| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roberts, Marcus | 21 | Male | Not recorded | Back |
At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 7, Marcus Roberts (21) and John Dayhuff attempted to enter Shaft Cave near Bloomington, Indiana. They rigged the entrance drop with quarter-inch, knotted, polypropylene, ski-tow rope. Roberts tried to descend this hand-over-hand, but twenty feet down found he could not continue to grip it. He started to ascend, then fell the remaining 50 feet, injuring his back. Dayhuff contacted the county police and local NSS members were called. Two cavers entered the pit and tied the victim to an aluminum emergency stretcher. Three other cavers coordinated efforts at the top as firemen and police hauled the victim to the surface. One caver ascended a separate rope, maneuvering the stretcher as it went up.
Analysis: An example of cavers out of touch with current caving techniques. It is very easy to overestimate one's ability to hold body weight on a rope, knotted or otherwise.
Windy City Speleonews 16(5) Oct76. NSS News 34(10) Oct76 p171.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.