| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alderman, Gerald | 20 | Male | Fatality | Full body |
On 16 March at about 10:00 a.m., Gerald Alderman (20), Ronald Soren (23), Andrew Smith (19) and Michael Geilman (20) entered the Ack's Shack entrance to McFail's Cave. This consists of a sinkhole (fenced, and posted against tresspassing [sic]) with a man-sized hole in the bottom which opens into a 8x15 foot pit 45 feet deep. At the bottom a fissure opens out into a second pit 40 feet deep but only 2 feet wide in the center, narrowing to one foot or less at each end. A crawlway out of a small room at the bottom connects to the main passages. In wet weather, a stream enters the pit as a waterfall about 10 feet below the top and flows through a crawlway at the base of the second drop. On this date, there was still considerable snow and ice on the ground, but the temperature was above freezing during the day.
The group did not explore far into the cave as they started out at about 1:30 p.m. They found that the volume of the waterfall in the upper pit had increased and the wet, cold and constricted lower pit gave them considerable trouble. Finally, Soren reached the surface and went for aid to a nearby farm. The Carlisle Fire Department was telephoned at about 3:30 p.m. and were joined at the cave by firemen from Cobleskill and Central Bridge and state police from Duanesburg.
A fireman was lowered into the upper pit and assisted Smith and Geilman to the surface. Soren went down to tie a rope to Alderman, who was now alone in the lower pit, hollering to be pulled out. Soren came back saying that he had passed the rope to Alderman, but wasn't sure whether he had tied it on or not. Soren, Geilman and Smith were taken to the Cobleskill Community Hospital and admitted in "satisfactory" condition.
The firemen pulled on the rope possibly tied to Alderman until it became taut. They then tied it to a tree. A fireman went into the pit again and tried, unsuccessfully, to squeeze into the lower pit. He could see Alderman below him on the rope, which had pulled him into the narrow part of the lower pit. His hard hat had tipped forward and water was dripping onto his face. Alderman's responses were weaker. The time was about 4:00 p.m. The fireman was hauled out exhausted and a smaller person was sought to descend to Alderman. An attempt to reduce the flow of water in the upper pit, by piling logs, shoveling snow and some bull-dozing had no apparent effect.
At about 5:00 p.m., a local boy, Teddy Langenbahn (17), volunteered to go down, was put into a wet-suit. and lowered into the cave. He found himself dangling in the waterfall and asked to be pulled up. After warming near a fire on the surface, he agreed to try again. This time he was lowered to the bottom of the first pit, saw Alderman, and tried to pull the rope away from the crack, without success. He called for slack, and Alderman immediately dropped downward; he called for the rope to be pulled up, and Alderman moved up into the crack again. Langenbahn returned to he surface and Steve Coon (16) was lowered in, also in the wet-suit. Coon dropped quickly below Alderman, who was now white and stiff, pushed his body out from the crack, and guided it to the surface as he was himself pulled up. It was 6:10 p.m. Alderman was examined immediately by a doctor, who estimated that he had died 1 1/2 to 2 hours previously. A coroner's examination confirmed that death was due to exposure.
Source: Wayne Foote and Alan Myers
None of the four had any known association with experienced cavers or cave groups. How much their inexperience contributed to the consequence is hard to say, but clearly they had attempted a descent and ascent which was beyond their abilities, especially under winter conditions. Experienced cavers have recently had the extreme dangers of exposure (hypothermia) brought to their attention by several accidents, and would probably have acted specifically against this threat under the circumstances. For reasons unknown, the Northeastern Regional Cave Rescue Organization was not contacted, although they are listed with the State Police. Through a circuitous route the State Police did finally, but too late, reach some experienced cavers.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.