Fatality in Mexican Cave

[guest]

Dear Basejumpers,

On behalf of the cave exploring community I would like to offer our
sincere condolences to your compadre, Dave Flannel.

But we would also like to have a little chat. Imagine if we strapped on a chute and leaped off into the abyss of Golondrinas, without proper training. Could we survive? Maybe. The same is true for you all when you experiment with caving techniques that have
been well developed.

A rappelling rack is the only method to rappel on free drops that are
over 150 meters. And for an inexperienced person, only 100 meters.
Mr. Josh Morells' post was extremely dangerous advice from someone who has never done such a rappel.

Please contact the following cave explorer and they will explain this
in more detail.

Melanie Alspaugh at: melanie@speleoprojects.com

Good luck to you all.

I imagine many cave explorers would like to take the leap, so please
take some experienced ones with you down there.

David Locklear
Caving club in Houston, Texas

[guest]

Dear Caveman,
Thank you for the message, your sentiment is appreciated. Over one hundred BASE jumpers have been to the Sotano De Las Golindrinas, myself included. We have made 100's and 100's of jumps there, and for each jump in, there is an ascent, and each jumper must first rappel into the cave to see the landing area. Many BASE jumpers are also climbers, and there is extensive knowledge within our community regarding climbing gear, and safe use of said gear. There are three different groups who visit "The Hole" annually. Each group has among it's staff expert climbers, who give extensive training to each jumper prior to their single rappel into "The Hole". A final conclusion as to the cause of this death has not been reached, but upon investigation, it seems there is more to this incident than lack of 'proper training'. This community is known for passing knowledge to the survivors so as to prevent future accidents of any kind, so I'm sure when the cause of this accident is determined, it will be made public knowledge right here on the BASE board. Please do not assume that we don't get proper training before our rappel.
Subterraneanly yours, CAVE BASE #74.

[guest]

Dear Cave Base # 74,

Thank you for the reply.

Cave explorers from all over the world have been visiting the cave
you refer to as the Hole since 1967 without incident. We are concerned by things such as the Nissan commercial showing people
who are going into such caves without considering all the scenarios.

Someone on this post, claiming to be a climber recommended using
a Petzl Stop over a rappelling rack. He was not correct. None
of you should ever attempt Golondrinas on a Petzl Stop. A Petzl 5 bar rack is not designed for Golondrinas either, although a small person could safely do the pit on this device. Cavers use longer bigger racks for such caves. This gear is sold by a few cave exploring vendors, and I recommend that you look into it.

In the news you often hear about cavers dying in a cave. 90% of the time, it is not a caver but someone in an adventurous mood who goes into the cave unprepared for all the unexpected things that can
go wrong.

The Mexican Government is probably going to close the Hole soon to everybody, including us. But I am sure there will always be some local politician willing to accept $ to enter. I hope that does not
happen.

What is the lowest height considered safe for basejumping. There may be other caves worth looking into. How about a completely
dark underground pit deep in the earth? What is the minimum diameter you need for such a pit? 100 feet or 200 feet or less?Make friends with some good cavers and they might show you such a place.

Since this accident was not a parachuting accident, it falls more
under the caving accident category. We cavers would like to see the
finished accident report. Our conclusions, might be different, and might save future basejumpers from a preventable mistake.

Good luck to you all and basejump safely please.

David Locklear
caver in Houston, TX
dlocklear01@sprintpcs.com