bolts to make it safe, using opportunity to teach John B how to put in
|
||
drill bolts.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Rigged down - cave is not quite like survey. Actually p3 & p6 after
|
||
~4m and then ~p8 after ~12m then ~30m of streamway to final p29. Got to
|
||
end to find [?bury] bolt on far side of pitch but no back-up bolts /
|
||
threads / anything. Someone had been very necky. Put in 2 bolts for
|
||
traverse to pitch (drills are great) and dropped to bottom. Nice winding
|
||
passage sadly went nowhere: solid rock at one end, deepish (0.6m) pool
|
||
and impenetrable rift [?inuing king] stream, at the other end. Surveyed
|
||
(2 legs, ~38m) and derigged and went home with big fat bag of rope.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 4.5h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-07A">2007-08-07</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Dave Loeffler</u>+ *2 guys from Reading Uni</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Dachstein Via Ferrata</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Did the Seemond - Klettersteig. No helicopter involved. Takes about
|
||
5 hrs on the face and hours walk either end and cable car down. Bloody
|
||
hard work but magnificent situations.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>NB This is not the same as the Johann-Klettersteig. It is about the
|
||
same grade but 780m long while Johann is about 500m. Starts from the
|
||
Kessel spring near Hallstalt, and goes to Gjoid Alm. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>FWIW If you are going to do this you must leave early - sun will hit
|
||
you at 2pm ish, and last cable car down is 5pm.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>TW (Time wired) 5hrs</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-08A">2007-08-08</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Richard Mundy</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">'Slippery Hole'</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>The previous day, we walked to 2007-04 with Wookey. On the 8th we
|
||
pushed and surveyed this. The cave is in a loose depression on the ridge
|
||
behind the bivi. It has plenty of snow in the entrances and dramatic
|
||
slabs of rock hovering above it.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The north entrance leads to 'Slackwell's Stumble', a boulder choked
|
||
passage with bouldery floor.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>The other entrance leads to a snowy slide down into ' John's Winter
|
||
Wonderland' or alternatively a precarious 3m climb leading to a boring
|
||
chamber or a bouldery passage into 'Quick wee chamber', with a ledge on
|
||
the opposite side.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Quick wee has a high entrance inaccessible to us. John's winter
|
||
wonderland has a too tight passage that echoes and feels as if it may
|
||
'go' under the snow.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>2007-04 has been tagged by us as such.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We had several 'brown alert' moments on climbs, due to slipperiness
|
||
and looseness. Another memorable time was when I put in a crap spit,
|
||
then reached to hang a sling from a natural. The snow under me
|
||
collapsed, dropping me 4m. Luckily onto more snow. I slid down the
|
||
snow towards the Winter Wonderland, before the rope became taut and
|
||
caught me. Worrying.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-07B">2007-08-07</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Wookey, John Billings</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Walk to 204 via 161d</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Given light rucksacks and a nice day decided to investigate doing 161
|
||
from 204 and thus check out the practicality of route. Walked to 161d
|
||
without much faffing. Decided to have a tourist in cags and headtorches
|
||
and to show John fine passage off triassic park. Nice trip for about 50
|
||
mins, including some photos.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Then continued along traverse to 161 e and f. Found a large entrance
|
||
sloping in, untagged and unmarked. Assumed it was 161e but later
|
||
research showed that it was further north than 161f which we came across
|
||
a few mins later. The entrance must be known? Later marked bivi site
|
||
cave list to say 161e is not tagged/marked, but seems that is confusion
|
||
not fact.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Continued following traverse which was generally easy to follow. Bit
|
||
of bunde cutting would make it lovely. Got out from below cliff after
|
||
45 mins but then got into complex area of shelves. Not sure best route
|
||
to take as we had no GPS. Ridge looks completely different from the
|
||
back side. Very hard to tell which peak is which and a hole load of
|
||
extra peaks appear. ridge is not really a ridge at all and is about 500m
|
||
wide. Eventually struck due west and came out 300m North of the
|
||
bivi.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Found a couple of caves en-route. 1st explored enthusiastically by
|
||
John B despite not being good in Tshirts and shorts (low, crawly).
