UK Caving Blog post: two weeks on
Thu 13 Jul 2023
Honorata Bogusz
Honorata Bogusz
Blog Author: honorata
The first two weeks of expo have been quite eventful, with exploration proceeding in Fishface and Homecoming, and a new camp being set on the plateau.
Garlic Cave
Garlic Cave is located just 20 mins of walking from Homecoming, making it a perfect location to explore the far side of the plateau.
See the great movie by Zac Woodford.
Pic (L to R): Nadia Raeburn-Cherradi, Oakem Kyne, Jana Podbelsek, and Jono Lester at Garlic Cave.
Fishface
A couple of shallow leads were pushed and killed. In terms of deep leads, me (Honorata), Radost, and Mike pushed 60 meters above Clap my Pitch Up which required bolting a muddy traverse (we called it European Federalists). Later, Mike, Emma, Mealy, and Jonty camped in Fishface for 2 days to push the area further, but they were running in loops. The traverse we rigged has a strong draft which seems to be coming from the massive pitch at the end of it. The pitch is likely part of Clap my Pitch Up which had been explored earlier and might even connect to Ulysses above. Mike also explored Perseid Showers which does not seem to go anywhere. In sum, the most promising leads were killed.
Homecoming
A fantastic lead has been explored by Wassil, Chi, and Oakem behind The Second Coming, called Salamander Queen (not to be confused with Salamander Queen II which lies closer to the entrance, under Radagast -- I suppose the salamanders are crawling outwards, hence the reversed numbering). The passage was deemed a good lead because of a strong outward draft. Salamander Queen is achieved by going from Radagast, through The Second Coming, Willfully Endangering Lives, Swiss Cheese, Salamander Queen II, German Engineering, and War of Attrition. It is an approx. 90m deep pitch which seems to continue with a scary down climb. Wassil and Chi intend to camp in Homecoming on Saturday to push the lead further.
Meanwhile, Harry and Charlotte (with the help of Sarah and Becka) have been pursuing another lead in the direction of Watershed, called Plowstone Canyon. It is a phreathic tube with a draft (not a very strong one). They set off to the plateau today to continue pushing it.
Prospecting
A few small caves were explored and killed between Fishface and Homecoming by various groups. Radost and I found a massive cave entrance 5 mins of walking from Homecoming which we named Amphitheater Cave (http://expo.survex.com/1623/2023-hbrw-03.html). The entrance lies approx. 200m directly above the Watershed lead in Homecoming, giving hope that the two caves connect.
Pic: Radost Waszkiewicz at the entrance to the Amphitheater.
We returned there with Ash on July 11th to explore it. We surveyed it until the entrance to the second pitch (70m) and Ash bolted it halfway down it. On July 12th, Ash and Janis returned there to push it further. They arrived at the bottom of the second pitch and continued down a passage which chokes with ice boulders, making further exploration dangerous. Essentially, the lead was killed, but we surveyed about 115 m in total. The second pitch is drippy and has ice patches (independent from the water entering it), and so is Watershed. Perhaps when the ice melts over years, we could return there to push the lead further.
Festering
Meanwhile, rest day activities took place. Me, Radost, Chi, Harry, and Ash went canyoning to Strubklamm near Saltzburg. The canyon is graded V1A3, it is suitable to do without ropes (if jumps up to 10m are acceptable) and can be done on an inflatable unicorn. Alice and Maddie also went there later.
Pic: Christian Kuhlmann on the unicorn in Strubklamm.
Multiple groups went on via ferratas. Me, Radost, Harry, Charlotte, Oakem, and Jonty went to Panorama Kletterstieg Sisi, graded D and located close to the Loseralm parking lot. It is a fun vertical climb -- the scarcity of aids (besides the metal wire) makes it entertaining. The description says the route takes between 1-2 hours but it took us 50 mins with a photo break in the middle.
