| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grieve, Bonnie-Jo | Not recorded | Female | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On 23 November, at 1 p.m., Frank Ahern, Eric Smith, Benny Stone, Bonnie-Jo Grieve, Mary Cole and Pam Riley, all about 20 to 23 years old, entered Cass Cave and rigged from the "belay loft" for the 180 foot descent into the big-room.
By 2:30, Smith and Ahern had rappelled down, with belays, Grieve followed, but her belay and rappell lines twisted, stopping her descent about half-way. She found herself suspended by her belay which constricted her around her chest. Those at the top could not see what had happened; those at the bottom had no means to help; the waterfall in the room prevented voice communications.
Finally, Stone lowered a third rope and descended to give assistance. He found Grieve too exhausted to help herself so asked those at the top to find help. He struggled with the problem for an hour or two, became exhausted, and prusikked to the bottom. Smith then ascended, freed Grieve's belay line, and prusikked in tandem with her for a couple of hours. Eventually, the ropes became too snarled for further progress. After five hours hanging on rope, Grieve was lowered to the bottom by rappel (brake bar) controlled from below.
Smith ascended and found Aage Sandqvist, Mike Balister and John Payne had arrived from Green Bank, where Riley had sought help. Cole descended with comfortable slings for Grieve; Ahern and Stone ascended to provide man-power at the top, and Grieve was pulled out. A ladder provided by the rescuers was used by
the others.
Source: Benny Stone (Cornell Univ. Student Grotto Newsletter); Mike Balister and John Payne.
Analysis: (Balister) None of the women in this party had had sufficient vertical caving experience--they had only been caving two or three times. Deep pits should not be attempted by inexperienced people. This party, if they had had any sense, would have tried an easier cave.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.