The New Bull Rock (Nová Býčí skála) Cave and the Old Gallery (Stará štola) - an insight into an active fault

Vojtěch A. Gregor, Sborník Muzea Blansko 2012, p. 12-29.

 Summary

The Bull Rock (Býčí skála) Cave in the Josefov-Křtiny Valley of the Moravian Karst represents an underground streambed of the Jedovnice Creek and, for a part, also a paleo-resurgence cave of the stream.  At high floods the paleo-resurgence part - the main passage of the Old Bull Rock Cave - becomes a flood streambed and the cave entrance(s) an active karst spring.  The cave consists of several units named, from the entrance to the terminal Srbský (Serbian) siphon, Stará Býčí skála (Old Bull Rock Cave), Nová Býčí skála (New Bull Rock Cave), Prolomená skála (Broken-in Rock Cave) and Proplavaná skála (Swum-through Rock Cave).  The present-day length of the complex, including the Barová jeskyně (Bar Cave), amounts to some 15 km.

Systematic speleological exploration of the Bull Rock Cave began in 1902.  It was carried out by members of the Verein der deutschen Touristen in Brünn, Gruppe für Höhlenforschung (VdT-GfH, a German caving group in Brno, under the leadership of Günther Nouackh).  In 1912, the cavers focused their attention on the key problem - the terminal point of the cave at the time, the Šenkův (Schenk's, Schenk) siphon.  In 1920 their effort was crowned with a success - the overcoming of the siphon and the discovery of the New Bull Rock Cave with the underground Jedovnice Creek.  This included diving (G. Nouackh), water pumping and, finally, drilling and blasting of submerged parts of the siphon roof (ceiling).  Since 1947, namely from 1973 to 1985, Czech cavers gradually discovered the underground stream of the Jedovnice Creek between the New Bull Rock Cave and the Rudické propadání.  They also have discovered the underground course of the creek between the Bull Rock Cave, the Bar (Barová) Cave and the springs in Josefov.

The New Bull Rock Cave, namely the Vysoký dóm (High Dome), Odporný komín (Loathsome Chimney), Stará štola (Old Gallery) and the newly discovered room, HMŠ (Head of a Dead Snail), provide a detailed insight into the interior of a prominent fault - so called JV zlom (SE fault).  The fault is a deep-seated feature.  It extends from the Precambrian crystalline basement (the Young Cadomian Brno Igneous Massif) through the entire Phanerozoic sedimentary sequence (Devonian basal clastics and carbonates, Mesozoic and Tertiary mantle deposits) to the surface of the Rudice Plateau.  In the cave, it contains up to 3 m thick fill of zonal calcite and calcite breccia.  The history of episodic movements along the fault goes from the Variscan (Hercynian) orogeny through the Saxon tectogenesis (the origin of the Blansko Graben) to the present.  Recent movements are indicated by young breakdown - angular limestone and calcite blocks - in the HMŠ.

The fault and with it associated (sub)parallel fractures control approximately 100 m long stretch of the New Bull Rock Cave to the height of up to 70 m.  Several chimneys are located along the fault, most of them with an active dropfall of meteoric water.  The aggressiveness of the water accounts for rich, well pronounced corrosion forms.  The Mesozoic (Lower and Upper Cretaceous) and Cenozoic (Paleogene) mantle sediments, including chert detritus (from Jurassic limestone) and Pleistocene loess (loess loam), sink and/or are washed down along the fault and through the chimneys.  The fault also appears to control, at least to some extent, the course of upper cave levels - i.e., the course of the paleoflow of the Jedovnice Creek.

The New Bull Rock Cave could represent an interesting field trip stop for national and international speleological and geological meetings and congresses.

History and evolution of mountain climbing in the Moravian Karst

Vojtěch A. Gregor, Vladimír Pipal, Petr Pokorný, Sborník Muzea Blansko, 2012, p. 30-48.

