incident at Afternoon Delight Cave

Date
12th Nov 1977
Publication
ACA 1976-1979 p. 37
Cave
Afternoon Delight Cave
State
British Columbia
County
Unknown
Country
Canada
Category
Cave
Incident type
Unknown
Group type
Other
Group size
Unknown
Aid type
Unknown
Source
Unknown
Incident flags

Injured cavers

No injured cavers recorded.

Incident report

On Saturday, November 12, a group of five experienced cavers entered Afternoon Delight Cave on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. They soon arrived at an unexplored 30 foot drop. A ladder was rigged, angling slightly against a boulder wedged in a narrow place about 10 feet below the top. During descent the boulder was checked and found im- movable.

Four descended with one staying above as belayer. The continuation was found to be tight and the going was very slow. Tich Morris (35) offered to trade places with the belayer. At 4:20 p.m. he was ascending when the boulder, some 80 pounds, fell out of the crack. Morris was looking up and was struck on the helmet, forehead and the right side of his face. The helmet was knocked off and Morris called out and came off the ladder, being held by the belay. He remained conscious, however, and soon continued his ascent. Bleeding profusely, he arrived at the top of the drop. He "seemed relieved" when the blood was wiped from his eye. The belayer gave Morris his helmet and at about 4:30 Morris began his way out. When he reached the entrance at 4:55 the bleeding had stopped. All others were out by 6:10 and the victim was transported to a hospital where the wound was closed with six stitches.

References

  1. Reference: Paul Griffiths "The Trip to Afternoon Delight" Subterraneus Nov. 1977 p 6-7.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.