Deadly Utah Spelunking Mishap

[JumpCutz]

I realize this is a dangerous 'sport'... but WTF ?

Any spelunking otters care to chime in?



SALT LAKE CITY — A man stuck upside-down in a cave for more than a day died early Thursday, despite the efforts of dozens of rescuers, authorities said.

John Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park died about 12:30 a.m., nearly 28 hours after he became stuck 700 feet into the cave known as Nutty Putty, Utah County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Spencer Cannon said.

Rescuers were next to Jones for much of the day but he was wedged in a small hole too tightly to pull him out or even reach through to assist him, Cannon told The Associated Press.

"They were right there with him, checking his vital signs," Cannon said. "They were able to get close enough to verify that he was deceased."

The 6-foot-tall, 190-pound spelunker got stuck with his head at an angle below his feet about 9 p.m. MST Tuesday. At times more than 50 rescuers were involved in trying to free him.

The crevice where Jones was trapped was about 150 feet below ground in an L-shaped area of the cave known as "Bob's Push," which is only about 18 inches wide and 10 inches high, Cannon said.

The rescue effort at the cave, about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City, was slow throughout the day Wednesday with crews chipping away with air-powered tools in the narrow tunnel.
At one point late in the afternoon, Jones was freed from the crevice, only to fall back several feet into the tight space when a cord that was supporting him failed, Cannon said.

Rescuers were able to get him food and water during that temporary freedom.

In the hours after he became wedged again, Jones' physical condition deteriorated.

"He was experiencing difficulty maintaining consciousness and breathing. With whatever other factors there were, he did not survive," Cannon said.

Cannon said a medical examiner would determine the exact cause of death later. He said crews had suspended efforts to free his body for the night, but would resume at first light.

Jones, a medical student at the University of Virginia, was part of a group of 11 people exploring the cave passages.

"We were just looking forward to a good time," Mike Jones, the victim's 32-year-old brother, told The Salt Lake Tribune.

The group split up, with several children and some adults staying in a less dangerous area of the cave while others decided to explore further, 23-year-old Josh Jones, another brother, told The Salt Lake Tribune.

"It basically got to a point where we were trying to figure out if the cave went any further, and that's the route John decided to take," 25-year-old Joey Stocking of Logan told the Tribune.

Jones was going headfirst into the crevice when he got stuck.

"He thought he could kind of keep going on his belly down further, but it got to point where he couldn't go any further and he got wedged in," Stocking said.

The group tried to free him.

"I was only able to see his two feet that was hanging there in the crevice," Josh Jones said. "I wasn't able to see more because he was engulfed in the crevice itself."

Nutty Putty cave is actually a hole on the top of hill about seven miles west of State Road 68. The naturally formed thermal cave is about 1,500 feet long. Its multiple, tunnels and passageways lead to room-like openings, a Web site for Utah cave-enthusiasts explains.

According to the official Nutty Putty cave Web site, the area was first discovered in 1960. The cave is privately owned by Utah's State Institutional Trust Land Administration. An access pass is required to explore the cave, with usage restricted to about six groups daily.

The county's last rescue there was in 2004.

Cannon said officials considered closing the tunnel or sealing it off after the last rescue but ultimately decided to erect a gate that requires a key for entry.

"We've had people stuck in this exact same spot. We're working and working to get him undone out of the spot and we don't really have any way of predicting what's gonna happen until — boom, all the sudden they're out," he said.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

[Ranger]

Yeah, what a horrible way to die. Had a pregnant wife and kid.

I think this quote from the yahoo news article sums it up:

"Caving isn't generally considered to be a dangerous sport," Cannon said. "But I think you can safely say this is a dangerous spot in that cave."

However, I don't think this guy is more newsworthy than this:
Death toll in Chinese mine blast rises to 104

[dan30oly]

Originally Posted by Ranger

Yeah, what a horrible way to die. Had a pregnant wife and kid.

I think this quote from the yahoo news article sums it up:


However, I don't think this guy is more newsworthy than this:
Death toll in Chinese mine blast rises to 104

Yes, this is more newsworthy.

That is, unless the Chinese mine blast happened in the United States.

[Mr. Salty]

I used to be a caver (which is the preferred word by people who do it; spelunkers are amateurs who don't know what they're doing and get into trouble). It really isn't a very dangerous sport. Very few people die doing it, and most of those who do are scuba diving in submerged caves, which is a very, very dangerous sport.

That said, you do need to know a few safety things before you go into a cave, and know and respect your limitations.

[kvrdave]

I didn't really understand what killed him. Terrible thing. Just another reason I am anti-earth.

[Anubis2005X]

I was in this exact cave a few years ago and I can definitely see how parts of it would be dangerous. I went up into the ceiling at one point and had to go quite a few feet through a section right after called the Birth Canal, inching along on my stomach. It was a cool experience, but not something that I really plan on doing again any time soon, especially with stories such as this. I guess I always thought that if something happened, I could be rescued with high power machinery and such. Guess this proves otherwise...