Summary

The Moravian Karst (MK) is situated north of the Moravian capital of Brno (Czech Republic).The NNE-SSW striking strip of partly barred Paleozoic limestones that form the MK is approximately 24 km long, 2 to 6 km wide and occupies an area of ca. 92 km².  Powerful vertical erosion (down-cutting) carved deep, canyon-like valleys in the otherwise flat surface of the area.  It formed rock faces up to 90 m high.  The highest rock face is the Main Wall (the south-west wall) of the 138 m deep Macocha Chasm.

The history of mountain climbing or rather rock climbing in the MK can be divided into seven periods of which each bears distinct characteristics.

(1) First Ascents - the "Prehistory".  A 1748 drawing by Karl Beduzzi shows a local villager climbing the west face of the isolated rock tower Hřebenáč near the village of Sloup in the northern part of the MK.

(2) The Pre-First World War Period is marked by the foundation of the Club of Czech Tourists (KČT, 1894), as a counterweight to the Club of German Tourist (VDT) and other, mountain-climbing German organizations associated with the VDT.  In the early 1900s, members of the Brno branches of these clubs "discovered" the first climbing terrains in the MK, namely the area of the Býčí skála (Bull Rock) in the middle part of the MK.  Czechs Karel Kubásek and O. Bažant, and Germans Oswald Bernhardt and Hermann Bock were the most distinguished climbers of that time.

(3) The Intermediate Period (between WWI and WWII) bears testimony to an increasing interest of Czech tourists in mountain climbing.  As a result, two Czech mountain climbing associations were created.  The interest of Czech climbers in the MK is only marginal and it is focused on the Bull Rock area.  Rocks in this area are frequently visited by German climbers, whose names dominate in first registered ascents.  In 1938 German climbers Arnold Czerny, Franz Krammer and Erhard Wagner published the first printed climbing guidebook to the Býčí skála area and thus, the first guide to the Moravian Karst.  The book was named Kletterführer durch die Rabensteinwand (Stierfelswand) bei Brünn and was published as a supplement to the magazine Bergwart of Die Deutsch-akademische Alpenvereinsgruppe Brünn.  The guide represents a symbolical end of the pre-WWI and intermediate periods.

(4) The Second World War (WWII) marks the beginning of an onslaught on the rock faces of the northern part of the MK by Czech members of the KČT and with it associated climber's organizations.  It is rather paradoxical, since the country is occupied by Germans and the Wehrmacht, in the second half of the war years, converts several MK caves into underground factories of military importance.  The most active is a group associated with František Plšek and including J. Buchníček, A. Flek, R. Gottwald, O. Hlavenka, J. Jirůšek, B. Kyněra, H. Pavlovský, S. Plch, J. Vlach, F. Vlk, J. Soška, V. Zábranský, V. Zachoval and V. Zavřel.  Members of this group first-ascended many prominent rock walls in the area.  The most notable accomplishment is the first registered ascent in the upper half of the Main Wall of the Macocha Chasm by then 18-year old climbers F. Plšek and František Vlk on September 9^th, 1944.

(5) The Post-War Period until 1960.  The liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945 opened new perspectives for the war generation of climbers.  During this period all main rock faces were ascended including the lower half of the Main Wall of the Macocha Chasm (F. Plšek, H. Pavlovský, B. Kyněra, 1946).  The KČT and with it associated clubs were dissolved shortly after the 1948 communist coup.  Later, in the 1950s, they were replaced by physical training units (TJ) under the umbrella of the Czechoslovak Association of Physical Training, ČSTV.  A number of mountain climbing groups (HO) were established at these units, starting with the HO Zbrojovka Brno (ČZ Brno).  New names on the climbing scene include D. Forejtník, M. Grois, M. Jílek an subsequently also I. Bajer, R. Fadrný, R. Hýsek and M. Pavelka.  Late 50s and early 60s bring a new element to the technical arsenal: expansion pegs (pins), also called expansion rivets or expansion bolts.  A rock climbing guide by Ivan Sitař (1960) marks the end of this period.

