Missing Couple Near Mount St Helens Found Alive

A Vancouver, WA couple stuck near Mount St. Helens for five days are alive and well.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office says they were stuck near the Ape Caves and took shelter in their car to survive in the frigid weather.

No one is sure why they were near the caves, but it appears their car got trapped in the snow.

Our sister station KPTV in Portland says the couple, 63-year-olds John and Pat Norvel, were reported missing by their children last Sunday.

They were found by snowmobilers around 9:15 last night.

The snowmobilers gave them some food and water, then helped dig their car out.

The couple was able to drive to the town of Cougar where they were checked out by paramedics. Both are diabetics. They had extra food and heavy clothes with them that helped them survive for five days.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, the Ape Cave is one of the longest known lava tube caves in North America. It was discovered in 1947 by a logger.The name was chosen by a Scout troop.

Source: Fox 59

Funeral Sunday for Ocoee UF student who died trying to rescue friend from cave

A funeral is scheduled Sunday in Orlando for Michael Pirie, the Ocoee 18-year-old who died while trying to rescue his buddy from a North Georgia cave last week.

The man he was trying to save, Grant Lockenbach, 20 of DeLand, also died. Both were students at the University of Florida and were on a weekend caving excursion with UF's Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Pirie graduated last year from Lake Highland Prep in Orlando, and that's where his funeral will be.

The service is at 2 p.m. in the Bourne Chapel on the school's Charles Clayton Campus. That's at the corner of Mills Avenue and Woodward Street.

The school advised people to park at the main campus and ride shuttle buses to the chapel.

For those unable to attend, the service is to be livestreamed on the school's website, http://www.lhps.org.

A visitation for Pirie is scheduled tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home, Lake Ivanhoe.

Dragon cam Size 4 & 5 Recall (DMM Climbing)

Original news:

DMM Climbing: "For the safety of all of our customers we are issuing an immediate recall for all Dragon Cams size 4 and 5 with turned axle bosses (see images below). At present there is no evidence that suggests the size 4 Dragon Cams are affected. However, we feel it appropriate to include them in the recall due to similarities in construction."

2 Florida students found dead in Walker County cave

Two college students died in a rappelling accident Saturday at Ellison’s Cave on Pigeon Mountain in Walker County.

A group of 10 students from the University of Florida were at the site outside LaFayette for a weekend of climbing and caving,

said Walker County coordinator David Ashburn, who heads up the county’s cave and rescue team.

Ashburn said a male climber descended into the cave about 1 p.m. Saturday. The climber, having difficulties, called up to the group, and another male climber went down to help, Ashburn said. Neither was heard from again, he said. The group called 911 at 2:19 p.m.

The group was “significantly underdressed” for the technical challenges of Ellison’s Cave, Ashburn said.

It is a 30-minute hike to the cave from the parking lot. Some in the group had shorts and T-shirts for the 56-degree cave, which has an ice-cold waterfall inside, he said.

Climbing ability also may have been a factor, Ashburn said, as some in the group had never been in a cave before.

18-year-old Ocoee man dies trying to pull DeLand man from cave

Michael Pirie and Grant Lockenbach were members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at UF.
February 14, 2011|By Rene Stutzman and Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel

In the mountains of North Georgia, Michael Pirie, 18, of Ocoee, knew his friend was in trouble. Grant Lockenbach, 20, of DeLand, was hanging by a rope about 60 feet down in the middle of a snow-fed waterfall.

Lockenbach had begun the descent, hoping to retrieve a wallet and climbing gear that another friend had dropped down the shaft. Somehow, in the icy water, Lockenbach got tangled and couldn't go up or down. He called for help.

Pirie, a freshman at the University of Florida, headed down the same rope to rescue him. That was the last anyone saw him alive.

By the time a local emergency crew got to the scene, the two University of Florida students were dead, still attached to the rope, still dangling in the waterfall.

Students die trapped in frigid Ga. cave waterfall

Two college students have died in a Georgia cave after rappelling into a waterfall and getting stuck under the frigid water.

Authorities in the north Georgia mountains say the two men from the University of Florida apparently died of hypothermia. It took rescuers more than eight hours Saturday to retrieve their bodies from a depth of about 100 feet.

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson named the men as 20-year-old Grant Lockenbach and 18-year-old Michael Pirie.

Authorities say they were among 10 students from Gainesville, Fla., who went exploring in Ellison's Cave on Saturday.

Witnesses told officials that someone dropped a bag down a pit. They say Lockenbach rappelled down to retrieve the bag but got tangled in his ropes. They say Pirie went down to help but also got stuck.

