| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pruszko, Rudy | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On Wednesday evening, June 29, a group of four cavers prepared to enter Hellhole Cave in Pendleton County, West Virginia. A 200 foot rope was rigged to a tree at the top of the sink which the group thought would just reach the bottom. To be sure, the first caver, Rudy Pruszko, would descend already rigged for ascent. He also carried his cave pack, a camera and a 6-volt hand lantern, all slung over his shoulders, about 20-30 pounds, total. At a ledge 30-40 feet down he still couldn't see if the rope reached bottom. Pruszko descended 20-50 feet further and saw the rope end short of the bottom. He let those above know, then changed over to ascend. He soon called up that he was tiring, then that he was being pulled over backwards, and finally that he was, indeed, hanging upside down. Pruszko was using a method recommended by Gosset of rigging the box at the waist so that one ascends with the body horizontal-the weight of pack, camera, and lantern had pulled him upside down. These were now tangled and could not be jettisoned. One caver on top ran to their van for a second rope of 150 feet. Campers nearby were recruited and a call went to the NSS Convention campground for NCRC rescuers. There seemed to be a lot of manpower on the scene SO they attached the 150 to the main line with Jumars and hauled Pruszko up to the ledge where he attached one end of the extra rope to his chest harness and was pulled upright. He was then hauled the rest of the way out. NCRC rescuers arrived a few minutes later.
It is difficult to understand why one would want to rig an ascender box at the waist so that you are forced to ascend with your body horizontal, and your upper body unsupported. First, the bends that either the slings to your feet or the main line are forced into should create more friction than a standing upright system and secondly you must constantly exert force to hold your head and upper body up. Still, vertical systems are a personal preference sort of thing and what is right for one is not for another. The obvious mistake here is the gear taken by the first man down. Since a problem with the rope being too short was anticipated, the carrying of a lot of gear is wrong. Indeed, the first man down any drop can expect any number of difficulties (rope hung up, tangled or chopped, etc.) and should be as unencumbered as possible. It is reportedly a European technique to always do SRT with packs and gear on a tether, hung below the climber. An interesting point here is the lack of visibility of ropes currently in use. I had an opportunity recently to use a rope dyed bright orange - it was much easier to see what it was doing below you. In fact, as I descended, the first thing visible on the bottom was the rope. It would make a lot of sense if all caving rope were dyed a bright color.
Rudy Pruszko was hauling excessive gear while ascending a rope rigged in Hellhole Cave, which contributed to an incident where he was pulled backwards and ended up hanging upside down.