Expo 2009: mission statement

Expo 2009 (Cambridge Austrian Cave Science Expedition) seeks to continue over three decades worth of cave exploration and surveying on the Loser Plateau in the Totes Gebirge mountains, Austria.

Note that numbers given by cave names are those of the Austrian Kataster for our area.

During the 1990s the main focus of expo was Kaninchenhöhle (161). The past few years have seen the discovery and subsequent exploration of Steinbrückenhöhle (204) and, more recently, Tunnockschacht (258). A particularly impressive effort in 2007 saw 204 pushed to within several dozen metres of KH. The stage is now set for the next few years of exploration to potentially be spectacularly successful as we search for the connections between the three caves. Success would result in one of the world's 30 longest cave systems.

Exploration Goals

Kaninchenhöhle, 161, Primary Objective:

The ultimate goal is to seek a connection between Kaninchenhöhle and the lowest reaches of 204, beyond Razordance. However there are so many high-grade leads at The Far End in Kaninchenhöhle that continuing exploration here is a worthwhile goal in itself. The description is available here.

Tunnockschacht, 258:

To continue to push some of the horizontal leads, most notably:
- Stone Monkey
- Flying High
To drop some of the many undescended pitches with the aim of finding a deeper horizontal level.

Steinbrückenhöhle, 204:

To continue exploration of some of the upper level leads in the vicinity of E entrance. More specifically:

The area beyond 7-11 chamber, which was initially explored in 2008
Riverdance, undropped pitch
The area near sandpit which was also explored in 2008, here

Other Goals

To continue to maintain good relations with local Austrian caving groups.
To update the expo website to reflect the passages found in the past 2 or 3 years.
To test out Troggle on the expedition.