|
||
Slight draft. Unfortunately due to no GPS we won't find it again for
|
||
years.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Also found large hole 200m from bivi, described in 'slippery hole'
|
||
entry.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>With all the aving and sub-optimal walk whole walk from car park took
|
||
about 5 1/2 hrs. From 161d it is probably about 2hrs to 204 by sensible
|
||
route. 1 1/2 to nearer entrance. Route needs some serious honing to
|
||
make practical for trips, but we confirmed that cliff traverse part is
|
||
not a problem (in fact its the nicest bit).</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-08B">2007-08-08</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Wookey</u>, Becka Lawson, Andrew Atkinson</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Photo, Rig, survey, push in Tunnocks</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andrew took photo gear, Wook took tackle & rigging gear, Becka
|
||
took survey gear. Went in to far end to rig traverse over '17s rattle,'
|
||
via a couple of metres of entrance ice.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Andrew rigged traverse and we threw lots of big rocks, reckoning main
|
||
pitch to be 45m with prob another similar below. Traverse just led to
|
||
other views down pitches. Not clear if all three holes are same pitch or
|
||
not. Put in a couple more spits to tidy rig, surveyed & went back to
|
||
lead below climb up to cobble pile. Pitch down but c3 into passage went
|
||
about 50m to another large pitch.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Big draught.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Next went to horizontal QM N of cobble pile. This was nice &
|
||
flat. Andrew left for 2nd photo trip of day in 82. Becka & Wookey
|
||
surveyed over 250m of stonking passage "Rhubarb Crumbly". Exceptionally
|
||
fine trip - lots of QM's. Eventually gave up, utterly sated by too many
|
||
QMs - chamber with two going off E, NE, NW.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Laser surveying is the way forward -- but keep batts away from SAP.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U Becka, Wook 10hrs. Andrew 6hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-09A">2007-08-09</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Wookey</u>, Becka Lawson, Andrew Atkinson + Ollie Stevens</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">More horizontal cave</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Back to bag some more horizontal cave, despite having to walk back
|
||
down (Wook). All underground by 9.30. 1hr to pushing front. Off
|
||
resolutely North, past some very fine pretties for Austria. Then chamber
|
||
with pitch below and choice of A-leads. Took northerly one - soily
|
||
passage, then rift chamber, then descending phreatic, past a tricky c3
|
||
up into soily, wide place with passages down ahead and on right
|
||
(draughting towards us). Another off on L, draughting away. Main lead
|
||
down terminated at a clean aven & 4m passage blocked by soil choke.
|
||
Crawls continue. Air probably goes up aven.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Lead on R from soily place in huge passage almost full of soil.
|
||
Strong draught, goes to smallish aven then peters out in steeply
|
||
ascending tubes. Aven may be climable.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Lead on L goes only about 30m to pitch.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>So went back to major lead at pitch chamber. Passage ascending at
|
||
consistent 23°ress; to East. Ollie came to join us as we started up
|
||
here & did a bit of ferreting. Did about 100m of this before Wook
|
||
had to start long journey home. Others continued, determined to clock up
|
||
at least 500m.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Passage was up to 1825m (60m below entrance). Wook out in a little
|
||
over an hour, just in time to get thunderstormed on along with Jon and
|
||
Morven (who had no cags & got soaked to skin). </p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-08C">2007-08-08</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Frank Tully, Aaron Curtis, Ollie Stevens, Pete Harley</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Tunnockschacht</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Got underground 1pm with intention to head south. After ticking off
|
||
06-11C and 06-20C, realized our progress was cut short without any rope
|
||
to descend the p9. Aaron set off to find Andy, Wook & Becka in South
|
||
Tunnocks to swipe some rope. Find them he did, and returned with more
|
||
than he bargained for - Big Bertha complete with drill, misc gear &
|
||
rope. After much to-ing and fro-ing S to N, following objectives
|
||
accomplished: Surveyed & derigged 2 pitches Duncan had dropped in N off
|
||
