No injured cavers recorded.
At about 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 12, Phil Lederer (23), Dick Baker (24) and
Tom Starken (23) entered Hell Hole Cave in Pendleton County, West Virginia.
All three went down the first drop and secured a rope to a rock to do the
remaining 45 foot drop to the bottom. Starken descended and Lederer went next.
As he started his rappel the rock anchoring the rope came loose. Baker made a grab
but couldn't hold it, receiving a laceration on one hand. Lederer "plummeted off
the wall of the cavern and slammed into the ground.' His face had received a blow
resulting in a laceration and a black eye - otherwise he was unhurt.
A party of six was following them down and one of these went out for help. Local
cavers, the North Fork Rescue Squad and State Police from Franklin responded and
soon began a rescue operation. A harness was rigged to a rope and all the cavers
were hauled up. Lederer was transported for further treatment after examination
by rescue medical personnel.
Breakdown is not a good rope anchor unless it is obviously bombproof -
securely wedged in a fissure or extremely heavy and not on a slope. Even an
apparently stable rock can go if force is applied in just the right direction.