CUCC Expeditions to Austria: 1976 - 2023

The return trip to The Last TSA, to finish the survey. Large mud and stone floored phreatic hading rift, heading S and down, with a chocolate mud river flowing down the floor. Large amount of wall peelage LHS - in one place a huge section has flaked off (20m? long) - "the battleship Potempkin". Wookey shinned up into the ceiling after the battleship, finding a window out into the end chamber with the rift continuing up with a slight draft at 30m above the floor - Wookey realised how high he was, got scared and came back - continuing climb up rift QMB. W rigged a handline down the washed out mud and boulder cliff into the final chamber whereon aven enters - QMX. Far wall is solid, W poked around in the boulders and found that the RHW is undercut and could be the continuation, but no way through the very precarious boulder choke filling the chamber floor and bottom part of 2 walls (RHS, nearside).

De-rigged back into China, and Wookey proceeded to climb up to the alcove visible in the N wall of the aven at the N of China, ~20m up. The climb drafted, but the alcove was a sand-filled passage and didn't go (13-CH-1B). On his way back down, on the RHS of a boulder he had passed on the L on the way up, he found a rift + small hole below which drafted V strongly out! The rift would be tight and looked like you would need to wedge yourself in then descend a pitch. The small hole below may give easier access if dug?

QMA!!! - the way to kH?

Due to time + J being tired, plus the lead looking like a trip in and of itself, both headed back out at this point.

The Last TSA:

QMB - 30m+ climb up hading rift in ceiling between the battleship wall flake and the final aven.

QMX - the aven entering the final chamber.

QMA - Rift small hole with strong outward draft in N wall of aven 1/2 way up climb to alcove, may require pitch bolting once into rift.