The next four years
in Leoganger Steinberge

Pitch in CL3, ph. J. Nowak

The latest exploration in the Leoganger Steinberge was focused solely on the highest parts of the Nebelsbergkar. The area lies at the elevation of 2285 m and this is where PL-2 cave is located, which is the highest entrance of the Lamprechtsofen cave system.
In PL-2 cave at the depth of 400 m a complex and spacious horizontal galery is present. One side of this galIery led us to parts of Lamprechtsofen, the other part develops in southwestern direction where it changes into systems of cracks, pits and domes that will surely lead to the highest parts of the massif.

The Nebelsbergkar reaches the ridge which descends southward at elevation of 2400 m. Due to that it sets a natural limit of the vertical and horizontal extension of the cave system. However, additional possibilities lie in the western slopes of the Konchelhorn (2500 m of altitude) and on the slopes of the highest peek in the massif Birnhorn (2634 m of altitude) that join the northward descending Nebelsbergkar.
The possibilities of exploration in this part of the massif were our recent priority. It was feasible once our camp was moved to the 2300 m of altitude near the highest entrance to Laprechtsofen. As this happened, the upper parts of Nebelsbergkar became more accessible. This is even more important if you take into consideration the bad weather associated with the altitude and geographical location. Moving the camp to the higher altitude complicated our logistics. In order to bring the supplies to the camp we had to use a helicopter, as each year we need over one metric ton of equipment and supplies. The frequent snowfall and winds at the camp are also very demanding on the people involved and require lots of stamina to cave effectively.
Our main goal in this area is CL-3 cave, discovered in 1996. It is located in the middle of the highest part of the Nebelsbergkar. We were looking for it for years and once it was discovered it started to develop in all directions. However the direction in which the cave developed least was north, the direction of Lamprechtsofen.