[JumpCutz]

I know nothing about spelunking/caving... but how the hell did he get wedged in? Wouldn't common sense and a survival instinct kick in at some juncture? I mean was he so intent on exploring further that he didn't realize that his predicament could indeed become life threatening?

I'm claustrophobic, so envisioning this scenario freaks me the fuck out. I'm probably not thinking this through, but this seemed to be such obvious bad judgement on his part.

[Nick Danger]

Originally Posted by Ranger

However, I don't think this guy is more newsworthy than this:
Death toll in Chinese mine blast rises to 104

Originally Posted by JumpCutz

. . . the cave, about 80 miles south of Salt Lake City, was slow throughout the day Wednesday . . .

When Chinese mine disasters have a Fox News television station within a 90-minute drive, Fox News will be there!

[crazyronin]

Originally Posted by kvrdave

I didn't really understand what killed him. Terrible thing. Just another reason I am anti-earth.

Positional asphyxiation. Slow enough that you can see what's happening to you, fast enough that you can't make your peace with it.

[MBoyd]

Originally Posted by Anubis2005X

I was in this exact cave a few years ago and I can definitely see how parts of it would be dangerous. I went up into the ceiling at one point and had to go quite a few feet through a section right after called the Birth Canal, inching along on my stomach. It was a cool experience, but not something that I really plan on doing again any time soon, especially with stories such as this. I guess I always thought that if something happened, I could be rescued with high power machinery and such. Guess this proves otherwise...

So do you have to exit the same way? Or is there another exit? Is there a size limit? If you are too big they don't let you in?

[Jericho]

Originally Posted by Mr. Salty

I used to be a caver (which is the preferred word by people who do it; spelunkers are amateurs who don't know what they're doing and get into trouble). It really isn't a very dangerous sport. Very few people die doing it, and most of those who do are scuba diving in submerged caves, which is a very, very dangerous sport.

That said, you do need to know a few safety things before you go into a cave, and know and respect your limitations.

Well that, and those that discover cave monsters like in The Descent.

[Mrs. Danger]

Originally Posted by JumpCutz

I know nothing about spelunking/caving... but how the hell did he get wedged in? Wouldn't common sense and a survival instinct kick in at some juncture? I mean was he so intent on exploring further that he didn't realize that his predicament could indeed become life threatening?

Often when someone gets wedged in, it's because they slipped and fell into the space. But, it's surprisingly easy to think you can fit through a narrow opening, if it's not a long squeeze, and there is a large space on the other side.

[rabbit77]

The only caves I care to visit are of the ass variety.

[Quatermass]

At least he died doing what he loved: helplessly suffocating in total darkness.

[Deep_lurk]

When I first saw that story, I thought that, on top everything else, he died in a place called "Nutty Putty." That would be almost as bad as choking to death on a Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity.

[Anubis2005X]

Originally Posted by MBoyd

So do you have to exit the same way? Or is there another exit? Is there a size limit? If you are too big they don't let you in?

There's only one exit that I know about. I don't know what it's like now, but I went in 2004 and it wasn't monitored whatsoever. You just drive up to this hole in the ground and make the descent.

[Mrs. Danger]

Which is how it should be. If you don't know how to behave around a hole in the ground, you'll find some dumb way or other to die.

[kvrdave]

Originally Posted by Quatermass

At least he died doing what he loved: helplessly suffocating in total darkness.

Awful.

[E. Honda]

UPDATE: The family has decided to leave his body in the cave. Apparently it's too dangerous to continue the efforts to retrieve his body, and the state is going to permanently seal the entrance to the cave.

[Ranger]

Wow, that's a bit creepy. Seems like some people will be tempted to explore there to find his body.

[KillerCannibal]

Originally Posted by Quatermass

At least he died doing what he loved: helplessly suffocating in total darkness.

::

Oh, you bad man... this put me in stitches!

[hal9000]

Freaking crazy... they can't send a well trained team in with better equipment/machines to extricate him... wtf?

Spooky stuff... I can see this movie hitting theaters in a year or two... "the year is 2209 a group of over-sexed teens stumbles upon a freshly opened hole in the ground only to discover that this hole in the ground is haunted!" "You left me here to die... you thought I was dead... now you must all pay!"

[Lateralus]

There was another story like this back in the 1970's or so the same thing happened, somebody died and they just left the body there and it was only recently recovered as they found a different want in to the cave. There was a thread on it here in DVDtalk.

[Draven]

Freaky story. What a terrible way to go.

However, call me crass, but couldn't they just pull real hard? Or go back in in a couple of weeks when things have broken down a bit? This made me think about the Floyd Collins story and they did go back and get his body a couple of months later.

Seems like a dumb solution to me.

[Ranger]

Originally Posted by Deep_lurk

When I first saw that story, I thought that, on top everything else, he died in a place called "Nutty Putty." That would be almost as bad as choking to death on a Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity.

Yeah, when I saw headlines like caver dead upside-down, Luke in the cave from ESB was my first thought then wtf how does that happen.

Draven, I know it is strange. I thought they could have just sent down a smaller guy with s sledgehammer and they still were able to give him water, seems like they could have sent a hammer with that water.