texascavers Digest 5 May 2010 20:14:50 -0000 Issue 1045

[texascavers-digest-help]

texascavers Digest 5 May 2010 20:14:50 -0000 Issue 1045

Topics (messages 14659 through 14670):

Re: another caver almost dies
        14659 by: ryan monjaras
        14660 by: Stefan Creaser
        14661 by: Rod Goke
        14663 by: Jon Cradit
        14664 by: Mark Minton
        14669 by: Fofo
        14670 by: Fritz Holt

items on sale
        14662 by: David

Maya
        14665 by: Mark Minton
        14668 by: Mixon Bill

Re: recent cave rescue
        14666 by: David
        14667 by: David

Administrivia:

To subscribe to the digest, e-mail:
        <texascavers-digest-subscr...@texascavers.com>

To unsubscribe from the digest, e-mail:
        <texascavers-digest-unsubscr...@texascavers.com>

To post to the list, e-mail:
        <texascavers@texascavers.com>


----------------------------------------------------------------------

--- Begin Message ---

you would think caving was dangerous or something

"Semper Exploro" Ryan MonjarasMaverick GrottoCowtown GrottoDFW 
Grotto(832)754-5778



> From: dlocklea...@gmail.com
> Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 21:25:03 -0500
> To: texascavers@texascavers.com
> Subject: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies
> 
> http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/04/rescue-team-saves-caver-close-call/
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com
> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
> 
                                          
_________________________________________________________________
The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

Only if you go underground

 

From: ryan monjaras [mailto:trog...@hotmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 11:21 PM
To: dlocklea...@gmail.com; texascavers@texascavers.com
Subject: RE: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies

 

you would think caving was dangerous or something




"Semper Exploro" 

Ryan Monjaras

Maverick Grotto

Cowtown Grotto

DFW Grotto

(832)754-5778





> From: dlocklea...@gmail.com
> Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 21:25:03 -0500
> To: texascavers@texascavers.com
> Subject: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies
> 
>
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/04/rescue-team-saves-caver-c
lose-call/
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com
> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
> 

________________________________

The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your
inbox. Get started.
<http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL
:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3> 


-- 
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are 
confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, 
please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to any 
other person, use it for any purpose, or store or copy the information in any 
medium.  Thank you.

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

Actually, caving hazards are not only underground. I've known cavers who were injured in above ground accidents while doing things that most of us would consider part of caving, such as rappelling down a cliff to a cave entrance or rappelling down a cliff during a caving rope work practice. Fatal caving accidents have been a different matter, at least in my experience. Since I began caving in 1968, I belonged to and caved with grottos in Florida, Alabama, Colorado, and Texas. Each of these grottos suffered at least one fatal caving accident during the time that I was a member, except for the Florida grotto, which had a fatal caving accident shortly before I joined. All of these fatalities resulted from injuries suffered underground. To me, the most interesting aspect of these caving accidents is not where they happened (above ground vs. underground) but, rather, how and to whom they happened. All of the caving fatalities plus the most serious nonfatal injuries in grottos to which I belonged happened not to beginners, but to experienced people who generally were viewed as competent, or even expert, cavers by other grotto members. Specific circumstance varied. The most valuable overall observation, in my view, is that people who think of themselves as experienced, competent, or even expert cavers never become too advanced to learn safety lessons from the experiences of others. Accident reports can be very useful in this regard when they are examined and discussed seriously. Rod -----Original Message----- From: Stefan Creaser Sent: May 5, 2010 12:27 AM To: ryan monjaras , dlocklea...@gmail.com, texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: RE: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies Only if you go underground   From: ryan monjaras [mailto:trog...@hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 11:21 PM To: dlocklea...@gmail.com; texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: RE: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies   you would think caving was dangerous or something "Semper Exploro"  Ryan Monjaras Maverick Grotto Cowtown Grotto DFW Grotto (832)754-5778 > From: dlocklea...@gmail.com > Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 21:25:03 -0500 > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Subject: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies > > http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/04/rescue-team-saves-caver-close-call/ > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. Get started. -- IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to any other person, use it for any purpose, or store or copy the information in any medium.  Thank you.

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

There it is, I see it!!
Right there in the news!!
So it has to be true!!


"A spelunker who got stuck in a cave near Boulevard is rescued.

Man whose feet you see is Brent Colvin, the caver; rescuer is Mark Binder of 
San Bernadino County technical rescue team."