Pic: Oakem Kyne (L) and Jonty Pine (R) on Panorama Kletterstieg Sisi.
Garlic Cave
Garlic Cave is located just 20 mins of walking from Homecoming, making it a perfect location to explore the far side of the plateau.
See the great movie by Zac Woodford.
Pic (L to R): Nadia Raeburn-Cherradi, Oakem Kyne, Jana Podbelsek, and Jono Lester at Garlic Cave.
Fishface
A couple of shallow leads were pushed and killed. In terms of deep leads, me (Honorata), Radost, and Mike pushed 60 meters above Clap my Pitch Up which required bolting a muddy traverse (we called it European Federalists). Later, Mike, Emma, Mealy, and Jonty camped in Fishface for 2 days to push the area further, but they were running in loops. The traverse we rigged has a strong draft which seems to be coming from the massive pitch at the end of it. The pitch is likely part of Clap my Pitch Up which had been explored earlier and might even connect to Ulysses above. Mike also explored Perseid Showers which does not seem to go anywhere. In sum, the most promising leads were killed.
Homecoming
A fantastic lead has been explored by Wassil, Chi, and Oakem behind The Second Coming, called Salamander Queen (not to be confused with Salamander Queen II which lies closer to the entrance, under Radagast -- I suppose the salamanders are crawling outwards, hence the reversed numbering). The passage was deemed a good lead because of a strong outward draft. Salamander Queen is achieved by going from Radagast, through The Second Coming, Willfully Endangering Lives, Swiss Cheese, Salamander Queen II, German Engineering, and War of Attrition. It is an approx. 90m deep pitch which seems to continue with a scary down climb. Wassil and Chi intend to camp in Homecoming on Saturday to push the lead further.
Meanwhile, Harry and Charlotte (with the help of Sarah and Becka) have been pursuing another lead in the direction of Watershed, called Plowstone Canyon. It is a phreathic tube with a draft (not a very strong one). They set off to the plateau today to continue pushing it.
Prospecting
A few small caves were explored and killed between Fishface and Homecoming by various groups. Radost and I found a massive cave entrance 5 mins of walking from Homecoming which we named Amphitheater Cave (http://expo.survex.com/1623/2023-hbrw-03.html). The entrance lies approx. 200m directly above the Watershed lead in Homecoming, giving hope that the two caves connect.
Pic: Radost Waszkiewicz at the entrance to the Amphitheater.
We returned there with Ash on July 11th to explore it. We surveyed it until the entrance to the second pitch (70m) and Ash bolted it halfway down it. On July 12th, Ash and Janis returned there to push it further. They arrived at the bottom of the second pitch and continued down a passage which chokes with ice boulders, making further exploration dangerous. Essentially, the lead was killed, but we surveyed about 115 m in total. The second pitch is drippy and has ice patches (independent from the water entering it), and so is Watershed. Perhaps when the ice melts over years, we could return there to push the lead further.
Festering
Meanwhile, rest day activities took place. Me, Radost, Chi, Harry, and Ash went canyoning to Strubklamm near Saltzburg. The canyon is graded V1A3, it is suitable to do without ropes (if jumps up to 10m are acceptable) and can be done on an inflatable unicorn. Alice and Maddie also went there later.
Pic: Christian Kuhlmann on the unicorn in Strubklamm.
Multiple groups went on via ferratas. Me, Radost, Harry, Charlotte, Oakem, and Jonty went to Panorama Kletterstieg Sisi, graded D and located close to the Loseralm parking lot. It is a fun vertical climb -- the scarcity of aids (besides the metal wire) makes it entertaining. The description says the route takes between 1-2 hours but it took us 50 mins with a photo break in the middle.
Pic: Oakem Kyne (L) and Jonty Pine (R) on Panorama Kletterstieg Sisi.
No wallets files found for this date.
Logbook trips on this date:
festering - Via Ferrata "Panorama Kletterstieg Sisi"
UK Caving Blog post: two weeks on