MACaver

[MA-Caver]

This is the BlogSpot of my friend John aka Wolf who posted my trip report (lengthy) and his photos together ... enjoy! http://gypsumwolf.blogspot.com/

 

[MA-Caver]

HAD to share this pic... of me rappelling down a short drop (25 feet) taken by one of the people we met in Rumbling Falls Cave (TN). He wasn't too happy with it but I love it! The "smoke" is actually body vapor and is a (cave) photographer's bane. Almost no way to really avoid it because it's a constant cloud of steam. Still sometimes it makes for a cool shot.

 

[hong kong fooey]

Great PICS MACAVER keep up the good work

 

[MA-Caver]

Thanks... more to come!

 

[MA-Caver]

Wow. Two of my friends are in this History Channel program coming up soon. The woman Hazel Barton with whom I've had the joy to cave with and be on a couple of survey (mapping) projects with. And Brandon Kowallis the young fella with dark (short) hair who was on the shoot as a support person. He's the one who says "...he's screaming, he's in shock..." That's my buddy! Ceicei knows him too!
[yt]cQWeVUB0MYM[/yt] Oh and there's a one word usage of "f-ing" in it so fair warning.
Hazel's little spiel about the filming http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?p=38184&sid=9b8269779e30e6cc694c81d48690ad94#38184

All,
Last summer, Paul Burger and myself, along with climber John Climaco, hosted a TV show for the History Channel with the dubious title of "Journey to the Center of the Earth". We didn't get anywhere near the center of the Earth, but we did go to Naj Tunich Cave in Guatemala, which was a sacred cave for the ancient Maya.
The producers of the show were very conscientious and worked hard with us to make sure that a good caving ethic and safety message was given - they had a real desire to see a good product that cavers would be supportive of.
Unfortunately, during filming we had a significant incident and self-rescue. One of the members of the team failed to let the others know that they suffered from a medical problem that basically left them incapacitated ~420 feet down a 600 foot deep pit. With much help from Brandon Kowallis, John Climaco, Benjy and Dawn von Cramon and many of the film crew, we succeeded in pulling the injured caver out in ~21 hours.
The final TV show looks great, however the History Channel decided not to film any more because they said that NO ONE IS INTERESTED IN CAVES!!
(someone needs to write to the history channel eh?)
Anyway, here is the trailer for it on Youtube - it's an unofficial version that was put up anonymously, so it has an unedited cuss word (be warned) and there was an issue figuring out how deep 420 feet was in floors. But you'll get the feel for it:

The show will air June 25th at 10 PM on the History Channel. If you'd like to tell the History Channel whether you liked it and are interested in caves, maybe they'll make more. If you didn't - that'd be good to know as well!!
Enjoy,
Hazel

It's awesome. Heh. I'll try to find out more about the "rescue" and how they accomplished it. I've a fairly good idea on what they did but still be interested. Each incident is radically different from the next so... stay tune to the same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

 

[MA-Caver]

Ask and you'll receive. I asked Hazel Barton to write up a report on what happened with the injured caver and the subsequent rescue... here's what I got. Having done stuff like this I can imagine very well the circumstances. Pretty hairy.

http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?p=38211#38211
Without going into a huge amount of detail, the caver dislocated his shoulder about 420 feet down an ~600 foot deep pit – the pit has a number of rope drops, he was below a 70’, 270’, 15’, 20’ and 15’ when the dislocation occurred (he slipped in a muddy passage and tried to grab the wall, only to dislocate his shoulder). We rigged a traverse line and pushed/pulled him up and awkward climb into a chamber below the last 15’ rope.

Given the difficulty in accessing the cave, the fact that the arm had relocated, the good spirits of the injured caver and the fact that we were at the previous limit of exploration, the team decided to split up, with two members pushing to the bottom to determine whether there were any Maya artifacts there – the reason for the permit and the push.

