| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeLucia, Don | 25 | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On October 30, a group of five cavers entered Church Cave in Kings Canyon National Park, California, to do a thru-trip of sorts. It had rained heavily the day and night before but the sun had come out by the time they reached the Root Entrance. They did not have wetsuits but some had Petzl suits. They planned to go down the 120 foot drop, the Tremendous Crevice chimney, another 60 foot pitch, a drop into and back out of the Pearl Palace, up a few climbs, then out the crawls to the Stream Entrance.
The normally dry 120 foot drop above Tremendous Crevice proved to be a shower bath of cold water. All proceeded down this and the Crevice. At the 60, thrown rocks showed water below and one caver went down to check it out, finding waist-deep water. They decided to go on. After all had rappelled down, it was realized that the water there meant a swim ahead. They decided to retreat.
All reascended the 60 and Tremendous Crevice and arrived back at the 120 foot drop. The going was slow since two had planned to share a climbing rig and thus equipment had to be passed up and down.
Four got up the 120 but the last, Don DeLucia (25), got 15 feet off the floor when a faulty chin strap allowed his helmet to fall. He retrieved it and started up again only to find that his foot Gibbs wasn't working well and his strength was gone. One caver descended part way to determine the situation. Communication over the sound of falling water was difficult. They decided to try hauling. A rig was soon established but without mechanical advantage. Still, the four were able to pull DeLucia up, the victim actually summoning enough strength to climb partway. The victim exited without further incident.
The group was not really equipped for the new conditions which the bad weather presented. Provision for a retreat from the thru-trip should have included independence in vertical gear- all the more important under bad conditions when delays mean hypothermia. Possibly the trip should have been aborted sooner.
DeLucia reports that the group did not wear warmer clothes because of ranger's reports of little rain in the Church Cave area.
Difficulty on rope due to inadequate equipment and unexpected weather conditions leading to retreat and rescue effort.