| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heazlit, Cindy | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On Saturday, September 3, several cavers visited Discovery I Cave, in northern California. This was a mixed group on a field trip of the Western Regional Convention. The 30 foot entrance drop was descended and everyone explored for a couple of hours. On exiting, four ascended without incident. The fifth used a "Frog" system (apparently a Texas with two stirrups to one Jumar, a seat sling to an upper Jumar and a chest sling prussik knot). After a few minutes he complained that his arms were getting tired. He rested 30 minutes, then called for help. Another caver descended and found him hanging nearly upside down, feet higher than his head. The chest prussik had slipped and after moving the foot Jumar up he hadn't the strength to stand up to move the upper Jumar. His feet were firmly tied to the slings so one of these was cut and he was then able to brace himself on a ledge and attain a more comfortable position. A rappel rack was attached to his seat harness, fixed to the rope, tied off, and the lower Jumar was detached. He could then walk along the ledge to a wide place where he sat down to rest. The rescuer continued to the top, got a rope walker system, returned and attached it to the victim, who was then able to exit.
Self-rescue is an important ability in a vertical caver. It would be well to have more discussion of such in the News. The system used by this caver is perhaps suitable for steep pitches against the wall but not for free drops. I feel that no caver but the very strong should go vertical caving without a Mitchell or rope walker system. The latter is good for both free and sloping drops and the former switches to Texas on slopes.
Caver using a 'Frog' system struggled on the ascent and couldn't self-rescue due to equipment issues and fatigue, necessitating assistance from another caver.