Approach via summit of Vorderer Schwarzmooskogel
Although relatively close to the
Bergrestaurant in pure distance terms, the summit
area of the Vorderer Schwarzmooskogel is an
inaccessible location, hedged around with small cliffs and patches of dwarf
pine.
There are three possible approaches, of varying merits, and which is used
depends as much on the favoured starting point, as on anything else. From
the Bergrestaurant itself, it is possible (though not easy) to follow the
Nipple path, not as far as the Nipple itself, then
hack up towards the summit, possibly via Schwabenschacht. However, this is
only really useful if also visiting caves near this path.
A second approach, equally usable from the road or from first 1977 Top Camp is a direct assault of the small
cliffs and dwarf pine from the Schwarzmoossattel, or slightly down valley.
This appears to be the route used most frequently when the summit area caves
were explored in the early eighties, but has not been used recently.
The "modern" approach is to follow the 161 approach, hacking off at
either of two points, depending on whether caves east or west and north
of the summit are the destination.
For the north and west, a recently cairned path seems to be the most
popular approach to the summit by walkers, and is clearly destined to
become increasingly clear with traffic. Indeed, it is becoming an easy
route for those approaching 161 and the col to get side-tracked onto.
It ascends close to laser point
0/1, and the small group of nearby entrances, the most obvious of which is
the open shaft of 1623/156. This should be skirted on
the left (uphill, east) side. Following the cairned route through various
patches of pine leads to the summit, not obvious until you are almost upon
it.
The route taken by early eighties surface surveys, to caves on the east
side of the summit (and perhaps best
for those based at Top Camp familiar with the route to
Kaninchenhöhle), is to go along a traverse
route marked with orange paint (by a French caving group, we believe), from
the 161c entrance. This path leads below 162 and
163 to lead eventually towards the
Eishöhle area, between Kaninchenhöhle
and Stellerweghöhle. This zone has various caves
not explored by CUCC, and as such was neglected by us for many years.
However, around 2000 it became clear that it was a critical area beneath which
the much sought-after connection between the two biggest caves in the area must
lie, and it received much attention from both CUCC and Arge for several years
(although the connection was eventually found elsewhere). See, for example, the
2000 Expo goals document. This area can
also be accessed via the Nipple path, which was the
main access route for the CUCC explorations in Eishöhle.