CUCC Expeditions to Austria: 1976 - 2023

My caving gear still wet & cold, we set off to the 'Wot no Butcombe' end of the 'Rhino Rift' area of 204. We rigged pitch 03-79A; a phreatic pitch wead [sic] tackled nicely with a single backed-up bolt. The fortuitous bolt placement occured purely by chance.

03-76B leads out from the opposite side of the pitch head, but would require a handful of bolts to access. Aaron took some time rigging, at one point succeeding in incorporating his chest tape into the rig accidentally. We descended the pitch, now named 'Hollow Sausage.' It is phreatic in character, with a shelf around halfway down before the shaft balloons out, then contracts again.

At the bottom of this 9m pitch, one finds one's body in a small widening of a tall, narrow, and windy rift. This had a small stream at the bottom and had been named "Dover's Last Stand". The crawl to the pitchhead is likewise rocky.

A boulder choke prevents one travelling far downhill the rift. Uphill there are fine mud formations on the left wall. A 4m climb leads to a narrowing of the rift. It gets too tight, but there seems to be a route above of B/C QM calibre. This is tough and may qualify as being a pitch. Would be better explored downhill.