12/27/03

The grotto Christmas party was held at Don and Joyce Humphrey's beautiful new home in Taylor County this evening. 14 people attended --the Carpenters, the Humphreys, Bob Griffith and Mary Davis, Carl Werntz and family, Janelle and Jeremy, and me.

12/26/03

Today Alan Carpenter, Chris Carpenter, Kevin Frick, Jason Thomas, Melissa Parker, Bob Griffith, Brian Masney and I went to McClung Cave. For a trip report and photos go here

12/20/03

Jeff Lydic, Nate Waybright (Cleveland Grotto), Alan Looney (Cleveland Grotto) and I plowed through a great deal of snow on Limestone Mountain on a Tucker County Survey thrust into the unknown. Read about it on the Tucker County Survey page.

12/18/03

The Eastern Region of the NCRC is offering Level I (Team member) and Level II (Team Leader) modular courses at Grand Caverns, near Grottoes, VA. The courses will run simultaneously over the weekends of February 27, 28, 29; March 12, 13, 14 and  March 27, 28.  The tuition includes camping, food and  course materials. Classes will run from 8am until late in the night on the Fri. and Sat. and from 8am until  5pm on Sundays.

 Besides normal caving gear (including vertical gear) you will need to bring 6 biners--3 of which must be independent of your vertical gear--there are other requirements as well (inquire at the e-mail address given below). Upon check-in you will have to demonstrate safety near the edge of a drop and in a drop zone. You will have to ascend 66', do a changeover,  tie off, and show that you can clear a jammed rappel device.

Mail a check for $325.00 payable to the Eastern Region NCRC to:

ERNCRC Modular 2004
c/o Douglas L Moore II
RR 1 Box 184
Shinnston, WV 26431

With the check include: Name, address, phone #, grotto/organization affiliation, and email. Also say which level you plan on taking. If taking LVL2 list the date and location that you took the LVL1 course. The deadline for registration is 2/1/04. If you have any questions or for more info email Doug Moore at info(at)er-ncrc.org.

12/13/03

Ralph Hubbard of Anapolis, MD and I camped in 13 degree weather last night and did Sharps today. We thought about doing another cave afterward, but decided against it. The grotto will almost certainly see more of Ralph.

11/29/03

Amidst a raging snow storm that piled up to six inches inches of snow along the road, Doug Moore, Jason Thomas, Grant Riffle, Brian Masney, Cara Doud and I showed up for the Adopt-a-Highway cleanup. Unfortunately, we couldn't see any highway trash because of the snow. Giving that up as a lost cause, Brian and Doug drove their trucks up Bickle Hollow through the mud, snow and swollen streams to the turn around point near the Second Entrance. We hiked up through the snow and went into Bowedn to bolt the USFS sign warning and internal closure sign into place at the collapse point. The back entrances of Bowden will be opened in the not too distant furture. I doubt that a lot of people will want to go there though--unless they are partial to belly crawls.

11/26/03

There has been serious vandalism reported in Standup and Overhang Caves in Sequoia National Park. Vandals apparently took hammers to several cave formations, breaking off curtains and other features. The broken formations were just left on the ground. They also scratched grafitti into the walls. The NSS is offering a $1000 reward for information that leads to the capture and conviction of the vandals.

11/25/03

There was a fatality at Sótano de las Golondrinas on November 19. An American BASE jumper named Dave Flannell, using a 5 bar Petzl rack, was descending to inspect the landing area, He lost control of his rappell about 400 feet from the bottom and fell. Apparently, he was on an "expedition" with a commercial BASE jumping outfit. The other members of the group decided not to jump into the cave "out of respect for Dave's friends and family as well as the Haustecan Indians that inhabit the area" . 

11/15/03

Don Humphrey, Ben Mirable, Doug Moore and I did some ridgewalking and scouting for the Tucker County Survey. See a trip report here.