A  spelunker being rescued by a caver!!
Let the debate continue.

Jon


From: ryan monjaras [mailto:trog...@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 11:21 PM
To: dlocklea...@gmail.com; texascavers@texascavers.com
Subject: RE: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies

you would think caving was dangerous or something
"Semper Exploro"
Ryan Monjaras
Maverick Grotto
Cowtown Grotto
DFW Grotto
(832)754-5778




> From: dlocklea...@gmail.com
> Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 21:25:03 -0500
> To: texascavers@texascavers.com
> Subject: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies
>
> http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/04/rescue-team-saves-caver-close-call/


>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com
> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
>
________________________________
The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. Get 
started.<http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3>

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message --- In this case the spelunker and the caver were the same person. They never described the rescuer as either.

As Rod pointed out, there are many hazards associated with caving that have nothing to do with being underground. One of the largest is probably driving to and from the cave. I can't think of a caver fatality associated with driving on a caving trip, but many have been involved in various accidents.

Accidents often happen to experienced people because they get careless. They know what to do, but they've done it so long without incident that they let down their guard or start taking shortcuts. That's a recipe for disaster, especially when the experienced person is doing things more dangerous than a beginner would even attempt.

Mark Minton

At 09:49 AM 5/5/2010, Jon Cradit wrote:

There it is, I see it!!
Right there in the news!!
So it has to be true!!

"A spelunker who got stuck in a cave near Boulevard is rescued.

Man whose feet you see is Brent Colvin, the caver; rescuer is Mark Binder of San Bernadino County technical rescue team."

A  spelunker being rescued by a caver!!
Let the debate continue.

Jon

At 07:22 AM 5/5/2010, Rod Goke wrote:

Actually, caving hazards are not only underground. I've known cavers who were injured in above ground accidents while doing things that most of us would consider part of caving, such as rappelling down a cliff to a cave entrance or rappelling down a cliff during a caving rope work practice.

Fatal caving accidents have been a different matter, at least in my experience. Since I began caving in 1968, I belonged to and caved with grottos in Florida, Alabama, Colorado, and Texas. Each of these grottos suffered at least one fatal caving accident during the time that I was a member, except for the Florida grotto, which had a fatal caving accident shortly before I joined. All of these fatalities resulted from injuries suffered underground.

To me, the most interesting aspect of these caving accidents is not where they happened (above ground vs. underground) but, rather, how and to whom they happened. All of the caving fatalities plus the most serious nonfatal injuries in grottos to which I belonged happened not to beginners, but to experienced people who generally were viewed as competent, or even expert, cavers by other grotto members. Specific circumstance varied. The most valuable overall observation, in my view, is that people who think of themselves as experienced, competent, or even expert cavers never become too advanced to learn safety lessons from the experiences of others. Accident reports can be very useful in this regard when they are examined and discussed seriously.

Rod

Please reply to mmin...@caver.net

Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org
--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

Howdy!

Well, I first heard about this on Monday morning, when a non-caver friend of mine sent me a link to the news story asking "did you see this?" and I was surprised to find out that I actually knew the people mentioned in the article. I asked then for more information from the cavers involved, got some quick notes and updates from them, and finally I just got the official trip report, from Luca Chiarabini, who was leading it.

Here's the report.

     - Fofo

------------------------------------

THE CAVING TRIP:

On May 3rd a party of 7 went to Thunder Canyon cave: Ben and Brian (the newbies) and Heather, Steve, Brent, Jim and Luca who were all experienced cavers that had done this cave before.

When we got to the entrance we could hear the water flowing. Everyone brought a wetsuit, couple headlamps and extra clothing so we went in. The plan was to go till the middle entrance and then decide if we exited there or continued down to the most challenging part of the cave.

We went into the cave aprox 11am rappeling down 45ft into a pool. The water was flowing mildly cold. We navigated through the cave and reached the middle entrance at about 1pm with no incidents. Everyone seemed to do well. When I asked to the team if they were ok proceeding down to the rest of the cave everyone said “Let’s do it!” so down we went to the second rappel.

At the top of the 80ft rappel it took me 10-15 minutes to set up the anchor, but while the group was stopped some of the people started getting cold.

