| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belski, Carol | 33 | Female | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On November 11 a group of nine cavers were in Hell's Below Cave, Eddy County, New Mexico. Following others, Carol Belski (33) was ascending a 75-foot pit on 7/16 Goldline. She was using a rope-walker system, with Gibbs ascenders rigged to knee and foot and a Mother Lode (imitation Jumar) ascender rigged to a chest sling as a third point of attachment. About 60 feet up her knee-Gibbs sling failed at the sewn joint. As she lurched to one side the Mother Lode turned and the rope twisted out. Fortunately her foot-Gibbs harness held, leaving her hanging by one foot! Mark Wetherald quickly ascended and secured her to the rope with a Jumar which he attached to her chest sling. Meanwhile an additional rope was rigged and Dave Belski descended to the victim. He attached himself to the original rope with two foot-rigged Jumars while the victim was secured to his seat harness. Her foot harness was then cut and she resumed an upright posture, hanging from D. Belski's seat sling. Wetherald then ascended a bit further and cut the Jumar slings attaching D. Belski to the original rope. The Belskis then rappelled as one to the bottom. C. Belski was inverted for 45 minutes and on rope for an hour. Muscle pulls and soreness were the only bad results. Total time in the cave was 5-6 hours.
The harnesses were made of one inch tubular nylon webbing and sewn with "Dual-duty polyester" cotton thread. This is really just cotton thread and should never be used for sewing vertical gear. The name is deceptive. Use only heavy, pure-synthetic thread. The Mother Lode ascender is a copy of the Jumar, produced in California until Jumar threatened suit for copyright infringement. They are fairly widely used and seem to be dependable. In this case the Mother Lode twisted off the rope because the safety gate spring broke. This can happen to Jumars also.
Heel hang. Another caver ascended and corrected her.
This record was last updated on 29th Apr 2024 at 20:38 UTC.