| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucca, Ralph | 20 | Male | Hypothermia, Burns | Not recorded |
At about 3 p.m. on Saturday, 25 February, Ralph Bucca (20) and Jon Lock (19) commenced an exploration in Overholt Blowing Cave. In mid-winter the water temperature is very low; the outside temperature was 6 degrees below freezing. The pair wore slacks and long-sleeved shirts with Air Force exposure suits over them. Over these suits they had an additional pair of slacks and a jacket. They wore hard hats and had adequate primary and back-up lighting. Mr. McKeever, the cave's owner, had advised them not to go due to high water and cold weather, but did not forbid them entry.
At the Dardanelles (some 3300 feet in), a low stream crawl about 500 feet long, Bucca's exposure suit began to take water, either due to looseness or rips. The pair proceeded to the Mountain Room and about 1000 feet beyond, when Bucca began to feel the effects of the cold water; numb hands and feet. They commenced to leave. At the Dardanelles, Lock also got wet for the same reasons as Bucca. As their progress toward the entrance continued, the cold took a firmer grip upon Bucca.
In Lydia's Lake he stumbled and fell many times. Lock gave continual encouragement to Bucca, who was now "completely numb and stiff;" he crawled the last 1000 feet to the entrance with much difficulty. This was at 11-12 p.m. Lock partly carried and dragged Bucca to a shed where he changed their clothes and cooked some soup. Bucca, however, remained unconscious. Lock then sought out the assistance of Mr. McKeever and together they carried Bucca to the house.
Lock and McKeever revived Bucca, but in a state of delirium he burned himself upon the hot stove. Finally, about two hours after entering the house, he recovered sufficiently to talk about the incident.
Source: Ralph Bucca, G. Dallas McKeever.
Analysis: Bucca could not have been more than minutes away from death by hypothermia.
(Bucca) "Overholt is an exhausting cave under ideal conditions. The combination of extremely cold weather and the failure of the suits to keep dry defeated us more than anything else. I suggest a tougher suit with a different neck enclosure would make the difference between comfortable caving and needless exposure in a cave such as this."
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.