I went down the rappel first. Steve came down after me because he was cold and wanted to move on quickly. But he got soaked at the bottom of the rappel and then had to wait. By the time all the team had descended Steve was shaking and acting a bit erratically, a sign of hypothermia. I started to worry about him but we were moving fast through the rest of the cave. We did two more rappels and we reached the crevasse traverse at around 3pm with no incidents.

THE CREVASSE:

This spot is called the “Terrible Traverse”. It’s a 9 inch crack in granite that you have to traverse sideways. It’s so tight that once into it you can’t even turn your head. They installed a wood board some years ago to prevent people to slid down and jam themselves into the crevasse. It helps a lot, but it’s still a challenging technical squeeze! There are famous stories of near rescue situations, the record being one guy stuck 1h and having to piss on himself to lubricate enough to get out.

I had done the traverse at least 10 times before and I had only a couple of minor incidents, everyone was always able to go through or go back. The crevasse is at the end of the cave, less than 5 minutes from the exit, so there’s a high motivation to go through it rather than back.

Once at the crevasse we took off harnesses and packs and prepared to go through the crack. I went in first to assist people from the other side. Steve was now really cold and rushed into the crevasse head first without much thinking and disregarding my recommendations.

He got stuck half way and started to yell to be pulled out. It took 10 minutes of pulling and fiddling and he got exhausted but he got out. Heather came through next with no problems. Then we assisted Brian and Ben (the newbies) to go through and they made it through without problems.

At this point Steve was shaking and desperately asking to get out. Heather could not find the exit on her own so I opted to take them out myself. I did not expect Jim and Brent to have any problems because I knew they were experienced cavers and they had done this cave before. But Brent had done only half of the cave… little did I know this was the first time he was going to traverse the crevasse.

After taking Heather and Steve out I went back and found Brent stuck. He had taken off the wetsuit to fit better and at the second attempt could not make it through and got stuck. Then after a while his arm got tired of holding up and his body slipped down and jammed into the crevasse resting on the wooden board. His chest was pinched among two granite walls and there was no way for us to pull him out. I asked Jim to get into the crevasse behind Brent and raise Brent’s chest with his knee, but it was impossible. After 30 minutes of failed attempts Brent was exhausted and going nowhere.

Jim could not go through the crack because Brent was blocking it. He could have gone back through the cave and up the ropes. But Brent needed to have someone at each side of the crevasse to assist him, and since Brent lost his helmet light, if Jim did not stay with him he would have been in the dark. So Jim decided to stay with Brent, despite the risk of getting trapped in the cave with him.

THE SITUATION:

It was 4pm and the situation was serious. Brent was stuck with no wetsuit between two cold walls in a chilly wind passage inside a 60F wet cave in a remote location. I knew the walls would drain his body heat more quickly than he could produce it and he would go into deep hypothermia.

We needed to raise his body to pull him out but we did not have the equipment… we needed help.

I took Heather and Steve back to the cave entrance and tried to use my cell phone but there was no cell signal. I gave my phone to Heather along with my car keys and asked her to run back to my car, connect my phone to the charger there and start calling for help. I told her to call 911 but also call the San Bernardino Cave Rescue Team members that live in San Diego: Tad Gallistel, Mark Kinsey, etc.

Then I took the rope out of the first rappel and headed down to the crevasse to try to use it on Brent.

Ben and Brian (the newbies) had already covered Brent with wetsuits and jackets and we proceeded to cover him with everything we had: trash bags, space blanket, coveralls, etc. We had a rope but we could not find any viable anchors, so we used it to put a wind barrier under the board to keep Brent warm while waiting for rescue.

Jim was the only person that Brent could see as he sank deeper into the crevice, and he was critical to provide Brent with water and energy bars.

It was now 6pm. Brian stayed at the crevasse and kept massaging Brent legs and feet, keeping him covered and making him move his limbs now and then. Ben headed up the cliffs with a phone to look for signal and call for help while I stayed at the cave exit to mark the way for the rescue teams.

It was only around 8pm when a chopper finally spotted us, after 2 dramatic failed attempts to signal my location.

THE DESPERATION:

At 9pm a Sheriff Deputy appears over the ridge and climbs down to the cave entrance along with Ben.

We inform the Deputy there are two men trapped and going hypothermic and that we need thermal patches to keep them warm while waiting for rescue. The deputy gives his jacket for Brent, but says that he’s not going into the cave and that the paramedics will take at least 2 hours to arrive.

