Shay Lellegren and I used an air-powered jack hammer (attached to a SCUBA tank) to remove about an inch of the rock, and then we were able to lift and rotate the boy enough to slide him out. This got his rib cage past the impediment, but his hips wouldn’t make it…and his ribs wouldn’t go backward. Read the details about this failed rescue in the brand-new book 75 Search and Rescue Stories.Īnother was following two (smaller) friends through a tight spot, and when he couldn’t fit, his friends “helped” by giving him a little tug. JUNE 2011 UPDATE: Nutty Putty Cave was permanently closed less than a year following this trip report due to a stuck caver’s death. I squeezed as far down as possible last weekend and barely got my ankles in before my shoulders wouldn’t slide any farther. And stuck good! One got wedged in a tiny tube near a room called “The Scout Trap.” Only the smallest scouts can even fit in. The cavers didn’t have serious accidents, they just got stuck.
Not only does this protect other caves from abuse, but Nutty Putty is one of the safer caves around, with only one or two spots where a serious accident seems possible.Ībout three years ago, search and rescue was called to Nutty Putty three times within a few weeks. So while the cave takes a beating, at least it draws attention away from other caves. Nutty Putty is what cavers call a “sacrificial cave.” No animals are ritually killed or anything – it’s the cave itself that’s sacrificed by hordes of novice spelunkers (about 40,000 per year, I think I heard) who don’t know anything (or don’t care) about cave etiquette (like not touching sensitive crystals and other features, not leaving any trash, etc.).
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