of big chamber (now called 'Secret Squirrel' and 'Fat Rat'). Frank &
|
||
Pete left to go down hill at this point. Ollie & Aaron rigged p9 in
|
||
Sauerkraut; could only find one spit in wall & no naturals, so put
|
||
another in as considered this a tad dodgy. Dropped 06-31A, to be
|
||
surveyed next trip. Has another pitch and horizontal QMB at bottom &
|
||
provisionally called the 'Pantin Sales Pitch.' Also bolted pitch into
|
||
big chamber in N [traverse into Caramel Catharsis] (where Secret
|
||
Squirrel begins) which had hung off impressive natural but was awkward
|
||
to mount / dismount, now much better. Pete and Frank out ~7pm? Aaron and
|
||
Ollie out 12pm.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 7h Pete, Frank </div>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 11h Aaron, Ollie </div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-05B">2007-08-05</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Ollie Stevens, Richard Mundy, Aaron Curtis</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">CSB Thermistor & Treeumphant</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>With one datalogger installed in Germkndel's Revenge already
|
||
(upcoming writeup), we set off to install 3 more: 2 in chocolate salty
|
||
balls (1 hobo(?) with 4 thermistors, 2 wet/dry pairs, 1 easysense with
|
||
temp, RH, and barometric pressure) and 1 in crowning glory.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>[diagram of where stuff is]</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Also ticked off QMs 01-40C and 0139C.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 2.5 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-07C">2007-08-07</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Ollie Stevens, Aaron Curtis</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Anemometer related quick useless trip</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>After a few hours of fiddling with his homel(?) new sonic anemometer
|
||
using a picoscope and laptop at the bridge, Aaron threw up his hands and
|
||
decided to solder the finicky thing into a datalogger and whack it to
|
||
the bottom of E entrance. The allen key needed to open the logger was
|
||
conveniently in a peli case in chocolate salty balls. While Aaron was
|
||
already resigned to bringing laptop and scope underground because
|
||
anemometer needed to be adjusted after export, trying to solder
|
||
underground seemed like crossing the line. So Aaron went down to get key
|
||
and brought a well-calibrated Ollie to put in a spit to mount the
|
||
anemometer on. On the surface again, Aaron failed to get the logger and
|
||
anemometer to play nice together and decided to abandon the enterprise
|
||
until a later date, in the UK or on Expo08.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 1hr</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-07D">2007-08-07</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Nial Peters, Andrew Atkinson, Martin Green, <u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Gaffered -> Inconvenience Series</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Down to tick off some leads & start the derig. Nial rigged his "worst
|
||
ever pitch" - for his sake, I hope it is true - rope slung round a
|
||
boulder at the pitch head, past a wriggle through loose choss and a few
|
||
rub points and down to a spit he put in with a 20cm long vertical crack
|
||
above it. This dropped us down to where the Engaged pitch landed and
|
||
from there Martin attempted to outdo Nial by rigging the next pitch on
|
||
even more choss. Got very cold waiting and I was mighty relieved to
|
||
find, after the first spit had gone in, that we'd run out of hangers (we
|
||
accidentally only had brought two in total!) & could go out. Andrew took
|
||
a few photos through the trip and he and I surveyed two shortish QM's
|
||
whilst Nial and Martin headed out. We then derigged the rope in
|
||
Convenience and Chalk & Cheese and then I took a tacklesack out leaving
|
||
just a 55m pushing rope to fish out at the bottom of Gaffered. Overtook
|
||
Martin and Nial before Gaffered and slowly we all trundled out.
|
||
Super-muddy Gaffered rope plus a heavy tacklesack is a crap
|
||
combination.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U14h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-06A">2007-08-06</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Jon Telling, Becka Lawson, <u>Morven</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Tunnocks -> Apfel Strudel</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>My first ever cave in Austria, descended down very loose boulder
|
||
slopes to large pile of snow at bottom of pitches, fun sledging down.
|
||
First ever injury in Austria soon followed, jumping to avoid boulder
|
||
fall and landed on lovely smooth icy floor, same effect as banana skin!