(6) Years 1960-1980 amplify trends that emerged during the WWII and Post-WWII periods.  The social composition of the climbing community changes, climbing styles change and new, advanced climbing gear is available.  The most important switch however, is in the philosophy of climbing.  Mountain climbing, formerly a privileged activity, is rapidly transformed into a mass sport.  It also ceases to be the domain of academics (people with college or university education) as well as that of men - the number of woman climbers is on the increase.  Also increasing is the level of difficulty of newly ascended routes - and there are plenty of them (grades V, V-VI and VI according to the classical Welzenbach scale).  A decrease in the number of artificial advance and belay aids, especially pegs and expansion bolts, represents another trend.  Eye splices (knots), chokestones and eccentric inserts are the preferred alternatives.  Despite this trend, several technical, peg and bolt routes were created during the 60s and 70s, namely in the roof arch (dome) of the Macocha Chasm (Pekelný jícen, the Hell Gullet) and on the Bull Rock (Zrcadlo - Mirror).  In addition to climbers of the Post-war period, new and younger faces appear, the most renowned including J. Beneš, P. Fadrný, V. Kalovský, V. Krejčí, J. Krch, V. Pipal, J. Přikryl and J. Unger-Zrůst.  In 1961, V. Pipal and other members of the Speleological Group Plánivy discovered then virgin climbing terrains - up to 30 m high rock formations near the village of Holštejn in the northern part of the MK.

(7) Modern Times, 1980 until Present.  Some climbers of the last two periods are still active - e.g. Bajer, Hýsek, Krch, Pipal and, especially, J. Beneš who stars during the early 1980s (perished in 1983 in the Caucasus Mountains).  His ascents are still well-respected.  Years 1985 to 2000+ are dominated by Pavel Weisser - a climber who elevated Czech climbing to European standards.  New arrivals include, among others, Z. Konečný, T. Mrázek, J. Nešpor, A. Ondra and T. Pilka.  Another climber, Vladimír Wolf, is known for re-belaying climbing routes with expansion bolts and bolts (the latter being called bore hooks).  He is also a co-author of two modern climbing guides.  The number of woman climbers is on an exponential increase and so is the general climbing population.  In the late 1960s, the total number of mountain climbers in the whole of Czechoslovakia (Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia) did not exceed 1400.  In 2008, there were almost 10,000 registered climbers in the Czech Republic only.  Rocks, however, are not expandable.  This results in variants of variants of variants (i.e., variants of the 3^rd order); many new routes are squeezed between existing ascends and, frequently, share common segments and intersect each other.  Restrictions imposed by the Administration of the Protected Land Area Moravian Karst (Správa CHKO MK) along with those by the environmental Agency for the Protection and Conservation of Nature and the Administration of the Caves of the Czech Republic (Správa jeskyní ČR) have prohibited or limited climbing on many rock formations - a factor that contributed to the amassing of ascents on non-prohibited rocks.

As far as the philosophy is concerned, the spiritual interaction between climbing humans and nature is gradually reduced to a basic physical activity - rocks become outdoor gymnasiums, a projection of indoor (artificial) climbing walls into the outdoors.  Some rocks feature real open-air athletic grounds - so called sport(ing) sectors.  Popular is "clean" climbing - a style introduced to Moravian climbing by J. Krch from abroad and advanced by Z. Konečný, T. Pilka, I. Straka, J. Šuster, P. Weisser and others.  This style, also called RP (Rot Punkt, Red Dot) recognizes pegs, bolts and other technical elements only as belay aids, not as hand- or footholds.  A new difficulty classification - so called free classification - is introduced, in accordance with the standards of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA).  Some new ascents, especially those by Adam Ondra, go beyond the "magic" 9+/10- mark - e.g. Perlorodka (Pearl Oyster), 11+, on Lidomorna (Hladomorna, Dungeon) Wall near Holštejn.  At the present time, it is the most difficult rock climbing route in the entire Czech Republic.