12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

Chow down at Camp III.(Bill Stone)Hal had considerable difficulty de-.scending with a Jumar safety. Steveyelled, "Check this out," and proceededto slide down the line firemanstyle on a harness carabiner.Ahead the cascades stopped and we wereswimming, side by side, down a longcanal. The roar of the waterfallfaded to a distant throbbing. Thecanal got wider, deeper. The sump.We were 859 meters below the entrance.Perched in a small side passagewe organized our equipment. Steveand I unwrapped the valve protectorsfrom the tanks and checked the pressure.2800 in boch. I buckled thetwin Nicad packs around my waist andsnapped the headpieces to the helmet.Steve and Tommy were to feed out theline from the side passage. Hal wouldbelay at the sump. We rehearsed oursignals -- Smooth steady pull; keepfeeding out the line. One jerk; stop.Two or more; no go, pull me out. Haland I swam to where the ceiling metthe water. There was a good ledgefor him to sit without treading water."Ready on the line," I called. "Gofor it," he grinned, and I kickedthrough to a small bell chamber.This had to have been where Jim Smithstopped on his free dive attempt in1977. The ceiling dropped down again.Six meters later the light reflectedoff a mirrored surface and I poppedup into another air bell. This onlylasted a short while and I was now underfor good, regularly checking thepressure gauge. Pinned to the ceilingby the positive buoyancy of thesuit I was able to kick my way longat a good clip. The floor, which Inever really did see at the beginningdue to some silt we had stirredup, was still out of sight. As the45