|
||
A fun but painful trip followed. Found Apfelstrudel section of cave;
|
||
best bit was a chute that looked like a bob sleigh run, great going
|
||
down, tricky on the way out. Ended survey at exciting junction, pitch on
|
||
one side, stomping passage on the other. Back up pitches & down to top
|
||
camp for introduction to Holy Hand Grenade [Hungarian-donated alcoholic
|
||
beverage].</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 6.5hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-09B">2007-08-09</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jon Telling</u>, Morven</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Tunnocks</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>(Ollie Stevens brief cameo appearance)
|
||
|
||
<p>Surveying trip down 'great, draughty lead'--left after Wikinki Beach
|
||
boulders, then second left along passage. Phreatic tube leads down and
|
||
W. Becoming increasing boulder-filled & uninspiring towards
|
||
end--[illegible] of large avens though, maybe where ‚---nght comes down.
|
||
Named "Dubious Pleasure". Morven's back was playing up in cold, so left
|
||
after few hrs.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 5 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-07-21A">2007-07-21</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Frank Tully, Phil Underwood, George North, Pete Harley</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Flooding in England</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Basically I'm working in Scotland so on the Friday I drove from
|
||
Glasgow to Bristol. However, it was very very wet.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Took 5 hours to get to Manchester then the M6 slowed down to creep
|
||
speed. I forgot it was the first weekend of the summer holidays so
|
||
every caravan in the UK was on the move.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Torrential rain so eventually got to south of Birmingham by 6.30 -
|
||
another 6 hours driving. Continued driving at snails pace however all
|
||
was not looking good.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>By 8.00 the slow lane north of Tewkesbury was 8" deep in water. By
|
||
9.30 the fast lane was 6" deep and the slow lane was too deep for
|
||
lorries. There were cars broken down on the hard shoulder with the
|
||
water up to their windows.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>I was approx 150 cars back from the point where the police closed the
|
||
M5.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Then the highways agency took over... The rain stopped at 11pm but it
|
||
took the highways agency another six hours to notice. I was released
|
||
back onto the motorway at 05.30. Got an hours kip.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Then to start packing - bit of a rush considering I was to pick up Mr
|
||
Underwood in Reading. However, the railways were closed south of
|
||
Birmingham.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>So at the last possible minute Phil found a train that was going to
|
||
stansted. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Anyway, it all came together. Packed in 2 hours - drove to Stansted -
|
||
found Phil and George. Drove to M25-A12 junction found Pete. Got to
|
||
Dover hour late - no problem. Drove to Austria in 12 hours. MCE.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-08D">2007-08-08</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jon Telling</u>, Morven, Martin Green</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface shafts</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went to surface shaft Frank & I found a few days ago - a phreatic
|
||
tube ending in a big bowl of choss, above quarries uphill of bivvy site.
|
||
[Voed?] ladder & lifeline to survey, only small, loose cave, [blasted?].
|
||
Boulders, ah well. Named Pink Wafer Biscuit Cave as it was really only
|
||
worth looking at after looking at all the other entrances.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U (Jon, Martin):0.5h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-06B">2007-08-06</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">81</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went to 81 for an easy day to tick off the crap lead near the RH
|
||
route from 81b. To me it looked like a tight, loose & awkward route
|
||
through a boulder choke that obviously didn't go. Only went in cos Olly
|
||
thought it was "interesting". Having moved the loosest rocks out of the
|
||
way I wriggled through and it opened up into a rift. The boulders looked
|
||
less bad from below, so Olly came through as well. Got into a rift with
|
||
various holes in the floor to a lower passage in the same rift. I
|
||
traversed right to the end to where it was easy to climb down. This got
|
||
us down to the top of a lot of ice which formed a floor to the rift
|
||
chamber.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Walked carefully around on the ice we saw some cool curved ice
|
||
formations. At the end of the ice there appeared to be a pitch down
|
||
between the ice and rock. We were without gear so steered clear, but
|
||
hypothesized it might drop into the ice castle passage in 148. Surveyed
|
||
out (checking that the outer lead didn't do anything interesting)..</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-07E">2007-08-07</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Surface Shaft</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Walked up to Laser 0/5 and had a look for 1987-02. Scrambled up the
|
||
hill for a way and didn't see any horizontal entrances. Got fairly near
|
||
the crest of the ridge, so headed back down by a different route. Olly
|
||
spotted a draughting out shaft which we numbered 2007-7[MISSING],
|
||
GPS[MISSING]. Carried on down and got to a hidden valley with a low
|
||
horizontal entrance with a HUGE out draft. Walked inside and got some
|
||
big passage going straight on and right, both of which led to pitches.
