204 - 204
Anthony Day
Plan was for Mick & Brian to bolt across a pit at the northern extremity of "Chocolate Salty Balls" while me & Dunks caught up with the surveying backlog. Got to Cave Tree chamber to find a rope hanging out of the roof and an Animal stood at the bottom - hence 204 had its third entrance. We were warned that the pitch head was "rather loose" but planned to go out that way. Surveying proceeded at a reasonable pace, and we caught up with Mick & Brian just as Brian was preparing to place the last traverse bolt. At this point we noticed that there was no draught coming from across the pitch, so it came as less of a surprise when Brian teetered across to find all of four feet of cave. While we were there, we thought we might as well drop the pitch. At the bottom is a short horizontal passage leading to another pitch. This appears to be moderately deep as a stone rattled for 11 seconds down it ...
Steamed on out and got to the bottom of the new entrance pitch. Pitch was very nice until the last 5m where the rope appeared to hang out of a "rather loose" boulder choke. Once off the rope, the fun continues with an uphill squeeze through mobile boulders.
If this pitch is to become a trade route, some serious gardening must be performed because at the moment it is a deathtrap - one of the loosest pitch heads Dunks or I have seen in Austria *
* This place is a fucking death-trap. it is in danger of major collapse. I'd give it a resounding Ø star recommendation. Duncan