We ask about the Cave Rescue Team and the deputy tells us that the Cave Rescue team is in San Bernardino and that’s too far. I insist with him that half the team lives in San Diego and that we really need them, and the deputy communicates this to the command post. We keep requesting to bring thermal patches and to deploy the cave team, but our requests are ignored. Then I hear from the deputy radio “Do we need EVAC tonight or can the victim camp out till tomorrow? ”. The deputy answers with a vague “His condition is stable and he has no numbness” and I tell him ”Sir, if we don’t EVAC tonight they’re dead!”.

At 11pm finally a couple of BorStar paramedics arrive. They are bringing a blanket and we quickly take one of them to see Brent. After assessing the situation the paramedic comments “This guy is fucked! He’s losing it and the guy behind him is going to be next.”. I hear him report to the deputy “Both victims are ‘foobar’. This rescue is way beyond any training I have received, we need to call the Cave team!”.

I go see Brent and Jim, who have been trapped now for over 10h.

Ben and Brian (the newbies) have done an amazing job taking turns to keep the victims alive, talking to them to keep them awake and massaging Brent’s legs and feet to avoid blood clogs. But even Ben and Brian are now loosing hope about the rescue.They tell me that the end is coming for the trapped guys and that they need a friend at their side, so I go to stay at the crevasse.

It looks like Brent and Jim are falling asleep, so I try to keep them awake. I tell them that our friend Tad Gallistel from the Cave Rescue Team is on its way to rescue them… I ask them if they think he’ll make it through the crack… they laugh… “He’s too fat!” they say. And we keep talking while we wait endlessly for the Cave Rescue Team...

THE CAVALRY ARRIVES:

Finally, at 2am members of the Cave Rescue Team show up at the crevasse! We feel like the Cavalry has arrived!!!

They quickly cover the two victims with thermal patches and assess the situation. They decide that they need a jack to raise the board onto which Brent is lying and they send a helicopter to get one. They try to have a skinny person go back through the crack to help from the other side, but it’s too tight.

They ask me to lead 2 members down the other entrance so they can help from the other side. I take them up to the middle entrance and down through it. We reach the 80ft rappel and although exhausted I decide to go down with them. We rush through the rest of the cave and we finally get to the crevasse just in time to see Jim being rescued out.

I shout out asking for Brent, “I’m alive!” he answers. I never felt so happy to hear a manly voice in my life!

I was later told the Cave Team had used the jack to raise the wooden board under Brent to an angle where the crack was widest and then pulled on Brent like crazy till they got him out.

Jim was again critical assisting the rigging of the hoist because he was the only one at the other side of the crevasse at that moment.

THE HAPPY ENDING:

The Cave Rescue team really saved the day! It would have been nice to see them deployed earlier, and we’re still waiting for those thermal patches we asked for 8 hours straight, but all is well what ends well… so thank you San Diego County Sheriff for commanding this successful rescue operation!

The two trapped guys ended up walking out of the cave on their own foot. They were then picked up by a helicopter, hanging from it at the end of a rope, and transported to a medical facility.

Luca, Ben and Brian watched a beautiful sunrise from the Thunder Canyon area, while helping Cave Rescue Team to haul out all their equipment all the way up the goddamn cliff.

We were brought to command post and when we reached my car at 7am we found Heather still there, she had been waiting for us all night long.

We finally took off our wetsuits after 20h of caving…



This was a hell of a caving adventure with many dramatic moments…

But Man! I loooooooove stories with happy endings!

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

FOFO,

This was a most interesting and nerve wracking trip report but thank God for a 
happy ending. The newbies acted heroically and now have a story to tell, as do 
others. Thanks.

Fritz

-----Original Message-----
From: Fofo [mailto:gonza...@msu.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 2:42 PM
To: texascavers
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] another caver almost dies

Howdy!

Well, I first heard about this on Monday morning, when a non-caver 
friend of mine sent me a link to the news story asking "did you see 
this?" and I was surprised to find out that I actually knew the people 
mentioned in the article. I asked then for more information from the 
cavers involved, got some quick notes and updates from them, and finally 
I just got the official trip report, from Luca Chiarabini, who was 
leading it.

Here's the report.

      - Fofo

------------------------------------

THE CAVING TRIP:

On May 3rd a party of 7 went to Thunder Canyon cave: Ben and Brian (the 
newbies) and Heather, Steve, Brent, Jim and Luca who were all 
experienced cavers that had done this cave before.

