CUCC Expeditions to Austria: 1976 - 2024

Descended 204a ent pitches and wandered up Near End Series as far as the supposed end of the Colonnade connection. Didn't look at all promising – clearing some cobbles revealed two passages heading in the right directions but both were far too tight. Derigged out of A.

After a cup of tea we went back down E and slogged across to the up-pitch into Cresta Run. Attempting to dig into Rat Biscuit was no more successful than the last dig, owing to the excessive mobility of the boulder pile (one the size of the tatty hut fridge nearly squished my leg). Some hammering revealed a hole in the floor, which consultant small person (i.e. not me) climbed into, and had rather more difficulty getting out of.

Having got bored of this we had a look at the pitch at the end of Cresta. The traverse round to the left proved possible without a rope (although somewhat entertaining on the return, as we were later to find). This revealed a tall rift passage passable at roof level, leading to a chamber full of boulders. The rift has a strong draught but this just disappears into the boulders. There is an arguable lead: a crawl underneath a boulder the size of a small car, supported a foot off the floor by nothing whatsoever. Surveyed out; maybe 25m of survey (I don't know, I left the notes up the hill – doh!) [Not a bad guess – it was 25.49m].