| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomson, Janice | 19 | Female | Not recorded | Not recorded |
In August, a party of eight cavers from the Florida State Cave Club (an NSS chapter) visited Ellison's Cave and four of the group descended the 125-foot Warm-up Pit. After some exploration at the bottom, they started back up.
The second to start to ascend, Janice Thomson (19) had some difficulty with her chest harness and came back down. Another member of the group then ascended, following which Thomson started up again. She climbed without a light because her carbide lamp was low, and she did not have an electrical unit. At about half-way up, her prusik knots began to slip. She replaced one with a spare from her pack and the others with knots lowered from above and sent up by Susan Scott (19) who was still waiting at the bottom of the pit. After re-rigging, Thomson found that she could not remove the ineffective chest knot because she could not transfer her weight entirely from it to the new knot. Consequently, Scott climbed on a second rope hung in the pit until she was level with Thomson, and then proceeded to cut the interfering prusik sling with the flame of her carbide lamp. This was accomplished successfully, and both Thomson and Scott ascended the pit without further difficulty.
Source: Janice Thomson, David Thomson, and Susan Scott (Florida State Caver, 19 October 1969)
Analysis: (J. Thomson) "The direct causes of my trouble on the rope were my own inexperience in vertical caving and the fact that I had not tested my equipment before the trip began. Although I had done some rope work before this trip, borrowing someone else's equipment, this was my first pit in a cave. This was also my first set of vertical equipment, patterned after others, but untested. In both cases, I must speak for myself only as all the other members who did vertical work on this trip were experienced. Since this incident. and mainly because of it, plus the fact that we have many new members now interested in vertical caving, our grotto has begun vertical instruction, including supervised practice on a rope, lectures with emphasis on caving safety, and inspection of equipment both initially and before entering a pit." (Although no accident occurred, this is an instructive incident and is included in these reports because of the sensible analysis and consequences of the event.)
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.