When we got to the entrance we could hear the water flowing. Everyone 
brought a wetsuit, couple headlamps and extra clothing so we went in. 
The plan was to go till the middle entrance and then decide if we exited 
there or continued down to the most challenging part of the cave.

We went into the cave aprox 11am rappeling down 45ft into a pool. The 
water was flowing mildly cold. We navigated through the cave and reached 
the middle entrance at about 1pm with no incidents. Everyone seemed to 
do well. When I asked to the team if they were ok proceeding down to the 
rest of the cave everyone said "Let's do it!" so down we went to the 
second rappel.

At the top of the 80ft rappel it took me 10-15 minutes to set up the 
anchor, but while the group was stopped some of the people started 
getting cold.

I went down the rappel first. Steve came down after me because he was 
cold and wanted to move on quickly.  But he got soaked at the bottom of 
the rappel and then had to wait.  By the time all the team had descended 
Steve was shaking and acting a bit erratically, a sign of hypothermia. I 
started to worry about him but we were moving fast through the rest of 
the cave. We did two more rappels and we reached the crevasse traverse 
at around 3pm with no incidents.



THE CREVASSE:

This spot is called the "Terrible Traverse". It's a 9 inch crack in 
granite that you have to traverse sideways. It's so tight that once into 
it you can't even turn your head. They installed a wood board some years 
ago to prevent people to slid down and jam themselves into the crevasse. 
It helps a lot, but it's still a challenging technical squeeze! There 
are famous stories of near rescue situations, the record being one guy 
stuck 1h and having to piss on himself to lubricate enough to get out.

I had done the traverse at least 10 times before and I had only a couple 
of minor incidents, everyone was always able to go through or go back. 
The crevasse is at the end of the cave, less than 5 minutes from the 
exit, so there's a high motivation to go through it rather than back.

Once at the crevasse we took off harnesses and packs and prepared to go 
through the crack. I went in first to assist people from the other side. 
Steve was now really cold and rushed into the crevasse head first 
without much thinking and disregarding my recommendations.

He got stuck half way and started to yell to be pulled out. It took 10 
minutes of pulling and fiddling and he got exhausted but he got out. 
Heather came through next with no problems.  Then we assisted Brian and 
Ben (the newbies) to go through and they made it through without problems.

At this point Steve was shaking and desperately asking to get out. 
Heather could not find the exit on her own so I opted to take them out 
myself. I did not expect Jim and Brent to have any problems because I 
knew they were experienced cavers and they had done this cave before. 
But Brent had done only half of the cave... little did I know this was the 
first time he was going to traverse the crevasse.

After taking Heather and Steve out I went back and found Brent stuck. He 
had taken off the wetsuit to fit better and at the second attempt could 
not make it through and got stuck. Then after a while his arm got tired 
of holding up and his body slipped down and jammed into the crevasse 
resting on the wooden board. His chest was pinched among two granite 
walls and there was no way for us to pull him out. I asked Jim to get 
into the crevasse behind Brent and raise Brent's chest with his knee, 
but it was impossible. After 30 minutes of failed attempts Brent was 
exhausted and going nowhere.

Jim could not go through the crack because Brent was blocking it. He 
could have gone back through the cave and up the ropes. But Brent needed 
to have someone at each side of the crevasse to assist him, and since 
Brent lost his helmet light, if Jim did not stay with him he would have 
been in the dark. So Jim decided to stay with Brent, despite the risk of 
getting trapped in the cave with him.



THE SITUATION:

It was 4pm and the situation was serious. Brent was stuck with no 
wetsuit between two cold walls in a chilly wind passage inside a 60F wet 
cave in a remote location. I knew the walls would drain his body heat 
more quickly than he could produce it and he would go into deep 
hypothermia.

We needed to raise his body to pull him out but we did not have the 
equipment... we needed help.

I took Heather and Steve back to the cave entrance and tried to use my 
cell phone but there was no cell signal. I gave my phone to Heather 
along with my car keys and asked her to run back to my car, connect my 
phone to the charger there and start calling for help. I told her to 
call 911 but also call the San Bernardino Cave Rescue Team members that 
live in San Diego: Tad Gallistel, Mark Kinsey, etc.

Then I took the rope out of the first rappel and headed down to the 
crevasse to try to use it on Brent.

