Mike Thomas
Only a day of prospecting was done this year, surprising considering the alternatives along the caving line. One small but powerfully draughting entrance (132) was found by Phil T. also a larger but static entrance (131), 131 being just above 32 on the Wildensee Hut track, so probably connecting with the 41 - 115 system, but about 15m below 41. They were both left while the push went on in 115.
Unfortunately the heavens opened one day, forcing everyone to hide in the Bar Fischer and when Phil and Mike went up to push 115 they had to park the car in a lake. Realising that we couldn't return for a while and finding the restaurant closed, we decided to look at recent finds.
After swimming through the bunde, we found the well concealed entrance blowing a gale. Phil put on his hard caving gear comprising jeans, T-shirt and even a wetsuit top and descended into the beckoning void. He raced in, and avoiding the howling gale blowing in his ear, crawled up the blind passage to find Mike squeezing through a hole he had just dug out. We were in. The cave just got bigger and bigger. So, after running round and losing each other, we surfaced after an arduous two hour trip. 131 was then looked at. Although it has a probable 80m pitch down a narrow rift, past experience has shown that the draught is necessary for a sizeable system.
The next trip pushed further afield and found a medium sized chamber with several leads going off. Doug and Mike tried to fill one of these in, but decided to leave as the rocks were taking rather a long time to hit bottom. They then lost each other and left separately to rescue each other.
When this news was heard, it was ealised by an intelligent few that here was an easier alternative to 115. So, a crack team did the half hour trip to the head of the undescended pitch. When the bolts were finally placed and powerful electric lights failed to show the rope to touch bottom, Mike and Andy decided to jack but Tim abseiled into the gloom to find a 35-40m pitch into a gigantic chamber approximately half the dimensions of Gaping Gill (yes, it's all from memory - very grade 1). Two very promising leads involving a squeeze past hanging death or a tumble down a tube were found in the half hour's exploration which followed. The final trip derigged the rope and left all the unexplored ends till next year.