Mammoth lake cave system

[khacken]

Does anyone have any information on the Mammoth lake cave system? Is this like the Athens "cave" system?

 

[Dark Eternal]

Just discussed this, its not open yet (need to clear some more mud out of it I assume). I would like to know what type of access there will be to it once it is open though.

 

[MichaelBaranows]

No, it isn't like Athens. The cave is a 100' long main branch made from a 8'-12'(I am not sure on size). The is between the enterance shaft and safety exit shaft. There there is a smaller branch off of the main branch that lead to a main chamber which is large vessel. The entry is thru a locked gate into a vertical shaft.

 

[khacken]

Just discussed this, its not open yet (need to clear some more mud out of it I assume). I would like to know what type of access there will be to it once it is open though.

Dark, saw the post, but did not want to hijack the thread as that thread was asking about general information. If creating a new thread was not the proper thing to do, I apologize. (Though your response did not seem like a flame and no offense was taken).

 

[khacken]

No, it isn't like Athens. The cave is a 100' long main branch made from a 8'-12'(I am not sure on size). The is between the enterance shaft and safety exit shaft. There there is a smaller branch off of the main branch that lead to a main chamber which is large vessel. The entry is thru a locked gate into a vertical shaft.

I assume this is some sort of pipe? What material was used? Will there be tie off points inside the system?

Is access restricted to certified cavers? Or is it for instructors only?

Glad to have at least a simulation system around here in Texas!

 

[khacken]

Do you happen to have any pictures of it?

Edit: Found it.

Picture of the cave system

 

[Dark Eternal]

nope, meant no offense - just figured you had not seen it. Im just as curious to figure out what its like so all info is welcome.

 

[scubashawn123]

No, it isn't like Athens. The cave is a 100' long main branch made from a 8'-12'(I am not sure on size). The is between the enterance shaft and safety exit shaft. There there is a smaller branch off of the main branch that lead to a main chamber which is large vessel. The entry is thru a locked gate into a vertical shaft.

This will be quite the attraction from talking to Mike this weekend and looking over the pictures when it is completed for those qualified to cave dive.

 

[khacken]

This will be quite the attraction from talking to Mike this weekend and looking over the pictures when it is completed for those qualified to cave dive.

Oooh, fill us in on the details. What will make it the attraction? All I can see from the picture is two chimneys.

 

[scubashawn123]

Oooh, fill us in on the details. What will make it the attraction? All I can see from the picture is two chimneys.

The attraction is a real enclosed area to do actual overhead obstruction diving (cave) or even running wreck skills for. Talking to Mike it runs about 175 feet in length from entrance to exit with a big opening like a cavern part way through, thus the reason for multiple paths, I won't share the surprise in this tubular area, but it sounds very detailed and for a place to get good training in these type of skills that would be a real good choice. Low visibility, dark and enclosed. Mike still needs to complete the pump out of the piping, but if you wanted to do cave, wreck penetration with a real overhead environment, or even public safety diving drills, or commercial diving excersises this would be a real sweet set up.

You will need to talk to Mike Cryer direct to any more info. But for what's available in our area I thought this was an excellent technical addition to his Lake.


Owners:
Mike and Michelle Cryer

330 North Dixie Drive
Bldg A
Lake Jackson, TX 77566

Email: hsports@swbell.net

Phone: (979) 285-0600

_________________________________________________________________

Sinking Of The Hercules Mammoth Lake Dive Park, Texas newest and largest dive-specific
Lake, offers 55 acres of clear water for scuba enthusiasts. Divers will have an immense range of objects to dive around, including an F-5 jet, wrecked boats, submarine, antique fire truck, a Colombian mammoth replica and a cave system. New to the collection of artifacts is an F-150 Hercules airplane.



Clute, TX
_____________________________________________________-

The San Diego Union-Tribune



Sand pit could become a scuba diver's adventure park

By Michael Graczyk
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

June 14, 2006

CLUTE, Texas Into a giant sand pit where the remains of a mammoth and a saber-toothed tiger were discovered, some folks want to throw a bus, a couple of antique firetrucks and a space shuttle look-alike that once thrilled visitors at a now-defunct amusement park in Houston.

Why all the junk? To create a world of wonders for scuba divers.

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The owner of the 50-acre pit wants to flood the hole and then charge diving enthusiasts for the privilege of exploring the sunken objects.

It would be one of the nation's biggest lakes ever created specifically for diving, and one of the few started from the ground up, instead of from an existing body of water.

ŵhis is a dream come true, Mike Cryer, who runs a dive shop in nearby Lake Jackson, said as he gazed over the hole up to 70 feet deep that by next year could become Mammoth Lake. Cryer and his wife will help with the project's design and manage the operation.

The guys behind the project are Kenny Vernor and his cousin Tim Sweeten, both 46-year-old diving enthusiasts. Vernor's company owns the soon-to-be-exhausted pit, which has produced sand since the 1950s. He and his cousin also run a junk business that has been saving pieces of scrap that they want to throw down the hole.

Such as the metal skeleton of an old church steeple. A couple of rusty ship anchors. And a number of boats, one more than 40 feet long and another a 36-footer. The salvage company also has a scrap contract with NASA, from which it has gotten a collection of twisted pipes and intriguing metal spheres. And old F-5 Navy jet is already in the pit. The project's organizers are also hoping to acquire a tank.

Ŵcuba diving itself is very exciting, rewarding, Vernor said. źou put something down there for somebody to look at, (it) just increases everything exponentially. You can get closer, get different angles. If you want to see what the top looks like you just kick your fins and get up there and check it out.

The project will need a permit from the zoning board in Clute, a city of some 11,000 about an hour's drive south of Houston, but officials have been enthusiastic.

Diving in and around big junk is nothing new.

At Athens Scuba Park, a lake about 70 miles from Dallas, a couple of sunken buses and a military cargo plane are among the underwater attractions. In Bethlehem, Pa., a former quarry called the Aqua Park at Dutch Springs attracts hundreds of divers weekly who swim in and around a bus, firetruck, car, helicopters and a trolley.

At the sand pit in Clute, pumps normally prevent groundwater from rushing in. By the end of the year, when the last marketable sand has been removed, the pumps will be shut off and water allowed to build up. The pit could take a year to fill.

Cryer said there is ÅÔomething uniquely cool about ÅÅiving around an antique firetruck, or a tank, or crawling inside a boat that used to float.

ŵhere's a lot of explorer in most divers, he added.

In 2003 a backhoe operator at the pit unearthed tusks. A skull and other bones also were found. Scientists determined the skull was about 38,000 years old and came from a warm-climate relative of the woolly mammoth. The artifacts are now at Texas A&M University.

Joseph Ramirez, whose family owns some of the property that overlooks the pit, said the lake will attract more traffic but should be good for the city. And besides, Ū've got lakefront property, he said with a grin.




Hope this answers your question...........have a great time exploring