CUCC Expeditions to Austria: 1976 - 2023

Mon 20th am (ED: "FIRST BIT" not a caving trip, just an admin sesh)

The currently closest explored EH point to KH is 37m away. Our bolt traverse over Over The Top started 102m away. The first day we got 32m closer. The second day we got 16m closer again. From this we conclude that our approach to KH is an exponential decay to a asymptote at 38m separation. FFS. Shall we just go to the pub?

Oh yeah, and we've rejigged the "bolt traverse" round Over The Top as a pendule - new rigging topo:

[pic]

Guess what. Looking for a connection again.

Now we've also rejigged the upper half of Devil's Chute: new rigging topo :

[pic]

We also climbed a few metres higher in yesterday's rift [ rerigged the pitch - new rigging topo:

[pic]

then decided to check out the downstream direction of the high-level rift, to see if it went anywhere different from downstream rift at low level (i.e. where we'd come from). It doesn't [appear to], so we surveyed + derigged it.

The remaining lead is to continue climbing + traversing in the upstream direction. Following upstream at floor level reaches (yet another) drippy aven but (yet again), a few metres before the aven, it's possible to climb the rift (which we've now done), and traverse across. (The rift isn't confusing any more - linear, but hading and winding.)

Top cave. Top 4 days. Don't know if I'm going back there, but somone else should :-} And here's my most important Top Tip: wear crampons that stay on your feet. Otherwise you end up doing a frighteningly friendly dance with Olly in order to claw your way out of Schneevulcanhalle. Euugghh.

Hilary

P.S. derigged the bolt traverse (Too Across)* and the going-the-wrong-direction pitch from Fri 17th.

* (but left the pendule in place, obviously)