CUCC Expeditions to Austria: 1976 - 2023

Fri 05 Aug 2005
Becka

Nial had had a long trip yesterday + I'd walked up from Base Camp first thing in the morning + did a second carry to fetch stuff from Wolfhöhle in the evening so a short afternoon trip was in order. Nial wanted to get a series of photos of the trip down Gaffered so we set off with our basic digital cameras. Got some surprisingly good shots - Nial's hot tips seemed to work well:

1. Use the self-timeer + balance the camera on a rock else you get too much shake.
2. Use the "night-time" automatic setting to give a long exposure.
3. If not using flash (which only works to a couple of metres distance) use your headlight to "paint" with light - Nial's superbright beam is excellent for this.

Took photos as far as the traverse line on Gaffered. Then out to check out Crowning Glory [that is, QM 01-10A at the northern end of that passage]. The handline up was still rigged, and, mysteriousy, there were still the two hangers left for the pitch down. I then put in a hand bolt to descend the next (3m?) pitch that last time Martin had gone down by just trailing the previous pitch rope down. From here there is a pitch down (QM B?) and a climb up that would need to be bolted (QM B/C?). The previous survey ends at the top of the handline climb so there is ~20m more unsurveyed from here (the 4m pitch down to a small chamber then the 3m pitch to a small aven + the QM B pitch).