Expo - 2018 Expedition: Week 1
Sat 14 Jul 2018
Jon Toft
Frank has put in a heroic effort, here seen adding grommets to a new tarp for the bier tent.
The weather has been treating us nicely, possibly too nicely. This has made water collection on top of the mountain a bit problematic, but means we get the tans that are otherwise sorely lacking in the caving community.
Gear from last year has been systematically inspected and repaired. Anthony went through all the dry bags, noting that a lot of them seemed to have more than the one hole you would expect, and patched them up accordingly. He claimed that in order to truly repair a dry bag you have to become one with the bag, and demonstrated how to do so.
This year, we have to take two large solar panels and accompanying batteries up the hill. Haydon stepped up to over-engineer cases that would protect these from any nuclear attacks that may be encountered on the way up. Several of us sat around providing some much needed moral support and criticism.
When it comes to over-engineering, one must of course never forget UX testing:
As always, the CUCC expedition is blessed with a great supply of nerds. Phillip Sargent spent an hour trying to convince me that the 4-step version control system couldn?t possibly be easier to use. Today, Mark Shinwell stepped up when the printer was malfunctioning, and solved this by pushing in the paper tray. Some people just aren?t made for the nerding I guess.
Up on top of the mountain the tarps are set up, and curries, noodles, flapjack, gear, soup, more curries, and the all important bog roll.
Leads are already being pushed, with the first few surveys already coming out. Our first major surface find of the year, Homecoming Hole (Heimkommen H?hle) has been pushed down 7 pitches so far, and is still going strong. While this cave was named in anticipation of football coming home, it seems like we?ll have to settle for caving coming home this time around.
The nights end with plenty of drinks and cheer, and continued nerding to slot in the new leads in the database. It's looking like it'll be an exciting year in Austria!
Jon Toft
Blog Author: jtoft
CUCC 2018 Expedition: Week 1
Once again the H?hlenforcher have travelled from the UK to Bad Aussee with gear, curry, and high expectations. It was all looking a bit bleak when Jim suggested it would be a no-drinking expedition, but when he promptly ended up drinking 7 beers the same night, we knew we were in business. The first week has passed quickly, with both bottom and top camp taking shape.Frank has put in a heroic effort, here seen adding grommets to a new tarp for the bier tent.
The weather has been treating us nicely, possibly too nicely. This has made water collection on top of the mountain a bit problematic, but means we get the tans that are otherwise sorely lacking in the caving community.
Gear from last year has been systematically inspected and repaired. Anthony went through all the dry bags, noting that a lot of them seemed to have more than the one hole you would expect, and patched them up accordingly. He claimed that in order to truly repair a dry bag you have to become one with the bag, and demonstrated how to do so.
This year, we have to take two large solar panels and accompanying batteries up the hill. Haydon stepped up to over-engineer cases that would protect these from any nuclear attacks that may be encountered on the way up. Several of us sat around providing some much needed moral support and criticism.
When it comes to over-engineering, one must of course never forget UX testing:
As always, the CUCC expedition is blessed with a great supply of nerds. Phillip Sargent spent an hour trying to convince me that the 4-step version control system couldn?t possibly be easier to use. Today, Mark Shinwell stepped up when the printer was malfunctioning, and solved this by pushing in the paper tray. Some people just aren?t made for the nerding I guess.
Up on top of the mountain the tarps are set up, and curries, noodles, flapjack, gear, soup, more curries, and the all important bog roll.
Leads are already being pushed, with the first few surveys already coming out. Our first major surface find of the year, Homecoming Hole (Heimkommen H?hle) has been pushed down 7 pitches so far, and is still going strong. While this cave was named in anticipation of football coming home, it seems like we?ll have to settle for caving coming home this time around.
The nights end with plenty of drinks and cheer, and continued nerding to slot in the new leads in the database. It's looking like it'll be an exciting year in Austria!