I climbed and then re-rigged the 15’ and 20’ climbs to make them easier for the injured caver to move up with an incapacitated arm. He climbed these successfully. At the bottom of the second 15’ rope he decided to climb up into a narrow crevice where the distance was shorter (more like ~10 feet) rather than the open 15’ climb. In this crevice, the caver dislocated his knee due to a previous injury. I free climbed up above, performed a change-over for him and lowered him back down the rope. I then climbed back down and we relocated his knee. The caver went into shock at this point and I realized that we had a much more serious situation on our hands.

I made the caver more comfortable, and sat and waited 2 hours for the other two team members to return from their exploration and told them of the situation. They then helped me get the injured caver back up the 15’ climb and we made him comfortable in a small room below the 270’ climb. At this point we decided not to rig any kind of haul system without additional caver assistance and Brandon and I left the cave to initiate a rescue.

We climbed the two pits and exited the cave (we were about a mile back) in about an hour and started the hike out to an area where we knew we could get cell-phone reception. Taking note that the local Maya had warned us about snakes, we were able to identify a coral snake without stepping on it outside the cave (Arrghh!) and hiked carefully up the hill to get cell phone reception – it was now 2 AM. We were finally able to get everyone awake in the hotel, via a call to the US where someone actually answered the phone. In the meantime, Brandon returned to the cave with food for both cavers and a thermarest for the injured caver, who was able to sleep comfortably.

A rescue was initiated that included Dawn and Benjy von Cramon (both GA cavers) and John Climaco (a mountaineer with training in crevasse rescue). Due to the dangerous nature of the road to the cave (Banditos), the Guatemalan Special Forces were called in to lead the convoy of rescuers and deal with any gun-fights (Arrrrrgghhhh!!)… you’ll have to watch the TV show for the rest, but the caver was injured at 4 PM and exited the cave at 1 PM, whereupon the Special Forces made up a stretcher. With help from the local Maya, he was then carried to a waiting car.

I do want to mention that when you are watching the show, the camera crew was critically important to the rescue, providing muscle for hauling and bringing food, water and other supplies to the rescue team. At no time did they try to film during the rescue - equipment was immediately put down to help. The exceptions in the footage that you’ll see is when the cavers, with some down time and understanding the situation, picked up the cameras and figured out how to film bits. I don't think we did such a bad job...

Enjoy,

H

 

[MA-Caver]

This is the link to the behind the scenes look at the program. Seems my buddy was one of the still photographers on the shoot. Pretty cool shots of the country side, the people (beautiful) and of the interior of the cave and parts of the rescue. Check it out!
http://www.brandonkowallis.com/OtherWork/Photographic/NajTunich/source/d3-444a.htm

 

[MA-Caver]

I missed this trip... and missed this little cutie ... everyone say AWWWWW!

her father is behind her... the lady is another caver/friend.

 

[MA-Caver]

More cute pics of cute kids cute caving. Got permission from the dad to post 'em here.
His son wanted to celebrate his birthday in a cave with his friends. Soooo here we go.
Everyone say AWWWWWW!
The 2nd pic is the birthday with his "G-paw"

 

[MA-Caver]