|
||
Reading the old logbook suggests this must be 1987-02 (from the U/G and
|
||
entrance location descriptions).</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surface surveyed this to Laser 0/5/</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Oh, in the morning had a look at another new entrance (that has
|
||
probably been seen before). Collapsed valley entrance with a couple of
|
||
leads, one might go but not without an oversuit & kneepads. Second lead
|
||
is a crawling / stooping phreatic passage for ~10m till it chokes. This
|
||
is 2007-7[MISSING] GPS[MISSING]</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-07F">2007-08-07</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">81-148 connection</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Olly looked down the surface shaft near 148 first - down to the snow
|
||
plug then the ledge to where a narrow rift heads down presumably into
|
||
the aven in 148. Didn't push down this yet as we have the other route
|
||
rigged.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>We were going to push the pitch shaft in 148 but I was feeling sick
|
||
so we went back to 81 to tie up a surveying loose end. Olly concocted a
|
||
plan whereby I sat at the entrance and felt ill, and Olly went down the
|
||
rift shaft and bolted the hypothesized 148 connection. I figured he
|
||
would have a hard time with the rope, drill & survey left on his own
|
||
through the rift & climbs, so I came too & felt ill & whinged a lot.
|
||
Olly bolted down the pitch at the end of the ice and sadly it didn't go
|
||
far. We surveyed it and while I derigged Olly looked for other pitches
|
||
we had missed.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Back at the other end a tight grovel through ice led to a small rift
|
||
and a pitch. This dropped into 148! Right where we built a cairn which
|
||
was cool. Surveyed out passing Nial & Andrew photoing ice and
|
||
raisins.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U ~5h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-09C">2007-08-09</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">148 - pitch stuff</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Headed into 148 with way too much gear, but not enough crabs or
|
||
maillons. Got to the [saw?] pitch and the water levels rose considerably
|
||
making it very nasty & wet. Oh well, at least the rigging will be good
|
||
in high water ... Olly rigged a backup & bolt to get down the narrow bit
|
||
then got to a ledge where he rigged a nice Y-hang and went down through
|
||
a tight bit and then opened up lots to a deviation. This carried on down
|
||
to a big blackness with sadly no routes to drop down. It was quite [no
|
||
word here] by this point (especially for the power drill) so we came
|
||
back up - next time we need to rig it further out I guess. Came out of
|
||
the cave surveying a poxy side bit on the way. Came out in the dark and
|
||
clag - reflective markers are ace.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U6.25h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-10A">2007-08-10</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">1987-02</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went to survey & explore 1987-02. Headed to the RH pitch first. It
|
||
had a bolt which, combined with a couple of naturals & fending off from
|
||
the wall, got us down. Pitch lands at a junction, left (as you look down
|
||
the pitch) is BIG phreas with another way in from a little vertical
|
||
oxbow. This goes for a while then gets smaller and lower (but still 5m
|
||
wide). Eventually the gap between the rubble and roof becomes too low.
|
||
Would be diggable but doesn't draught. Back at the base of the pitch a
|
||
daylight aven comes in from straight on. To the right soon becomes a
|
||
rift, climbing high ends up choking, low down gets to a narrow
|
||
meandering rift turning left through which a howling draught blows out.
|
||
We both went a few metres in and noted that it echoes and is a bit tight
|
||
- the most promising a tight rift could be I guess. Again, back at the
|
||
pitch, kind of back underneath, is a phreatic passage that ends in a
|
||
hanging death choke that again draughts. Back at the entrance the other
|
||
way on drops into the same passage as the other one. Daylight comes in
|
||
from another shaft. Very interesting to get big phreas here ~1/2 way
|
||
between 76 and 161 ... worth prospecting in the area next year I
|
||
think.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 5h</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-13A">2007-08-13</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Aaron Curtis & Ollie Stevens</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">South Tunnocks (Pantin Sales Pitch)</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Another trip involving ping-ponging to and fro from the North & South
|
||
of Tunnocks. Went North to derig traverse past scree slope & commandeer
|
||
rope. Returned through Sauerkraut, surveyed 06-31A which turned out to
|
||
be an exceptionally smooth p30 duly named the Pantin Sales Pitch.
