| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little, Lee | Not recorded | Male | Bruising | Hip, rib cage |
At about a.m. on Saturday December 12, four VPI Grotto cavers entered Clover Hollow Cave in Giles County, Virginia. After doing 65 foot and 17 foot drops, they approached a 12 foot downclimb in a chimney. A cable ladder is permanently rigged here to allow passage in case of storm water flow.
Two cavers descended without using the ladder. At 9:45 a.m. Lee Little started down using the ladder without a belay. On a sloping ledge near the top one hand became stuck under a rung. He pulled his hand free but its release pitched him over backwards. He fell 10 feet landing on cobbles, curled up on his side.
He was examined immediately with the only apparent injury being "a bad bruise between his right hip and rib cage, near the kidney." He was in "significant" pain and had difficulty lifting his right leg. The climb up the ladder was made only with pain and difficulty so an evacuation was decided on. One caver left the cave and at 10:30 a.m. called the grotto rescue number requesting 12 cavers and a litter.
By 12:30 the cavers and litter had arrived and the evacuation had begun. Pulleys were set up for the haul up the 17 and 65 foot drops. A short crawl was encountered halfway out that would not allow passage of the loaded Stokes litter. Little crawled through while the Stokes was passed through a high, narrow slot above. The victim cleared the entrance by 3 p.m. At a hospital he was found to have suffered only a severe bruise.
Sauvigne points out that the lack of a belay was the same for the free climbers as for Little on the cable ladder. This does not excuse the situation, however. In ladder climbing as in freeclimbing one should always have three points of support. Thus a hand should not be moved until the other hand has a secure hold.
To go on a bit further, it seems to me to be OK to free climb without a belay if one has some control over a potential fall. That is, if, when I fall, I can control my body such that I will land on my feet and then can tuck and roll, I can handle a fall of some distance without injury. If on the other hand a fall will pitch me on my back or make me land in an uncontrolled fashion, I will ask for a belay. Ladder climbing is usually of the latter category and, I believe, should always be belayed. Circumstances dictate procedures.
A caver fell 10 feet while descending a cable ladder. Rescue involved vertical techniques. Despite significant pain he suffered only severe bruising.