asscciation for mexican cave studies box 7672 ut station austin ...

14This idea was thwarted given an undamped Suuanto. Jean and I began the leadout while Lieberz, dowie, and Boon slowed themselves by photographing alongthe way. All went smoothly through the new cave but concern was in the airabout the violent canals still above us, both before and after the dropnamed "the Stinger.;1 \fuile moving one at a time upstream tm..ard the baseof "the Stinger," Soileau ran into difficulty with the rigging, catchingher gear at a most inopportune spot. Standing waves threw her about, knockingher helmet back, cowboy riding style. With one inhalation of water,she began to sink with the look of drowning on her face. She was givenenough assistance to make it on through the canal. The call was too closeto accept and had left Carmen fatigued. On upwards to Camp I, she wasbelayed in any tight spot as our tattered crew gained in elevation. Camp Istill had plenty of provisions so Carmen chose to hold up there, watchingall the rest of us leave the cave in procession.The following day Boon and Gareth Davis entered on a "mission ofmercy," bringing the over-extended Soileau to the surface. "tie ~.yere alltogether now, the cave was rigged all the way to the sump, and a largeportion still remained to be surveyed. Smith, Van Note, and Harrison spokeup and headed in. In the course of an 18 hour trip they surveyed all thenew cave of 1977, finishing the survey~f Sumidero Yochib. They also derig~edall the way to Parachute Corner.Derigging remained. Two teams were decided upon, entering the cavehours apart. Lieberz volunteered to be independent, derigging the phoneline from Camp lout the entrance. Pace, Van Note, Howie, Jancewicz, andI headed in first to derig below Camp I. Two duffles awaited us where webegan up~o1ards movement. It to()l\.us five hours to get our accumulating gearand rope coils up to Camp I. Here, we weren't met by the second group sowe broke and cleaned up Camp I, then continued. Before reaching Fool'sFalls, ~o1e were met by the second group of Dorman, Harrison, Liebman, andWes Davis. Efficiently and safely we derigged out from there, ending atthe entrance with five full duffle bags of equipment. Yochib had beenexplored to the end, ending five separate expeditions to explore the cave.TIle survey was completed and the cave derigged. No one had suffered anyinjuries but not to say scares hadn't been experienced.EPTI.OGUE Rigging Sumidero Yochib in 1977, we had 27 vertical ropepitches, 23 rigged canal lines, and 11 ladder pitches. Ladders wereused with ropes alongside for self-belay or no rope in the case ofladder pitches where pools below eliminated the danger of falling. Wehad no ladder mishaps but did have tYO ladder peels due to fatiguedarms. ~iichael Boon, a caver of international experience, twenty someodd years of caving, and a veteran of every trip to Yochib, announcedthat he never wanted to tackle another like it. His feeling was thatit ~o1as the most technical cave, requiring the most caution and thoughtof any cave in his repertoire. The Canadian Caver has published accountsof the exploration of Yochib as it has happened, and will be publishingthe completed ~ap in the near future.