I had to share this particular caving trip with you all. Just doing something nice really makes a difference.
Neversink Pit: Raccoon Rescue and the Glow-worms.
Small group of caving friends and I went to Neversink Pit in Northern Alabama the other night. Goal was to hang around in the pit long enough for it to get dark and to see and hopefully photograph the glow-worms. Recap: Neversink is a beautiful 162' pit that is 40 feet across by 100 feet long at the top and roughly 100 feet in diameter at the bottom, with many large ledges and ferns and other plants growing upon each and several small waterfalls down the entire depth. Probably one of the most beautiful spots on earth. Considered a TAG classic and owned by cavers and the SCCI organization.
When we arrived we met the group who had their truck parked down at the bottom of the hill at the parking area. Introductions were made and hopefully new friends made as well.
Funny thing, they neglected to tell us was the baby raccoon (alive) down at the bottom of the pit. Obviously they missed it. It was tucked away inside a hollow log and made it's presence known when one of our group moved too closely to the open end of the log and it growled at her. Startling the poor girl.
After studying the animal (not easy since it kept trying to worm it's way deeper into the log, it was concluded that it wasn't rabid, as rabid animals tend to do the opposite of what you expect them to do... i.e. it'd attack the lights that were illuminating it in the log. Likewise it wouldn't have stayed in the log and remained so quiet. Yes, I've seen rabid animals in various stages. This particular animal showed no such traits. Still we were cautious non-the-less. Given the size of the head/body and length of tail and the space in the log, I'd say that it was just barely less than a year old.
Using one of our coats and one of our (hastily empied) packs and a thick pair of gloves we managed to gently extract the little one out from it's hiding place and put it into the pack and zip it up (pictures can be found at http:ralph.rigidtech.com ... they'll be up soon enough...keep checking). One of us ascended up out of the pit with the pack tethered beneath his harness and walked down the hill a little ways and let it go.
Awwww moment: When he came back down he told us that at the surface he laid the pack down on the ground, unzipped it and stepped away and the little guy/gal (?) climbed out of the pack and looked up at him chittered and squeaked a moment then started to wander off... then came back a moment later looked up at him and squeaked and chittered at him again the wandered back off for good. It was as if giving thanks for rescuing him.
Given the depth of the pit, and the height/spaces between the ledges that it possibly bounced off of when it fell down it's a miracle that this little guy/gal survived the fall uninjured. Who knows how long it was down in there before we arrived. That it had water from the falls must've helped and probably it scavenged the salamanders and toads and other insects for food but still, I doubt that it would've found it's way out again without human intervention. It was a good deed and we all felt good about it.
We then waited around for dark, taking pictures here and there and one of us checking a small tight lead where the water from the falls trickled into an opening at the base of the pit. Looks like a dig possibility.
Eventually it got dark enough where individual glo-worms were able to be distinguished. They didn't "cover" the walls but I'm guessing we're too early in the year (or too late??) for the entire population to be out... or simply we didn't stay long enough inside.
Photos of the worms obviously needed a much longer exposure as attempts to (digitally) get them to show up came to naught.
Still it was a worthy attempt and made for a nice "lights-out" climb to the surface.
Great trip.
I'll post pics soon as I get 'em.

 

[MA-Caver]

As promised... the Pit and the Coon... :uhyeah:

Told you the coon was cute.
Other pics are of us trying to load the fella into my pack... the guy taking the picture was intimidated by it's growling and didn't want to get any closer But we got it in the pack and began it's ascent to freedom.
Pictures of the pit's surface... look for blue shirt on the far side.
What it looks like going UP (look for person on the rope) the drop is 162 feet... freehanging.
Brother and sister enjoying quality time together
Sister is just as cute as the coon plus it was her deepest rappel/ascent to date... she loved it. She also loved crawling down inside a tight spot to see if it continues (it didn't)
Then of course the last photo is what everyone feels like when they go caving with me...

More pics of this (and other trips) can be found at my sig.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Note: Thread moved to Great Outdoors forum.

 

[MA-Caver]

Had to add this toon because it's one of my favorites of all time.
(special thanks to Ping898 for finding it)
Calvin and Hobbes:

 

[MA-Caver]

This is just plain cool!
Lehman Caves National Monument.

Click where it says to fullscreen and use your mouse holding down the left button and scroll around... 360 degrees of coolness!

http://www.onlinenevada.org/media/?id=568

 

[MA-Caver]

This is a human interest story written by a gal who is a friend of a friend of mine. Called "The Puppy Who Lived" it's a true story... pics and everything.
Unfortunately the person who is doing this hasn't been caught... but eventually he will be. Hopefully he'll get his.

The Puppy Who Lived
By: Kelly Norwood (Atlanta, Georgia)
kelly_norwood@mail.dnr.state.ga.us

