By Christina Loforti
Cave exploration experts are obsessed with discovering complex caves. They spend countless hours trying to unravel these underground puzzles until a pattern emerges.
But, along with the spectacular discoveries come perils.
According to cave expert Roger Brucker, about five cavers and seven cave divers die each year. The No. 1 cause of accidents and death, he said, are falls into holes or pits. After someone falls, rocks and debris have a potential to crash down on them.
Brucker said that even he, an expert, had a brush with death while exploring a crystal cave. As he was crossing a slippery bridge, he lost his footing and plunged headfirst into a two-foot diameter hole.
'Instantly, everything turned black,' Brucker said. 'I was sinking deeply under the water and I told myself to stay calm, turn over and kick back up to the surface.'
After taking his own advice, Brucker hit his head on an underwater ceiling of an adjacent room.
'I thrashed my arms and legs wildly in panic,' Brucker said. 'Suddenly, I felt cold air on my face. I bobbed to the surface of the water in the hole into a pitch-dark cave passage. My heart was pounding.'
Finally, Brucker called out to his friends, who came back to help, and jokingly asked if he was taking a swim.
Since caving can be dangerous, Brucker offers a few safety tips to avoid accidents:
Do:
1. Tell someone where you are going and when you will return.
2. Carry three sources of light.
3. Wear a hard hat.
4. Explore with cavers who know what they are doing.
Don''t:
1. Don''t cave solo.
2. Stay out of underground rivers when rain is predicted.
3. Don''t try to climb hand over hand.
4. Don''t harm formations.
Rodney Mulder, a trainer for Utah Cave Search and Rescue, said his team goes out about two to three times per year. He said they mostly deal with missing persons who go into caves and never come back.
'Utah Cave Search and Rescue is a resource to the county sheriff, who heads up rescues,' Mulder said. 'We have spent a lot of time over the years going around working with the cave clubs to ensure that people are well trained.'
According to Mulder, Nutty Putty Caves gives their rescue crew the most problems because it is close to a metropolitan area.
'Many people go out to Nutty Putty and get into a situation where they don''t know what to do,' Mulder said. 'They don''t have proper equipment and are not organized. They don''t respect the power of the cave.'
Sometimes, he said, people explore caves with only matches, candles or even chemical light sticks. Mulder also said hypothermia is a big problem because people don''t realize that many caves are cold.
Although Mulder has been involved in rescues, he said caving has actually diminished in the last couple of years.
'Caving is a supply and demand thing,' Mulder said. 'Lately, people aren''t exploring as much, so we haven''t seen many accidents.'
Info. Box:
Utah Caving Accidents-documented by the National Speleological Society
Dec. 24, 2002: Bloomington Cave-caver fall
Feb. 10, 2001: Nutty Putty Cave-caver stuck
Mar. 17, 2001: Nutty Putty Cave-caver stuck
Aug. 5, 2000: Nielsons Well-rockfall
Dec. 9, 2000: Pink Lime Pit-stranded on rope
Mar. 11, 2000: Canteen Springs Cave -snowmobile fell into cave