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ope never touched the small ledge where all our rocks had somehow landed.Instead it led downward into an ever expanding blackness that defied illuminationfrom my waning carbide lamp. About 30 m into the drop I looked up tofind the rope snagged on a projection some 10 m above. No amount of maneuveringwoul~ free it and I was forced to ascend. Once freed, the end driftedinto the shaft with a swishing sound all too indicative of a rope to shortfor a successful descent. I continued climbing and swung to the 15 m ledge,whereupon Jeff rerigged the drop utilizing 20 m of excess rope from the 6 mpitch. After passing the knot I continued down into the void. At its largestdimension the shaft was close to 35 m in diameter with a light waterfall followingthe rope. I finally reached a 3 m wide ledge with but 10 m of ropeleft. Beyond, the drop continued. Rocks bounced for 5-6 seconds before driftingout of hearing range. There was little else to do but re-carbide andascend. We had reached our limit for the day.The final pitch was taped at 71 m freefall. and we began the long processof surveying out and derigging. Save Horowitz' spectacular sump diving exerciseto retrieve a rope out of the deepest lake in the whole cave. the remainderof the trip was routinely arduous. After 17 hours, 15 pitches and 284 mof vertical work we exited into the moonlit doline just before sunrise.Cueva de la Pena--------!--......Hoya de las Conchas[see loose map of Cueva de la Peña]33