| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitt, Horace | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Whitt, Winston | 29 | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On Sunday, November 4, a group of five cavers entered Cave of the Madonna in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico. All were experienced vertical cavers. They intended to camp in the cave and had their equipment in duffel bags. At 3 p.m. Horace Whitt descended the 280 foot drop (the bottom 200 feet of which is free). Sixty feet down he stopped to untangle the rope and after a few minutes his brother Winston (29) descended to help. They were on a ledge, attached to the rope by shunt. Horace pointed out a loose formation on the lip of the ledge. When the rope was untangled, Horace continued his descent.
After Horace got off rope, Winston announced that he was coming down, got on rope and started down. Unfortunately the duffel bag he was transporting down dislodged the loose formation at the edge. As this football-sized missile went crashing down, Winston shouted a warning. Horace, below, heard and followed his initial panic thought - get away from the rope - only 15 feet away! His leap sent him over the side of the edge of the huge breakdown slab on which he had been standing. He fell some fifteen feet striking his extended right arm, and rolled down a 25 foot incline before coming to a stop.
Winston called down and received the answer that Horace had broken his arm. Winston relayed this to those above and it was decided that Winston should go down while a companion took his place to relay messages.
Winston found his brother fully conscious, his right wrist broken, left shoulder "subluxed" and his right middle fingernail torn off and bleeding. They moved to a place of safety. Horace was in severe pain and it was decided that he could not climb out of the cave.
This decision, to call for a rescue, was relayed up. One companion left to do this while another lowered a first-aid kit and sleeping bags to the man on the ledge who then descended to the victim. The arm was immobilized with triangular bandages from the kit and chemical ice was applied to prevent swelling. Horace was given food and drink and kept warm with the sleeping bags.
The man going for help was delayed when the truck couldn't make a steep hill and he had to walk four to five miles before getting a ride. At a ranch the Sheriff was called. A rescue group was assembled from Southeastern New Mexico and Eddy County Search and Rescue, Forest Service and Pecos Valley Grotto personnel. These arrived at 1 a.m. Monday. The injured man was hoisted up using a 4:1 pulley device, attached to the rope at his chest Jumar and to a belay rope at his waist. A rescuer ascended alongside. The victim was treated and assisted through the maze passage to the entrance. He then climbed to the top of the ridge where an Army helicopter took him to the Medical Center of Carlsbad.
According to Winston Whitt's report, "The five cavers agreed that Horace should have been given more time to clear the drop area. Horace felt, in retrospect, tht he should have dislodged the loose formation."
One must realize that when you get to the bottom of a rappel and get off the rope, if you yell "Off Rope," the next person is going to start getting on rope to head down. If you are in danger of rock fall from the drop (movement of the rope, cavers, etc.) then you must not yell "Off Rope" until you are in a safe place.
A drop should always be cleared of any obvious loose material as the first person descends.
Horace Whitt sustained injuries, including a broken arm and dislocated shoulder, after falling while avoiding a rockfall caused by a dislodged formation during a vertical descent in Cave of the Madonna.