Ben and Brian (the newbies) had already covered Brent with wetsuits and 
jackets and we proceeded to cover him with everything we had: trash 
bags, space blanket, coveralls, etc. We had a rope but we could not find 
any viable anchors, so we used it to put a wind barrier under the board 
to keep Brent warm while waiting for rescue.

Jim was the only person that Brent could see as he sank deeper into the 
crevice, and he was critical to provide Brent with water and energy bars.

It was now 6pm. Brian stayed at the crevasse and kept massaging Brent 
legs and feet, keeping him covered and making him move his limbs now and 
then.
Ben headed up the cliffs with a phone to look for signal and call for 
help while I stayed at the cave exit to mark the way for the rescue teams.

It was only around 8pm when a chopper finally spotted us, after 2 
dramatic failed attempts to signal my location.



THE DESPERATION:

At 9pm a Sheriff Deputy appears over the ridge and climbs down to the 
cave entrance along with Ben.

We inform the Deputy there are two men trapped and going hypothermic and 
that we need thermal patches to keep them warm while waiting for rescue. 
The deputy gives his jacket for Brent, but says that he's not going into 
the cave and that the paramedics will take at least 2 hours to arrive.

We ask about the Cave Rescue Team and the deputy tells us that the Cave 
Rescue team is in San Bernardino and that's too far. I insist with him 
that half the team lives in San Diego and that we really need them, and 
the deputy communicates this to the command post. We keep requesting to 
bring thermal patches and to deploy the cave team, but our requests are 
ignored. Then I hear from the deputy radio "Do we need EVAC tonight or 
can the victim camp out till tomorrow? ". The deputy answers with a 
vague "His condition is stable and he has no numbness" and I tell him 
"Sir, if we don't EVAC tonight they're dead!".

At 11pm finally a couple of BorStar paramedics arrive. They are bringing 
a blanket and we quickly take one of them to see Brent. After assessing 
the situation the paramedic comments "This guy is fucked! He's losing it 
and the guy behind him is going to be next.".  I hear him report to the 
deputy "Both victims are 'foobar'. This rescue is way beyond any 
training I have received, we need to call the Cave team!".

I go see Brent and Jim, who have been trapped now for over 10h.

Ben and Brian (the newbies) have done an amazing job taking turns to 
keep the victims alive, talking to them to keep them awake and massaging 
Brent's legs and feet to avoid blood clogs. But even Ben and Brian are 
now loosing hope about the rescue.They tell me that the end is coming 
for the trapped guys and that they need a friend at their side, so I go 
to stay at the crevasse.

It looks like Brent and Jim are falling asleep, so I try to keep them 
awake. I tell them that our friend Tad Gallistel from the Cave Rescue 
Team is on its way to rescue them... I ask them if they think he'll make 
it through the crack... they laugh... "He's too fat!" they say.  And we keep 
talking while we wait endlessly for the Cave Rescue Team...



THE CAVALRY ARRIVES:

Finally, at 2am members of the Cave Rescue Team show up at the crevasse! 
We feel like the Cavalry has arrived!!!

They quickly cover the two victims with thermal patches and assess the 
situation. They decide that they need a jack to raise the board onto 
which Brent is lying and they send a helicopter to get one. They try to 
have a skinny person go back through the crack to help from the other 
side, but it's too tight.

They ask me to lead 2 members down the other entrance so they can help 
from the other side. I take them up to the middle entrance and down 
through it. We reach the 80ft rappel and although exhausted I decide to 
go down with them. We rush through the rest of the cave and we finally 
get to the crevasse just in time to see Jim being rescued out.

I shout out asking for Brent, "I'm alive!" he answers. I never felt so 
happy to hear a manly voice in my life!

I was later told the Cave Team had used the jack to raise the wooden 
board under Brent to an angle where the crack was widest and then pulled 
on Brent like crazy till they got him out.

Jim was again critical assisting the rigging of the hoist because he was 
the only one at the other side of the crevasse at that moment.



THE HAPPY ENDING:

The Cave Rescue team really saved the day! It would have been nice to 
see them deployed earlier, and we're still waiting for those thermal 
patches we asked for 8 hours straight, but all is well what ends well... 
so thank you San Diego County Sheriff for commanding this successful 
rescue operation!

The two trapped guys ended up walking out of the cave on their own foot. 
They were then picked up by a helicopter, hanging from it at the end of 
a rope, and transported to a medical facility.