11/9/03

Last night Doug Moore, Rich Finley (joint WVUSG/Mon Grotto members) and I joined with WVUSG members in the student rec center for Adventure Day. We offered students a chance to try SRT at the climbing wall. Bob Griffith and Mary Davis let us use their Mitchell systems and we had a rope walker and a couple of frog systems. It was a fun evening.

11/8/03

NSS Convention Web Site is Up

As noted by Doug Moore on the list serve, the 2004 NSS Convention web site is up. Make your plans now. 

11/7/03

Bowden Barricade

I had a link to a picture of the Bowden Barricade here, but the National Forest Web Site took it down, so I have removed the dead link. To replace that link, here is a link to a pdf file explaining the decision. Doug Moore posted this link, but when I followed Doug's link it just took me the the Mon National Forest site. So to see the PDF file follow this link and scroll down the page until you see the "NEPA Documents" heading. The first document listed is the Bowden decision pdf file.

10/26/03

Vertical Practice

In spite of the fact that it was raining, the vertical practice at Coopers Rock was very successful. The people who were there were Bob, Mary and Jesse, John Barth, Don Humphrey, Rich and Jill, Niko (of WVUSG) and myself. We were there for four hours with four ropes rigged. Various people worked on various things. Jill and Mary practiced negotiating difficult lips. John sharpened his rappelling skills. Niko got to try out a frog system and a rope walker. Our youngest grotto member (in the fourth grade) did quite well in learning the ins and outs of a rack. I rather enjoyed doing changeovers in the rain--it was like being in a waterfall. We got soaked, but it was a good time.

10/23/03

New Access Policy for Scott Hollow

Apparently some folks have not been abiding by Mike and Pat Dore's access policies for Scott Hollow. Non-NSS people have just been showing up and caving and some NSS cavers have not been filling out the required waivers. As of October 1, 2003, the house over the cave entrance has been kept locked. Only NSS cavers are now allowed into Scott Hollow, and they must see Mike or Pat before going to the cave. 

10/19/03

Tucker County Survey

Don Humphrey, Harry Marinakis and I met at the Tucker County Inn

yestereday morning and went out to check out the limestone in the western end of the county. For a full report with a map click here

Another issue: 

We were discussing the accident that killed Dick Graham this weekend. In order to clarify things, I am going to post a collaborative account of what happened put together by the people who were with him. This was posted, among other places, to the VAR list serve. I assume it is okay to post it here since it says it is to be distributed as appropriate.

Fatal Accident in Lori Cori Canyon Cave

This is a collaborative account by members of the group. Distribute as appropriate.

On Saturday September 27, 2003 a crew consisting of Mike Ficco, Andrea Futrell, Mike Futrell, Dick Graham, Sue Setzler, Ron Simmons, and Steve Wells entered Lori Cori Canyon Cave in Wise County Virginia. A routine survey trip had been planned.

Everything proceeded normally as the group climbed down the entrance, and then crawled, climbed and chimneyed down to the 90-foot pit. A nuisance drop of about 20-feet quickly follows the 90-foot pit and begins a challenging section of tall narrow winding canyon where one straddles and chimneys midway on slimy little ledges above a narrowing crack that in many places prevents one from accessing the 'floor' that is 20-feet below. This canyon looses 60-feet of elevation in a little over 300 feet of distance.

The canyon abruptly widens about 40-feet before a large dome-pit. Here there is a traverse line along the wall that allows one to cross a greasy sloping shelf, as the bottom of the canyon and its little stream are still dropping away below. In about 25 feet the traverse line meets another rope that provides an 18-foot rappel to another traverse line. This second traverse line extends 20-feet out along a greasy sloping shelf to the primary rigging for a 213-foot drop. The rig points are bolts; the rope is 11mm PMI. At the top of the 213' one would be cow-tailed to the traverse line while standing or kneeling on a very slick sloping shelf approximately four feet wide. A heavy pad is on the lip. From that point the rope hangs free to the bottom. For the upper few dozen feet the rope hangs inches away from the wall gradually increasing to several feet. By midway down the drop the wall is 8 to 10 feet away. Here a flowstone shelf rolls out and comes within 2-inches
of the free-hanging rope. Below the flowstone are some nice draperies and the wall gradually recedes again to about 10-feet away at the bottom.

