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

3~the spot would make a smaU slip. I know I had a bear of a time gettinga wet 50 lb. duffel down to Camp II.In mentioning these accidents, I aln in no way attempting judgement.The point is that several lessons can be learned from our mistakes. HopefUllyall will benefit from the close calls of a few. As new areas likeZoquitlan open up, it appears that wet caving is here to stay. Thosewith experience in such caves would do well to discuss wet-ca~ riggingwith the rest of the clan. Knowledge of when and when not to use a jumarsafety on a handline in rapids could make the difference between blissfuUyskimming up stream or being sucked under.Deep push crews and support teams need to be tight units - as closeto the "ideal crew" as possible. One person's ill temper toward the othersin a tense situation can affect the psyche of the whole team. Great strengthCOlnes from camraderie. Strength also comE:S froln continuity. If one ortwo people are always rushing on ahead, who will be there to throw thema line as they are being swept over the falls? Group decision making isalways better then blindly accepting the most fanatical view. As the holesget tougher then we had best get tough on safety.Bill StoneSotano de San Agustin is pe:rhaps the most beautiful cave in ~rorthAmerica as well as the deepest, and so is destined to be frequently visited.If each person left even a small a~unt of trash, the cave would soon resemblea garbage dump. Each group entering the cave should be strong enoughto remove whatever they bring in. If the energy or time does not existto remove the trash from the cave, clearly the group is operating dangerouslyclose to their limits; and has no capacity left to deal with theinevitable minor problem, much less a serious injury. There is no depthbelow which caving is so difficult and demanding that leaving equipmentbehind is a necessity. as all caving needs a ~rgin of safety. Of course,in the case of an accident or serious problem, people come before equipmentbut leaVing ~~terial in the cave should be a rare occurrence. Every tripshould budget their time and man power to remove their equipment. Thosewh~want to preserve the cave should not have to remove the trash left byothers.The Alles stands behind the feeling that conservation practices shOuldbe maintained regardless of how deep a cave is or in what country a caveis located. We feel a~palled that established speleologists would turn theirheads away from accepted conservation policies in favor of an easier exitfrom the cave. Sotano de San Agustin, the deepest cave in the Western Hemispherewas left littered with abandoned bags, personal gear, uneaten food.and rubbish. Those who left this material were fully aware that other membersof the expedition were against such practices but proceeded contraryto these wishes. Sotano de San Agustin was derigged by a skeleton crew of~~CS cavers. All material abandoned by the 1977 expedition. all left bythe 1976 ~~xican party, and all abandoned by the 1963 Canadian expeditionwere cleaned up leaving a clean cave as our deepest one.AMes