|
||
Checked out little horizontal passage to left which didn't go, and then
|
||
dropped the next pitch, yet unnamed, which surveyed to about 45m.
|
||
Exciting to find that we had been standing on a wedged pile of boulders
|
||
suspended above an airy rift. Single hang & backup got us to bottom
|
||
where it choked. Very likely way on (marked QMB) by traversing around to
|
||
right into spacious rift ~15m down the p45. Ollie suffered a bout of the
|
||
keenness so we went back north to meet Becka and Martin who were on
|
||
their way out and survey continuation of Flying High. Didn't manage very
|
||
much (~30m) before Aaron had had about enough. Avoiding stals / pretties
|
||
while maintaining our precarious position high in the rift while
|
||
surveying involved a form of Vedic Levitation. Rift got smoother &
|
||
wider; looks like next trip will need to drop down to (easily walkable)
|
||
rift floor & climb up again shortly. Blows a gale in there though.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-11A">2007-08-11</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka Lawson</u>, Aaron Curtis + Martin Green</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Gaffered -> The Wares + Derig</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Pootled to the Wares & headed off for a QM I'd been hankering after
|
||
checking. QM 04-49A. We'd left it as a steep ramp needing a handline in
|
||
2004. I rigged a handline up (needs ~25m rope) using 2 naturals then
|
||
hand bolted a spit on the left wall then a <u>very fine</u> thread on
|
||
the left wall then tied off on dodgy naturals at the top. Surveyed up to
|
||
find an extensive horizontal level - yippee. Sadly this was a derig trip
|
||
so we surveyed as much as we could, as far as a complex chamber with
|
||
several pitches, and we had to run out leaving lots of QMA's. Aaron's
|
||
light played up then fell apart and he couldn't find his spare
|
||
batteries, "I think I've learnt a lesson about redundancy today" says he
|
||
... Then slog, slog, slog, up the derig. Martin set off first with a
|
||
tacklesack & then pulled a second sack up Gaffered, I derigged & Aaron
|
||
did a tacklesack shuffle. We ended up getting 3 tacklesacks all the way
|
||
out, one at the bottom of E entrance pitch & one tied to the bottom of
|
||
Gaffered pitch so a pretty good job.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 13hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-12A">2007-08-12</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka Lawson</u>, Aaron Curtis + Martin Green</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Gaffered derig + Thermistors</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>I got to the lowest rebelay on Gaffered & hauled up the tacklesack
|
||
tied to the bottom then derigged & Martin & I took out a tacklesack each
|
||
whilst Aaron switched his data loggers.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 2.5 hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-12B">2007-08-12</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka Lawson</u>, Aaron Curtis, Martin Green</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Tunnockschacht -> Stone Monkey</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Second trip of the day: our reward for finishing the Gaffered derig.
|
||
Hadn't much time (set off from camp at 4pm) so we headed for a nearby
|
||
lead; the drafting hole halfway along the traverse down Ribs with
|
||
Knödel. This quickly opened into a steeply sloping, sizeable
|
||
passage heading steeply up (Stone Monkey). We surveyed until I was cold
|
||
and it was teatime, leaving QMA's and B's en route and finding large
|
||
ongoing passage.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 4 hours Becka </div>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">Martin, Aaron 5 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-13B">2007-08-13</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Martin Green, <u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Maximum Pleasure leads in Tunnockschacht</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Off down to the MP/Flying High junction and surveyed the walking
|
||
passage on the right (after ticking off a QM just before Dubious
|
||
Pleasure). This was fine, roomy walking passage. A large passage
|
||
underneath linked back to the main Maximum Pleasure passage. Our passage
|
||
went in fine style to a large aven with a smallish passage … with snow
|
||
… and pine cones and leaves … I got really excited by the potential
|
||
of an entrance which Martin was perplexed by, since I'd been unimpressed
|
||
by all the old stal that he'd been getting excited about. We kept
|
||
surveying past the aven and then it headed up a ramp & gradually became
|
||
smaller and less exciting before we left it at a c2 in a drippy aven. I
|
||
checked the snowy passage at the aven; it was small & headed up steeply
|
||
but the snow was rotten with holes in and it looked a bit dodgy so we
|
||
left it. We then went back to the MP/Flying High junction & did a QMA
|
||
near to it, on the left. This headed down steeply to a chamber with
|
||
large lumps of flowstone. It was really drafty and we were too cold to
|
||
face more so we headed out.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 10hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-14A">2007-08-14</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka Lawson</u>, Julian Todd</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Maximum Pleasure survey in Tunnockschacht</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>A fine, sunny morning so we hung around until all our gear was dry in
|
||
an attempt to have a warmish survey trip in Tunnockschacht. We started
