Bad News From Santa Rosa Blue Hole

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@boulderjohn

Please pass on my condolences to your teammates and the family I was hoping to hear nothing but good news from this attempt. Im glad to hear that everyone else is safe.
 
I am not spending a lot of time on ScubaBoard these days, and I will try to address a couple of the key comments.

I am quite sure the decision to stop the exploration and leave the cave sealed would have been made without the fatality. In a sad irony, the reality of that situation had been realized not many minutes before.

The day before the fatality, we had come to a consensus that this cave was not at all what the city had envisioned based on decades old reports and descriptions on restaurant menus. The map on the brochure was not remotely close to reality. There is no cavern zone whatsoever, and except for a few places, the widest areas would be called restrictions in some definitions. The largest "room" can fit a couple people comfortably. We tried never to put three in it at a time. There was almost nothing horizontal--the cave goes downward on a very steep slant. In our discussions, we realized that the cave is dangerous enough to require something like an Abe Davis award for entrance. That does not fit with the city's ideas about making this a draw for cave tourism. Only a handful of divers would be interested.

The next morning, the diver leading the final push came to the end. The tunnel had walled out. There would be no going any farther. So in summary, we had a narrow, nearly vertical shaft with loose rock and silt going to a depth of about 195 feet with not much more distance from that from the entrance to the end. Sound exciting? How far would you travel for that experience? When he hit the wall, the lead diver knew the project was over. The cave just didn't go anywhere.

It was on that exit that the fatality occurred.

The decision that there was no point in going on with the exploration would have been made without the fatality, and the primary decision makers were dedicated cave explorers with decades of experience, not an hysterical land owner, sheriff, or city council.
 
How is this different from any other cave/overhead environment?
The first 60 feet or so of this cave required strong skills associated with experienced certified cave divers. For the rest, there were really only a couple of divers on our team--maybe only one--with the skill to pass through. It was well beyond my ability. Comparing a popular cave in the Yucatan or Florida to this would be like comparing a walk in the park in daylight with a walk down a dark alley in a crime-ridden neighborhood at night.
 
^^^+1
 
I am not spending a lot of time on ScubaBoard these days, and I will try to address a couple of the key comments.

I am quite sure the decision to stop the exploration and leave the cave sealed would have been made without the fatality. In a sad irony, the reality of that situation had been realized not many minutes before.

The day before the fatality, we had come to a consensus that this cave was not at all what the city had envisioned based on decades old reports and descriptions on restaurant menus. The map on the brochure was not remotely close to reality. There is no cavern zone whatsoever, and except for a few places, the widest areas would be called restrictions in some definitions. The largest "room" can fit a couple people comfortably. We tried never to put three in it at a time. There was almost nothing horizontal--the cave goes downward on a very steep slant. In our discussions, we realized that the cave is dangerous enough to require something like an Abe Davis award for entrance. That does not fit with the city's ideas about making this a draw for cave tourism. Only a handful of divers would be interested.

The next morning, the diver leading the final push came to the end. The tunnel had walled out. There would be no going any farther. So in summary, we had a narrow, nearly vertical shaft with loose rock and silt going to a depth of about 195 feet with not much more distance from that from the entrance to the end. Sound exciting? How far would you travel for that experience? When he hit the wall, the lead diver knew the project was over. The cave just didn't go anywhere.

It was on that exit that the fatality occurred.

The decision that there was no point in going on with the exploration would have been made without the fatality, and the primary decision makers were dedicated cave explorers with decades of experience, not an hysterical land owner, sheriff, or city council.

I took your original post the same as others on this thread. I thought it seemed a bit out of character (scubaboard character anyway). I appreciate your follow-up post, as it gives context to your earlier statement, and details that make the accident easier to understand. You and your team have all of my best wishes and kindest thoughts.
 
What happened that the victim lost his life? My condolences to you and your team John along with his friends and family.
 
This thread is in Accidents and Incidents as far as I can tell so I wasn't sure which of the many Blue Holes was being referred to
 
Blue Hole in Santa Rosa NM this thread started out in the Rocky Mountain region forum.
 
This thread is in Accidents and Incidents as far as I can tell so I wasn't sure which of the many Blue Holes was being referred to


A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Good point. "Santa Rosa" added to the Thread title.
 

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