There is a person living around Fox Mountain Georgia that seems to hate dogs. He hates them to the point that its not good enough to kill them with a gun or some other simple means. Instead he's finding sport going to nearby caves with pit entrances and tossing the dogs into the pit to kill them. I cringed this morning reading on tag-net that yet another dog was found dead, this time in Cemetery Pit. Oh what I wouldn't do to this person if I knew who they were!
This weekend Chris Compton, Marlena Compton, and myself all decided to go to a somewhat nearby cave for a nice short and leisurely trip.
Rusty's cave seemed to fit the bill. For those who have not been there, the cave entrance is a nice 40-foot pit. When I got to the bottom, I looked up and screamed when much to my surprise I saw two little eyes staring back at me! I realized after I screamed that it was just a puppy! This was the first time I've ever had anything like this happen. The puppy was shy at first, but after about 2 minutes, it practically climbed up into my lap.
Chris and Marlena rappelled down next, and together we formed a plan to get the puppy out of the cave. Chris, decided he was the fastest hiker of us, so he volunteered to climb out of the cave, and run down to the car to get an extra rope and some bags. Meanwhile, Leslie Colton, Brad Long, Jonny Prouty and some other cavers arrived in the area and came up to help out with the rescue. Brad dropped down an extra rope, and when Chris returned, he dropped the bags down to us. Marlena and I packed up
the puppy. We were worried that the puppy would squirm out of the pack while they pulled him out, so I climbed one rope while one of the guys slowly pulled up the other rope with the puppy attached. Puppy was very good and sat almost still the entire trip up. He was so good and still, I was worried at one point that he might be caught up in the rigging somehow, so mid-way up I reached into the bag to check. Turns out he was doing just fine!
Once at the top and free from the bag, he ate loads of Jonny's food, cheese crackers and granola bars, and clearly hadn't eaten for a while. Puppy was also limping quite badly. Leslie, a nurse, was able to look at one of his legs and determined that it was probably broken from his rough landing being tossed into the cave. It was clearly a miracle that he survived - 40 feet is like falling off a 4 story building.
Chris and Marlena took him home with them and got him to a veterinarian yesterday (Sunday). Again a miracle, he is a very healthy pup with a broken leg as his only medical problem. The vet was so touched by the rescue story he really charged us almost nothing for the check up and to re-set his leg and put on a cast. He was a big hit at the vet clinic too where all the vet techs had to come by and meet "the puppy who lived".
Here are some neat photos that Chris and Marlena took of the rescue... http://www.flickr.com/photos/22258766@N05/
The Comptons and I already have several pets, and Mike and I have the maximum that our county will allow, so we now have the difficult task of finding a home for "Rusty" (named after Rusty's Cave). So, if anyone happens to know of a nice family in the Georgia area that is interested in having a dog, this one comes with the sweetest face and a great story! Feel free to email me if you know anyone that is interested.

 

[MA-Caver]

Quick video footage of a cave trip that I was on ... you get a quick shot of yours truly. The spot where the gal had went through was tight, slicked with mud and had a drop off of 8 feet on the other side if you didn't catch yourself on a outcropping of rock.
Still neat. Enjoy.
[yt]TOFnLqO4JKY[/yt]

 

[MA-Caver]

This is an article I written for the multi-grotto newsletter, The Utah Caver some six or seven years ago, Re-reading it I found that it's still relative to anything that I've been doing today. This article (and others to follow) is left basically the way it is originally written, there are a few modifications here and there and corrections with mistakes that I've learned since then. Otherwise, it's the same as I've had it.
It's a bit long... find a quiet time to read it.

Ascending & Center Of Gravity
by Ralph E. Powers (Timpanogos & Bear River Grottos)

When I first moved to Utah I really knew very little about vertical caving. I knew of it but not everything. I still don’t. It’s one of the things that I love about it because one is always learning. Over the course of ten years I’ve learned a lot. What to do and especially what not to do. This has kept me alive and offered immense amount of enjoyment. To those I learned from; I thank you.
I’ve the opportunity and privilege to pass on what I’ve learned from my peers and instructors to a number of people that have entered our world of caving. Some have gone and some have remained. All of them I hope have learned something from everyone of us.

I constantly think about my training and go over in my head during idle hours things that I’ve done in the past, things I plan to do, things that I’ve done right and things I’ve done wrong. UCS&R (Utah Cave Search & Rescue), calls this “brain training”. This is a good way to keep one’s mind sharp when it concerns vertical caving. When a mistake happens, this so-called “brain training” can go a long way to help one figure out what to do (or not to do). Actual practice in a controlled environment takes it that much further and facilitates in actually doing (or not doing) what the mind has been taught.