Communication up and down the big pit is very difficult due to the acoustics and small waterfall. It would take a concerted effort by both parties for a person at the bottom of the 18' to clearly see the gear of a person at the lip of the 213'.

Several points along the traverse lines allow room to sit and wait. Available space and safety concerns necessitate spreading out along this area while waiting. Andrea was in the lead and was first down the pit. Dick was second in line. Mike Ficco joined Dick at the bottom of the 18'. Dick began his rappel in a normal fashion and Ficco watched the reflected light from his lamp begin to fade as he descended. Mike estimates that Dick had rappelled 20-30 feet, after which he heard Dick say, "No, No!". This was immediately followed by a very loud 'Boom, BOOM', which was heard by all, presumably a result of Dick first hitting the flowstone shelf followed by the floor of the shaft. Instantly, Andrea began yelling for Dick as she raced down and over from the waiting alcove about 100-feet distant.

Andrea found Dick about 25-feet away from the bottom of the rope and completely detached. With great difficulty she communicated that Dick was dead and that someone else should come down, carefully observing the rope and ledge. Ficco was ready and descended next. He confirmed Andrea's observations. Dick's bobbin (simple) was open and his gear appeared normal. Andrea and Ficco did not observe any evidence of rock fall.

The group left the cave in a state of utter shock and disbelief. A raging thunderstorm accompanied them on the hike back up the mountain.

At this point the cause of the accident is unknown. The police are developing pictures from the scene and from the medical examiner. Any hypotheses are strictly speculation, and it is possible that examination of the gear will not conclusively answer numerous questions. Dick was an extremely experienced, competent and safety-conscious caver. Please be considerate of the impact on his friends and family and refrain from public
speculation until more is known.

A Great Deal of Credit and a Very Big Thank You are extended to:
-The Wise County Sheriff's Office for doing everything they could to accommodate the needs and desires of the crew and recovery personnel.
-Triangle Rescue for providing equipment, key personnel and for facilitating 'the correct amount at the correct time'.
-All the people that dropped everything, cancelled work and lost sleep to assist in a very stressful and emotional situation.

Whether in the cave, on the surface, or hundreds of miles away, the collective efforts of these individuals and organizations, brought about what was the smoothest cave rescue/recovery incident that most of us have ever witnessed. We are very grateful. Thank you all.

Bowden Open (E-Mail from Bob Hoke)

Hi folks,

The front section of Bowden Cave is again open to cavers.

Much of the front section of the cave was closed due to an unstable collapse just upstream from the Water Course in 2002. The Forest Service, which owns most of the cave, closed their part of the cave for safety reasons until a barricade could be constructed to keep fools from digging at the collapse.

The barricade was completed in October 13 and the front section of the cave is again open. The barricade is located just upstream from the Water Course and the collapse is visible (but inaccessible) from it.

The barricade was constructed with the help of a large group of cavers who hauled over 1,500 pounds of steel to the site 1,800 feet into the cave. They also hauled welding equipment, generators, tools, etc. to the site. The barricade is a standard BCI design
that is bat friendly and it is very impressive.

The rear section of the cave and the rear entrances are currently still closed, but they will be reopened as soon as the forest service installs a warning sign near the collapse telling visitors arriving from the rear entrances that the collapse is unstable and
that there is an impassable barricade immediately on the other side of it. The sign should be installed in the next few weeks, but in the meantime only the front section of the cave is open.

The private land containing the main Bowden entrance and the parking area has been leased by a hunting club and is now posted. However, the club president has said that the posting does not apply to the cave entrance or parking area, and that visitation to the cave is not affected.

I'll let everyone know as soon as I hear that the back entrances are open again.

Please let me know if you have questions. Also, please feel free to disseminate this message within the caving community.

Bob Hoke