No injured cavers recorded.
While hiking in the Caja del Rio area of the Santa Fe National Forest, Howard Stark (30) of Santa Fe met two amateur archeologists, Bob Adams and Learoughn Caldwell. These two convinced Stark that a trip to a deep volcanic vent near Santa Fe would be worthwhile, since it was rumored that skeletons and artifacts had been found there. On Monday, December 28, the three made a trip to the 'Blowhole', as it became known in subsequent news articles. At about 4:30 p.m., after flipping coins to decide who would descend, Stark "lowered himself'' on a rope. At the bottom he found only that he had not the strength to ascend the 150 feet to the surface. Caldwell stayed at the hole while Adams went to the car and called for help on his CB radio. After 45 minutes the call was picked up by a carload of skiers. These people had a snowplow operator call the Sheriff and then fearing the call was not believed, contacted the police in person. The skiers and Sheriff's deputies headed to the scene using radio station KSNM's tower for a rendezvous. This involved Jim McNally, a KSNM engineer, who offered the use of a 600 foot rope and harness used for tower climbing. This was used to pull Stark to the surface, at about 7:45 p.m., unharmed.
Cavers operating without the benefit of the highly-evolved vertical techniques of the organized caving community.