Dan Williams of Cincinnati, Ohio - attempting to challenge the Squeezebox
Squeezebox challenges cavers
By Dave Lavender - January 15th 2006
Carter Caves State Resort Park, Olive Hill, Kentucky -
One of the main attractions at the lodge since three or four years into Crawlathon has been the squeezebox.
Looking a bit like a medieval torture device, the squeezebox tests the "will, guts and stupidity" of cavers who like to see if they can crawl through two boards cranked and crushed down an inch or half in at a time.
The youth winner usually slides through at under six inches (that's the length of a dollar bill, folks), and the adult winners often get somewhere in the six-inch mark.
Don Kemper of Flatwoods, Ky., said the idea drifted to ESSO Grotto after Dave West, a member back in the day, had attended a regional caving meeting in Virginia and had tried a squeezebox.
Jim Honaker built the first squeezebox out of scrap materials, and a couple years later, Kemper was asked by the park officials to build an industrial strength squeezebox that lasted for more than 20 years.
It was used up until last year when Terry Hardesty unveiled a new model squeezebox, which takes center stage Saturday night for the finals competitions.
"It's been a really fun thing," said Kemper, who has traded his caving hobby for the kindler, gentler pursuit of astronomy. "And the lesson learned is you don't want to try something like that in a cave. That is part of the purpose of it. The idea has been if you want to push it, let's do it one of these."
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