With one of the things I learned related to vertical caving I learned years before I moved to Utah. At the time I was studying several forms of martial arts. One of my instructors taught me a valuable lesson that I am able to apply to vertical training; knowing where is your center of gravity.
The strongest muscles in the body are of course the thighs and calves or legs. These muscles support all of the weight of our bodies, from the head down to the pelvis region while we’re standing or walking or running. The next strongest set of muscles are those found in the upper chest, back, shoulders and arms. In the middle of all these muscles is the human’s center of gravity. This is usually located around the solar plexis.
One of my (martial arts) instructors taught me that knowing where one’s center of gravity, either on yourself or another person helps in determining where the balance is. He showed me how, by “seeing” where my opponent’s center of gravity is I would be able to simply push them off balance with little effort. Balance also goes a long way in doing a successful (read: less tiring) ascent during vertical caving.

I’ve watched many cavers ascend. The most successful of them are those who instinctively know or have been taught or learned by trial and error, to keep their legs (the strongest muscles) directly beneath their center of gravity. Whether using a frog, mitchell, double or single bungee rig or even prussiks, utilizing this knowledge of the center of gravity helps in an nearly effortless ascent.
Gravity as most people know is the pull of the earth's center due to inertia as the earth spins on it's axis.
Humans (and many animals) learn how to counter the pull of gravity on their own centers (balance points) in the first few weeks/months of their life. This learning is how we're able to maintain upright on two legs. We are constantly re-adjusting our bodies against the pull of gravity on our centers. Watch someone or yourself very closely as they stand for a long moment. Their weight shifts constantly. More weight on one foot then transferring it to the other and then back again. Even the most stalwart Marine standing ram-rod straight at attention at their post is never perfectly still.

Far too many people have a tendency to lean back away from the rope because they find it too tiresome to support their upper bodies upright on the rope. The seat harness is positioned directly below most people’s center of gravity and is usually designed to make full use of the “pivot point” that is found there.
When a person leans back their center of gravity goes with them, thus accenting the pull of gravity upon their centers. Their legs stick out on one side of the rope and their upper bodies out the other side. Gravity is going to be pulling on the center, which is where most of the body's weight is.
They then try to push themselves up the rope at an angle and find it nearly impossible to do so unless they call in reinforcements that consists of the upper body muscles and pull themselves up to their ascenders. Now a lot of people are strong here. Some can bench press their weight and do half a dozen or more chin ups on a bar above their heads. Nothing wrong here I guess except that when they reach a lip, overhang or the edge of the drop, they’ll find that the strength and energy that they need to get over the obstruction is either not enough or non-existent. This is because some people have a limited amount of energy reserved for x amount of exertion. Once they exceed that amount things become difficult no matter how strong they are. That is another martial art concept which should be discussed in another article.
As a person leans back and attempts to ascend up the rope they are in effect “curving” themselves up the rope. The old axiom goes that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This holds true in vertical caving. Keeping the feet/legs underneath the center of gravity and pushing straight up makes for the shortest distance one has to travel up the rope.

The Frog system is probably the best user of this concept. A person literally sits and stands almost parallel to the rope they’re climbing on, and the primary ascender, the croll is positioned at/near the center of gravity, with the hand ascender also positioned there when at sit/rest. Their arms, ideally help in maintaining balance. The rope-walker or double bungee is the next best example as a chest roller/box helps the caver remain upright during the ascent. So long as the climber uses only their leg muscles to propel them up the rope they have a nearly effortless climb. despite the legs having the strongest muscles they are more used to moving lineally in a horizontal motion supporting the body's weight. On rope however the leg muscles are constantly pushing up against the pull of gravity on the body thus more effort is expended over a shorter relative distance.
I've a friend who was a track and field athlete when they were younger, when I said that the next vertical drop they would have to ascend would be 95 feet they thought it would be no problem. They found out the hard way that it was not quite so easy as they expected.
I’ve seen too many people pull themselves up the rope with their arms and use their legs to keep them balanced. This bass-ackwards way of thinking and ascending causes problems when encountering lips and over hangs. Numerous trips to Spanish Moss cave with beginners have laid evidence to this. Most cavers that know this cave understand exactly where I’m talking about. Here not only does the edge curve sharply under but also vee’s inward and the rope is usually caught inside of that. This doesn’t cause a problem on rappelling but woe to the inexperienced when they ascend it. I now-a-days try to be the first one up (if there is someone else to help attach gear on correctly at the bottom), and wait above that lip to help the beginners from becoming stranded at that point.
Conserving the “upper arm” strength by utilizing the muscles in the legs makes for a great ascent. Energy is saved and enthusiasm stays high and confidence gets a tremendous boost. It took me several years of practice and hundreds of feet of experience before I remembered the center of gravity trick that my martial art instructor taught me. Once I applied this principal to my vertical caving I’ve been having a wonderful time since.