Luca, Ben and Brian watched a beautiful sunrise from the Thunder Canyon 
area, while helping Cave Rescue Team to haul out all their equipment all 
the way up the goddamn cliff.

We were brought to command post and when we reached my car at 7am we 
found Heather still there, she had been waiting for us all night long.

We finally took off our wetsuits after 20h of caving...



This was a hell of a caving adventure with many dramatic moments...

But Man! I loooooooove stories with happy endings!



---------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com
For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

The Walmart in my town has a section where they put clearance
items.

This week there were lots of LED lights in the section at 1/2 price
or better.    I didn't buy any, although there was one I have been
wanting to test.

They also had 3/8 inch twisted nylon rope, which comes in handy
for lots of things, and could be used as a handline in some places.

Some of you may be anti-Walmart, but it is the only store
in my town that stays open after 9 pm, which is when I do most of
my shopping.

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message --- For those interested in Maya archaeology: <http://www.news.illinois.edu/news/10/0414maya.html>. Caves are at least mentioned, so it's on topic. ;-)

Mark Minton

Please reply to mmin...@caver.net

Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org
--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message --- The most striking thing about that article about the Maya that Mark Minton steered us to is the correct use of the word, which virtually all writers get wrong, or at least wrong by the gospel according to archaeologists. "Maya" is the correct form, singular and plural, noun and adjective. The word "Mayan" is applied only to the language or as part of "Mayanist." -- Mixon

----------------------------------------
Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more.
----------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu
AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

It seemed to me that the most significant part of this story was the
caver weighed 215 pounds and was negotiating some sort of squeeze
that required contortion.

He was 39 and an computer geek, so it is possible that in the last
2 or 3 years, he has spent more time sitting behind a computer than
exercising, meaning that he might not have had a strong enough
stamina to get out of the mess once he got into it.

It might have been a squeeze that he could of easily done a few years ago,
but he let himself get out of shape.

It was probably also harder to get him out of the mess, than it would have
been had he weighed 165 pounds.

So what seemed like a tight spot in the cave, turned into a recipe for disaster.

He needs to take up caving where you float thru the cave on an inner tube,
or get back into shape.


My other question relates to "shimmying."     Is it correct caving technique
to "shimmy" thru a crack?


Also,

I think all risk-takers who have loved ones, should read a book by
Beck Weathers,
called, "Left for Dead."

http://www.amazon.com/Left-Dead-Journey-Home-Everest/dp/0440237084/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273077316&sr=1-3


For those of you who don't have time to read it, is about a Texan who
ignores his family often to
go on mountain climbing expeditions.    He dies near the top of Mt.
Everest, and his frozen body
is left up there .     But he comes back to life, and comes home to a
family that thought he was dead, and
they didn't even miss him.    His recovery is both physical and
psychological.     The moral to the story
is that risk-takers have to take into account what could happen to
their loved ones if they make a fatal
error in judgement.

--- End Message ---

--- Begin Message ---

It seemed to me that the most significant part of this story was the
caver weighed 215 pounds and was negotiating some sort of squeeze
that required contortion.

He was 39 and an computer geek, so it is possible that in the last
2 or 3 years, he has spent more time sitting behind a computer than
exercising, meaning that he might not have had a strong enough
stamina to get out of the mess once he got into it.

It might have been a squeeze that he could of easily done a few years ago,
but he let himself get out of shape.

It was probably also harder to get him out of the mess, than it would have
been had he weighed 165 pounds.

So what seemed like a tight spot in the cave, turned into a recipe for disaster.

He needs to take up caving where you float thru the cave on an inner tube,
or get back into shape.


My other question relates to "shimmying."     Is it correct caving technique
to "shimmy" thru a crack?


Also,

I think all risk-takers who have loved ones, should read a book by
Beck Weathers,
called, "Left for Dead."

http://www.amazon.com/Left-Dead-Journey-Home-Everest/dp/0440237084/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273077316&sr=1-3


For those of you who don't have time to read it, is about a Texan who
ignores his family often to
go on mountain climbing expeditions.    He dies near the top of Mt.
Everest, and his frozen body
is left up there .     But he comes back to life, and comes home to a
family that thought he was dead, and
they didn't even miss him.    His recovery is both physical and
psychological.     The moral to the story
is that risk-takers have to take into account what could happen to
their loved ones if they make a fatal
error in judgement.

--- End Message ---