Nope! Not Me! No Sir!

**Mergie Master** · 12-10-2011, 02:07 PM

I know how some of you guys get all fidgety when you look at pictures or videos of people in high places. Well getting high off the ground has never bothered me, I like it actually. But stuff like these pictures make me break out in a cold sweat! These are pictures of cavers aka stupid fools that crawl in tight holes in the ground. You will never catch me near something like this. I don't even like the crawl space under a house. Elevators and such don't bother me. But get me off my feet or in a tight place where the walls are in my face and I might panic and kill someone if they get between me and daylight.

**Mergie Master** · 12-10-2011, 02:11 PM

**Mergie Master** · 12-10-2011, 02:13 PM

**SNAP Hunter** · 12-10-2011, 02:17 PM

They are idiots if you ask me!

**SCmudder7071** · 12-10-2011, 02:39 PM

Hell with that

**ccleroy** · 12-10-2011, 02:43 PM

I've never understood the fascination with crawling through tight spaces. Wonder how they keep their body temps up to avoid hypothermia in those caves?

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**tylerthefisha** · 12-10-2011, 02:56 PM

People die all the time doin that shit. Not for me.

**Mergie Master** · 12-10-2011, 02:59 PM

I read an article about a year ago about some guy that got stuck in what they call a "chimney". He wasn't alone, there was a group of them caving together. If I remember right it was about 40' long or high and he was climbing down into it feet first. He slipped and fell around 6' and he got lodged in it.

The group with him tried to get him out but couldn't so they called in rescue workers. They tried to get to him from both sides, top and bottom. They could reach him but couldn't get him unstuck. Something about a slight bend or turn in the chimney which is where he got lodged. The handed him down water etc but they still couldn't get him up or down. After around 24 hours he died hanging in there. I think they said the way he was stuck he couldn't take full breaths, he couldn't fully inflate his lungs and they gradually filled with fluid due to his angle. It seems the article said he was head down maybe, but I'm not sure since I don't remember it word for word.

Anyway they couldn't get his body out even after he died so they poured the whole chimney full of concrete and sealed him in the chimney. They said he'd done the same "route" several times but had put on a little weight since the last time he'd been there.

I can't even imagine dying like that. Man I'd have died from panic/fear!

I DO NOT LIKE TIGHT SPACES!

**ccleroy** · 12-10-2011, 03:05 PM

Yea that would suck.

**Mergie Master** · 12-10-2011, 03:11 PM

Here's the article. I had a lot of the details wrong but I read it back when it happened in 2009:

Utah Caver Dies After Becoming Stuck Upside Down

A caver died early Thanksgiving morning after being stuck upside down for 28 hours in a tight passageway in Nutty Putty Cave in Utah. John Jones, a 26-year-old medical student at the University of Virginia and a Utah native, was exploring the 1,355-foot-long and 145-foot-deep cave, which consists of many narrow tunnels, passages, and small rooms, along with 11 other family members and friends when he tried to squirm through an L-shaped corridor called Bob's Push about 700 feet underground. He became stuck head first in the 18-inch-wide by 10-inch-high crevice and was unable to move since his body blocked the entire passage.

Nutty Putty Cave, a limestone cave on the west side of Utah Lake about 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, is a popular beginner's cave. Climb-Utah.com says, "The cave is a lot of fun and will be enjoyed by anyone seeking a little adventure." Access to the cave is limited by a reservations system operated by the Timpanagos Grotto, a chapter of the National Speleological Society, allowing only experienced cavers inside the cave. The entrance is barred by a locked gate.

View a map of Nutty Putty Cave. The accident happened at Bob's Push in the The Birth Canal area. Also note the warning: "Do not squeeze into anything that you might not be able to squeeze out of." http://www.nuttyputtycave.com/pdf/Nu...tyCaveMap1.pdf

Michael Leavitt, the cave access manager, says the group was experienced and was granted one of six daily permits. "They've never been to Nutty Putty before, but they toured many harder caves in the Logan area that required vertical climbing skills," Leavitt told media. "They were qualified, John was qualified. I'm sure he went into this passage hoping it was going to open up into one of the larger rooms."

After Mr. Jones was stuck, cave rescuers were called to free the 6-foot, 190-pound man. The rescue team, which numbered as many as 50 people, placed bolt anchors in the cave roof for a pulley system, attached ropes to him, and used power tools to widen the tunnel. They were able to raise him 12 feet and give him food and water before the rock that one of the pulley bolts was placed in broke, causing the anchor to fail, and dropped him tightly back into the hole. His physical condition then worsened as he had difficulty breathing and drifted in and out of consciousness. Rescuers sang songs to him to keep his spirits up.

John Jones' brother Spencer Jones of San Francisco told the Associated Press, "We all were very optimistic and hopeful. But it became increasingly clear last night after he got re-stuck that there weren't very many options left. We thought he was in the clear and then when we got the news that he had slipped again. That's when we started to get scared."

Early Thursday morning, John Jones died in Nutty Putty Cave. His funeral is planned for Saturday in Stansbury Park, Utah. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and eight-month-old daughter. Our condolences to his friends and family on this tragedy.

This is not the first time that someone has become stuck and had to be rescued in Nutty Putty Cave. In July 1999, two teenagers were rescued after being stuck in a narrow passage called The Birth Canal 120 feet below the surface for 10 hours. Another two cavers were pulled from the Bob's Push area during Thanksgiving week in 2004. John Jones is the cave's first fatality.

The Deseret News reports that the cave will be closed permanently to avoid future accidents and rescues and because Nutty Putty Cave is now the tomb of John Jones. Spencer Cannon, spokesman for the Utah County Sheriff, says that after consultation with cavers and the search and rescue group, "There will be no future efforts to remove the body because of where it's located and the danger of accessing the area. The risk is too high." The family plans to create a memorial to John at the cave entrance and to set up a fund to promote safe caving.

Photographs above: Top: A search and rescue caver squirms through a narrow passage in Nutty Putty Cave near the location of John Jones accident. Bottom: One of the bolts that anchored the pulley system to pull John Jones out of his wedged position. Photographs courtesy Utah County Sheriff Department.

http://climbing.about.com/b/2009/11/...ming-stuck.htm

**JOHNSON** · 12-10-2011, 04:50 PM

That makes me sick to my stomach.

**4THEGIRLS** · 12-10-2011, 04:51 PM

I don't understand the people take unreasonable safety risks like that and then potentially endanger the lives of the rescuers trying to get to them. Beyond me!

**Calibogue** · 12-10-2011, 05:07 PM

NOPE, not for me either Merg!

**MDman** · 12-10-2011, 05:46 PM

Ppppphhhhhhhhuuuuuuccccckkkkkkkk THHHAATTTTT

I just had to walk outside for fresh air after looking at those pics and reading that story.

**JacksonsHuntingDuke** · 12-10-2011, 06:04 PM

I would have died from being pulled in half. No way they would keeping trying to ease me out. That would be a rough way to die.

**Downeast** · 12-10-2011, 06:05 PM

They should have given him a knife and let him cut his clothes off, then poured hot KY jelly behind him. He'd a slipped throught that hole like greased lighting. Happened to me one time on a date in college. But that is another story.

**coot nasty** · 12-10-2011, 06:13 PM

Ain't no way in hell!

**Mergie Master** · 12-10-2011, 06:34 PM

If that was me my luck there'd be an earthquake right when I got halfway through. Not a big quake mind you, just enough to make the top come down real slow and squash my guts out my ass like stepping on a bug. At least that would be what I was thinking was gonna happen the whole time I was in there. Course I ain't gonna be in there. I like it out here where I can see the sun and stars just fine.