|
||
by doing the left lead just after the traverse in Ribs with Knödel
|
||
[just beyond Caramel Catharsis]. This was extremely drafty & rapidly led
|
||
to a large pitch. We then headed to Maximum Pleasure, taking some snaps
|
||
en route. We surveyed from where Martin and I had left off yesterday, in
|
||
the flowstone chamber. We went past a large pitch & down to another,
|
||
smaller pitch then surveyed a small passage on the left and then did a
|
||
couple of legs up smaller passages to reconnect to the flowstone
|
||
chamber, making us feel virtuous. Martin and Olly turned up and we
|
||
pointed them to the remaining horizontal lead (which turned out to stop
|
||
after only ~30m). I then dragged Julian to the far end of Maximum
|
||
Pleasure to double-check that there were no other good leads to the
|
||
North. Nothing looked very tempting but I persuaded Julian to continue
|
||
the passage on the right where Wookey, Andrew and I had left off. This
|
||
headed up into awkward crawls and ceiling tubes and leads of 2-3m legs.
|
||
Unfortunately there was no good reason to stop so we just plodded on
|
||
until, thanks be, it finally, gradually lost the draft & fizzled out to
|
||
too-tight ceiling tubes.</p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 10.5hrs</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-14B">2007-08-14</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">81b and 82</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>We were feeling a bit tired so put off the 148 trip by another day
|
||
and went to tie up some loose ends in the 81/82 area. Started with a
|
||
surface survey from 81b to 148 in hope of improving the loop closure,
|
||
also tied in the 82 tag to 85.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Surveyed the remaining passage in 81 and checked out all the leads -
|
||
except for anything we missed there are no longer any leads. There was
|
||
nearly yet another entrance but it was blocked with rocks, doesn't seem
|
||
worth opening it up as 81 has more than its store of entrances
|
||
already.</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Went into 82 to resurvey the upper level and check out the 'drafting
|
||
tube' noted in 1977 - it drafted lots and lots out and whilst it is very
|
||
tight the floor is muddy/sandy and could easily be dug. It is heading
|
||
for the similarly big phreas in 1987-02 and less than 200m away.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-14c">2007-08-14</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Duncan Collis</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">258 - Rigging Guide for Tunnockshacht entrance</div>
|
||
<p>drawn by Duncan</p>
|
||
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg01.jpg" alt="258 rigging guide"></p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-13C">2007-08-13</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">76 derig</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Decided to derig 76 so we at least only had one cave left rigged.
|
||
Didn't take the drill in to conserve battery power for 148 so couldn't
|
||
push deeper. Nice going through the testtubes with only SRT kits to
|
||
carry. Successful derig. To get to The Ledge needs 16 + 16 + 28 m of
|
||
rope.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-15A">2007-08-15</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Jenny Black</u> + Olly Betts </div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">148 - "Some Like it Pot" + derig</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Running out of time so could no longer put off the final trip 148
|
||
trip. Only had to carry in the drilling stuff + the survey kit, so got
|
||
to the big pitch quite efficiently. Sorted out gear we had left there
|
||
and Olly set off down. I sat on the ledge at the Y-hang and shivered as
|
||
I watch Olly getting father away, and every so often there'd be some
|
||
tarzaning around for the rig. I noticed that Olly seemed to be quite
|
||
near the water - today it was essentially just water running / trickling
|
||
down the wall. I hoped it wouldn't rain. </p>
|
||
|
||
<p>Eventually it was my turn to descend, got down to where Olly was at a
|
||
huge jammed boulder which made a floor for a bit. There the rift seemed
|
||
to go 2 ways - rocks went for a long way down the straight-on-left
|
||
route, but a stronger draft seemed to come from the right. This led
|
||
shortly down to a bouldery floor. The rift continued over a jammed rock,
|
||
a big draught comes from here. Olly went some way down - it doesn't
|
||
trivially join the other route and rocks also fall a long way...</p>
|
||
|
||
<p>I was cold and Olly had done a lot of rigging so we decided to start
|
||
the derig. It didn't go too badly (even the tight rift bits) and we got
|
||
all four tackles out before it got too tiring. </p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 9 3/4 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<p><u>148 rigging</u></p>
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg02.jpg" alt="148 rigging"></p>
|
||
<p>the rigging in Some Like it Pot needs some adaption in case it rains,
|
||
but currently would be more unpleasant than suicidal.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-14D">2007-08-14</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Aaron Curtis & Pete Harley</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Final CSB thermistor trip</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Hauled datalogger and thermistor out of CSB, along with a tackle sack
|
||
of rope left from earlier derig. Aaron reprogrammed CSB logger to log
|
||
for coming year (recording once per hour, memory fills in 387 days).
