Hidden Earth 2026

Dachstein Caving Expedition 2026

45 minute Lecture|Andrew Mcleod

Abstract

As usual, this talk will be hot off the press with the expedition only ending 12 days before Hidden Earth begins! This year in the Dachstein we will as usual be searching for new caves, as well as pushing a 250 m deep cave called Thundergasm that has been neglected in recent years, but our most exciting leads remain in WUG Pot, our entrance into the 120 km long and 1560 m deep Hirlatzhöhle.

We have three main leads, all in big ongoing passage needing bolt traverses to continue, and each with a number of undescended pitches. Daylight Robbery, where around 600 m of new passage was found last year, will be explored from Camp 2, and will definitely (not definitely) continue leading to passages measureless to man. Passage No 33., with around 300 m of new passage found last year from the new Camp 0.5, will also lead (possibly) into large ongoing passage heading to a new easier entrance. Meanwhile, we will set up a new Camp -1 in Forbidden Fruits (300 m of new passage last year) and enjoy the tastes of successful exploration (hopefully) as we find kilometres of new passage heading deeper into the mountain under the glacier (maybe)...

Only one thing is certain - we will have done something interesting in our four weeks, even if it ends up being nothing like what we are expecting!