Surveys and Rigging Guides
1623/290 (Glückliche Schmetterlingshöhle) was connected to 1623/291 (Fischgesicht Höhle) in 2022 so this survey - which was prepared before the 2022 expedition - is the last that shows Glückliche Schmetterlingshöhle as a separate cave. See the survey for 1623/291 for subsequent surveys that include 1623/290
Underground Description
Note: This description has been made from very little notes and much-faded memory
A snow slope, or loose climb, leads to a little chamber with a strongly drafting crawl. This soon reaches a short pitch or freeclimb down to a loose rift, going left and right.
Going right leads to another short pitch. Leftwards after the pitch quickly reaches a choke, while to the right leads to another short pitch. One can crawl through boulders on the right to bypass the pitch.
To left from the initial intersection continues the main cave. Right leads to a short crawl then a drippy aven coming close to the surface. Left leads to a traverse over a loose ledge then down a ramp on the right and through sandy squeeze. Some easy crawling leads to a short pitch that can get damp with spray in wet conditions. Continuing though a small chamber leads to a traverse, where the floor opens up until a ~50m pitch down a clean-washed shaft.
Swinging off the the side, shortly after the pitch head leads to a short passage, with some QM's in it.
At the foot of the p50 a fairly narrow rift can be followed for ~30 m until it widens to a small chamber with some rifts in the floor. Traversing over to the right of the chamber leads to two pitches in the floor, on of which connects to the rift.
The furthest pitch appears to be a blind pot, but it's not clear whether its been dropped
The first pitch, on the left, drops 14 m to a boulder ledge in the rift. There are some small phreatic passages entering on the far wall, which have not been thoroughly explored and need some protection to access
Going West (back toward the p50) from the bottom of the pitch, the rift narrows until a short chimney climb, beyond which the rift is too tight for progress. To the East the high rift continues on at the level of the floor and at the level of the pitchhead of the p14.
Dropping down the rift from the foot of the p14 a small window is visible below. This opens to a large, well-watered pitch explored in 2019 (Well Needed Shower). A straight drop down to a dry-ish ledge gives a view of the wet shaft. At the foot of Well Needed Shower a meander joins from the left; and, on the right a narrow meander is human-size for 10 m and continues onwards, taking water at a low level (QM B, unsurveyed). The meander to the left continues in both directions. Left, this meander connects to Bath Dodger's Bypass, and is by far the better way to access this area - right is unexplored (QM B, unsurveyed).
East of the head of the p14 the rift opens into two parallel shafts. The nearest shaft drops ~ 17 m to a boulder floor. The further shaft looks blind, but has not been descended (QM B). Above the shaft, two crawling-height phreatic tubes lead off to the North (QM C). At the base of the water-worn p17 there are two ways on. A crawl under boulders to the West comes to a window part way down Well Needed Shower. The other way on is a short meander leading ~ 15 m to a pitchead. This is descended around 35 m down the wall of a large chamber, Bath Dodger's Bypass.
The pitch lands on a caravan-sized suspended boulder covered in large fossils, or can be descended to the chamber floor below. Bath Dodger's Bypass is a sloping chamber around 60 m high, the base of which is covered in sizable boulders. The floor slopes upwards to the north, the top of this scree-covered slope has not been reached. Accessing the top of the slope would probably require a short aid climb up the right-hand wall. The view of the top of this slope hints at large phreatic development (QM A). A vadose passage in the wall, accessible by a climb from the perched boulder, leads to an awkward climb after a couple of meters and looks immature above, but might be pushed to give acces to the top of the chamber (QM C).
An opening on the southern side of Bath Dodger's Bypass leads to another chamber. Just before this chamber a narrow vadose passage joins on the right, this connects around to the same chamber. A hole in the floor to the right, a few metres along this side passage, goes to a mud choke in one direction and a boulder choke in the other. This is likely just below the boulder floor of Bath Dodger's.
A slightly exposed climb from the caravan-sized boulder in Bath Dodger's to a small gap below a block in the rift on the south side of the chamber gives access to a high-level in another rift, which connects through to the side chamber high up in one wall (unsurveyed).
Entering the side chamber by the low, easy route arrives at a ledge overlooking the floor. A climb down to the right allows access to the floor. From here two vadose meander passages lead off. The right-hand passage loops back toward Bath Dodger's Bypass, and the left-hand passage continues. This passage connects through to the bottom of Much Needed Shower, via an exposed climb, and so provides dry access to the leads at the foot of the wet shaft. This loop closure has not been completed as the wet pitch was not fully surveyed for reasons of safety.
It may be worth carefully reexamining each meander passage off of Bath Dodger's Bypass, as some were not thoroughly inspected at every level.
QMs
QM page for 1623-291Wallets: scanned survey notes
There are 8 wallets with data for this cave:2017#25 2017#26 2017#27 2017#29 2017#30 2018#25 2019#05 2022#37