|
||
Plunged back down E, replaced the CSB logger and Pete derigged E on the
|
||
way out. </p>
|
||
|
||
<div class="timeug">T/U 5 1/2 hours</div>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-15B">2007-08-15</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka Lawson</u> & Julian Todd & Aaron Curtis & Duncan Collis & Martin Green & Pete Harley</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Packing Steinbruckenhoehle Bivvy</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Pete, Aaron and Dunks had already done a monster carry yesterday,
|
||
leaving the 7 of us a mere double carry today - we got everything down
|
||
in 17 loads, packing up the bivi inbetween and heading down the second
|
||
time at 8 pm with the final rays of sunset pinkening the slabs. </p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-16A">2007-08-16</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Becka Lawson</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Rope Washing</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>Tony and Djuke had back to collect spit so gave us a hand and Jenny
|
||
and Olly came down the hill with their rope so, thankfully, there were
|
||
decent numbers for the mammoth rope washing, checking, chopping and
|
||
labeling + assorted scrubbing.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-17A">2007-08-17</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople">Becka Lawson</div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">Sketching + Packing</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>I started drawing up surveys at 7am. Around 10 people were starting
|
||
to emerge after last nights deep fat fried glove extravaganza. The
|
||
conversation idly turned to ferry times as Tony et al set off home.
|
||
Dunks decided when on the 19th his ferry went and came back and asked
|
||
the date. "The 17th". "My ferry leaves in 12 hours." "The 19th is when I
|
||
fly to China." Fine-honed expo machine spluttered into action and within
|
||
the hour the wheels were on the trailer, it was filled with rope and the
|
||
tarps strapped on, Martin had been working from his hung-over lie in,
|
||
their gear was packed up, they'd been fed a cooked breakfast, sandwiches
|
||
packed and they were on the road... With a good chance of making the
|
||
ferry. After this firestorm we slumped for a while then started cleaning
|
||
and I sketched until 3am, by which time I only had Pete for company who
|
||
was on a one bender trying to beat Nial's beer tally. The last bits of
|
||
plan for maximum pleasure were a bit ropey but I got there in the end
|
||
ready for a 7.30 start to catch our train to Italy.</p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
<div class="tripdate" id="t2007-08-17B">2007-08-17</div>
|
||
<div class="trippeople"><u>Becka Lawson</u></div>
|
||
<div class="triptitle">204 - Razordance Rigging Guides - scanned in, presumably from a logbook</div>
|
||
|
||
<p>[Author unknown, presumed to be Becka. These diagrams do not actually appear in the scanned logbook
|
||
so must have been done on separate bits of paper. We should search the wallets to see who did them.]
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg09.jpg" alt="204 Razordance rigging guide 1"></p>
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg13.jpg" alt="204 Razordance rigging guide 2"></p>
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg14.jpg" alt="204 Razordance rigging guide 3"></p>
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg15.jpg" alt="204 Razordance rigging guide 4"></p>
|
||
<p><img src="logbkimg16.jpg" alt="204 Razordance rigging guide 5"></p>
|
||
|
||
<hr />
|
||
|
||
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|
||
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|
||
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|
||
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|
||
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|
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|
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|
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