L Roebuck
Technical Support
Caving
^V^ Just a caver
Posts: 2,023
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Post by L Roebuck on Mar 14, 2007 7:54:52 GMT -5
Man Rescued After Cave Fall(WVLT) - A man has serious injuries after falling possibly 80 feet down a drop-off in a cave in Union County. They say 27 year-old Christopher Pique's line broke and he fell 70 to 80 feet down. When rescue crews arrived, they sent two firefighters down into the cave. It was about two hours after the fall crews were able to pull Pique up in a basket. Full Article
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Post by Sharon Faulkner on Mar 14, 2007 9:34:30 GMT -5
The article says the "line" broke....I wonder if they meant rope and if so, what kind of rope they may have been using?  |
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L Roebuck
Technical Support
Caving
^V^ Just a caver
Posts: 2,023
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Post by L Roebuck on Mar 14, 2007 10:03:27 GMT -5
Another article said they were rappelling in a cave, had an old rope tied to a tree and the weather had dry-rotted it.  Duh! Caver rescued, hospitalized after fallNo organized caver would use old dry-rotted rope -- sounds like a spelunker to me!  Not properly trained and didn't have the proper equipment..... WBIR has a video WBIR.com |
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Tony Anders
Caver
SKSC Caver
See you around, in the underground.
Posts: 329
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Post by Tony Anders on Mar 14, 2007 10:24:20 GMT -5
You recon this guy was a related to 'ole Floyd Collins' if he was just using just ordinary rope?
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Post by Tim White on Mar 14, 2007 13:13:58 GMT -5
Regardless of what the fire chief says, if the rope was nylon, it DOES not "dry-rot"!
Could have been Home Depot rope that had been left in the back of the truck getting exposed to UV. That would have done it in.
I'm attempting to get more beta from some of the rescue squads that responded. I'll post if I get anything.
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L Roebuck
Technical Support
Caving
^V^ Just a caver
Posts: 2,023
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Post by L Roebuck on Mar 14, 2007 15:25:15 GMT -5
Going by that one article, it sounded like the rope they used had been tied to a tree for quite awhile. I think it doubtful it was caving rope. At least they had a couple of headlamps.... |
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Brian Roebuck
Site Admin
Caver
Caving - the one activity that really brings you to your knees!
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Post by Brian Roebuck on Mar 14, 2007 16:59:48 GMT -5
This ought to be interesting when the facts come out. Thanks Tim for sending out feelers. We can all usually learn form such accidents and we are all vulnerable to doing things wrong or just stupid on occasion. I hope the guy recovers. Falling in a cave is not my idea of fun. |
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Post by Sharon Faulkner on Mar 15, 2007 8:08:20 GMT -5
Tim can probably provide better info received from cave rescue resources, but here is another article on the rescue. It would be good if we had a more effective system for directing newer cavers to grottos before accidents like this happen. ---------------------------------------------- Emergency Workers Talk About Cave RescueMar 15, 2007 Union County (WVLT) - We have a first-hand account from rescuers who pulled an unconscious explorer from the bottom of a Union County cave. Full Article |
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Kelly
Beginner
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Post by Kelly on Mar 15, 2007 9:41:26 GMT -5
Yikes! I grew up in adjacent Weakly County. I didn't know there were any caves to speak of in Union. Much less with an 80-foot drop. |
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Post by MFD903 on Jun 5, 2007 21:23:53 GMT -5
Hello, I'm Charles 1 of the Rescuers that was in the cave, Chris Pique and is friends were using a 1" dia hemp type rope that was wet and rotted and the brother commented that they used the rope to pull cars and use it for everything, and had no other gear except chem lights and 2 flashlights.
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Brian Roebuck
Site Admin
Caver
Caving - the one activity that really brings you to your knees!
Posts: 2,732
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Post by Brian Roebuck on Jun 5, 2007 21:31:55 GMT -5
Thanks for the update and facts Charles. Welcome to the forum!
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L Roebuck
Technical Support
Caving
^V^ Just a caver
Posts: 2,023
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Post by L Roebuck on Jun 5, 2007 21:43:01 GMT -5
Hey Charles thanks for letting us know the details of the cave accident! Welcome to U.S. Cavers!  |
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Duh! 