This principal works as well for rappelling. Keeping one’s legs and upper torso balanced around the center of gravity allows the weight to be distributed evenly and affords a smoother descent. It also keeps the back of your head from banging on the rock wall behind you. Your feet should only stick out when (are you looking down?) an outcropping of rock or a bend in the wall appears and you need to push yourself out past that point, or if going down the wall then I've found that keeping my legs at roughly 45 degrees angle down from my waist helps maintain balance. Keeping your legs spaced evenly apart (usually in line with the outside of your shoulders) helps maintain side to side balance around your center of gravity.

I try to teach this same principal to anyone that wants to learn how to rappel/ascend. It doesn’t matter what system that they want to use. So long as they know where their center of gravity is and utilize only the muscles in their legs to get them up the rope, saving their arm strength for those nasty lips and under-hangs, they’ll have a easier time at it. There is much to learn and to remember when vertical caving. Repetitive practice helps ingrain that into the psyche’ and helps when trouble arises. Understanding how things work and why helps prevent trouble, sometimes.

 

[MA-Caver]

This is a must see.
Caver Dave Buchner plays flute while descending and ascending 226 foot Valhalla pit cave in Jackson County, Alabama (owned by Southeast Cave Conservancy Inc. or SCCI ). Mike Crockett is videographer.

A bit of history. Located in North Georgia this magnificent pit was the scene of a terrible accident. In 1984 two young cavers were preparing to climb up out of the pit when a 30'X30' slab of rock broke off from the wall above and fell upon both of them, killing both instantly. Cavers are anywhere from hesitant to leery about doing this pit since then. Those that do brave the pit do so reverently. The flute player's intention was to honor the two cavers.
Yes, at times two people do climb on the rope at the same time. This is known as tandem climbing. It's very safe and sometimes helpful to have a companion on a such a long ascent.
Enjoy.

[gv]-6038711942772418976[/gv]
I have yet to do this but it is on my to do list this year. Hopefully I'll have our own videographers and photographers to record the event.
The original video with a bigger screen
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6038711942772418976&q=concert+in+Valhalla&total=25&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

 

[MA-Caver]

This is a video taken by a new caver friend of mine. War Eagle Cave in North Eastern Alabama. The pit is 137 feet deep and beautiful. The rest of the cave is 2 miles of river passage. Biggest problem is getting enough light for the video camera.
That's me by the way in the red suit with a black bat on the back.
[yt]XUV9TA-hmoE[/yt]

 

[MA-Caver]

Interested reading for those who are interested. :uhyeah: Found this on another blog site where the list of the 10 deepest caves in the world (mainly in Europe and Eurasia) ... the deepest is over 7,000 feet down.
We measure caves in length and in depth and list them separately because both have their individual challenges. The longest is still Mammoth Cave Kentucky at well over 300 miles of passageways... and growing.
My personal deepest I've been is still at -1165 feet in Neffs Canyon Cave. The thought of doing 7 or 5 times as much on one trip (even if over several days)... whoo... I dunno man. Think I'll leave that for the young.

Here's the link, enjoy.
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/offbeat-news/10-deepest-caves-in-the-world/1185

(thoughts and comments are appreciated here too :uhyeah: )