CUCC Expeditions to Austria: 1976 - 2023

Tony, Mike pushing Time U/G

Sam, _Adam_surveying TU 6 hours

(1) _Surveying Trip_ - Mike

Proceeded to passage referred to in the last write-up. The dirty ramp in Wheelchair Access has been renamed Kein Zimmer Rift on account of the lack of space. Surveyed from the 'M' carbide mark at -225m below 161a. Survey station 20 is the bottom of a plumb from the obvious nose containing a spit for the pitch into the big stuff. Tony whinged like a tosser spitting this. Spent ~¼hour running upstream in enormnous passage, before leaving.

See survey book for Sam's sketch of (mainly) the upstream passage - Tony and Mike had investigated down stream ... (next page)

(2) _Pushing Trip_ - Adam

Trundled quickly down to the bottom of Kein Zimmer, pausing only occasionally to kick shit out of a tackle bag to get it down the rift. A few minutes knitting saw the drop into the passage rigged, and we dropped into a huge (well, very large) passage. Hmmm :- upstream or downstream? We agreed on downstream - followed passage for 250m with a few climbs through boulders but always large passage (phreatic tube at the pitch but becoming more canyon-like later). Eventually reached big ledge at side of a massive rift chamber. Tony bolted and descended to a ledge below which the pitch continued, but from there we climbed into the chamber. This is a huge (yes, _huge_) rift chamber with a steeply sloping floor, maybe 40m end-to-end. The bottom end narrows to a wall of mud. Unfortunately we couldn't find any way out.

Returned back up and met Sam & Adam who had just reached the kitted pitch. Tony bolted properly, then we ran upstream for a bit; this leads over a choss bank to another large chamber with a soil bank; up this and left leads back to the main passage, right goes to a climb down into a chamber, with a crawling tube back to the aforementioned chamber.

Now that's what makes expo caving worthwhile. Went out and got back to the Löserhutte before it started raining.