Source: Fox59

Cave City: Huntsville is rich in caves, with at least 240 cataloged and exploredHUNTSVILLE, AL.

Before renowned scientist Wernher von Braun brought the rocket-research era to Huntsville, it was known as “Cave City.”

An estimated 240 caves are known, named and catalogued by the Alabama Cave Survey within the city limits and Redstone Arsenal, according to the 2005 publication “Tales of Huntsville Caves.” Between Madison and Jackson counties, there are more than 2,000 mapped caves.

“Half of the known caves in the state of Alabama are in these two counties,” said Michelle Vaughn, a caver since age 10 who serves as Huntsville Grotto’s treasurer and works for the National Speleological Society.

But, that estimate can vary since new caves are being discovered while older caves are being destroyed.

Find it, name it

You don’t have to search far to find a cave in Huntsville. Just ask 67-year-old Bill Torode, an active caver and surveyor who has mapped more than 1,000 caves.

Sometimes a property owner will inform either the National Speleological Society - it happens rarely - or a caver like Torode about a possible cave on the land. Other times, you just simply look for holes in the ground.

Blacksburg man rescued from Giles Co. cave

A Blacksburg man is recovering after he was stuck in a Giles County cave for nearly half of a day!
Sheriff Morgan Millirons tells News 7, 26 year old David Roeslen, fell into the opening of a small cave around 3:00 p.m. Friday.

This happened on Clover Hollow Road in the Newport area.

The cave is on state owned property.

It took rescue crews nearly 12 hours to free Roeslen.

His hips were wedged between two rocks. The main medical concern for him was hypothermia.
Roeslen was flown to the hospital on Life Guard around 3 a.m. after he was freed.

He's listed in good condition at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Source: Fox59

Tests on Cow's Tails used in caving and canyoning

Read the full article here (original French article can be found on the website of EFS).

Series of tests on Cow's Tails used for progression on  semi-static rope: Conclusion

Cow's Tails currently on the market that are entirely manufactured, whether they be single or double, symmetrical or non-symmetrical, are not appropriate for either caving or work on ropes. In particular, Cow's Tails made from sewn tapes, in widespread use by cavers and rope workers, can pose a real risk. The tests have, in effect, shown that a Fall Factor 1 shock load could exceed 15 kN (test 6) when the recognised maximum for work equipment according to the European Standards is set at 6 kN.

Attention: Petzl warns for fake Chinese reproductions (updated)

Update:
See Petzl website for more information and a chart on how to recognize original gear:
http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/news-2/2011/02/11/warning-regarding-presence-counterfeit-versions-petzl-products

Only buy your gear from official resellers and not from unreliable sources. If you are in doubt with a product contact your reseller

---

Original news:

Following email was sent this week to Petzl dealers:

Dear Customer,
We have recently discovered in China illegal copies of our followings products:

• Croll
• Attache
• Ascencion
• Rescue

These counterfeit products show serious defects which affect their performance and strength

Scientists prove the existence of moon caves, images allow scientists to see down to the base of the pit

Scientists have recorded images that allow them to see inside a hole in the moon for the first time.

Though this is the fourth image recorded of the lunar pit - the angle of the sun and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (the camera responsible for recording the images) has allowed NASA scientists to see all the way to the base of the pit for the first time.

The images have revealed that the walls of the pit are “layered”, finally proving the hole is what is known as a “cavernous subsurface cave” - a partly collapsed lava tube close to the surface of the moon.

Scientists have been hypothesized the existence of caves on the moon for years – based on the behaviour of lava flow and mare deposits on Earth, but until now have been unable to prove these exist on the moon.

It has been found that the lava tubes may make a great location for human lunar bases.

The pit is wide and deep enough to protect people from dangerous meteorite impacts, cosmic rays and extreme temperature fluctuations.

In May of last year, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) returned images of the dark cavernous hole but it was too dark that scientists could only hypothesize it was a “skylight” buried in a lava tube under the surface of the moon.

On this orbit, scientists positioned the camera just so that if there was indeed an open lava tube that extended horizontally under the moon’s surface, its floor would be highlighted.

The images provide scientists with important clues as to how the cave was created
.
Source: News.com.au

Ebook: Jules Verne's "A journey to the center of the earth"

For his 138th birthday I present you the ebook of the Jules Verne classic "A journey to the center of the earth". You can download it for free here (multiple formats available, including audiobook).

A Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne.
The story involves a German professor (Otto Lidenbrock in the original French, Professor Von Hardwigg in the most common English translation) who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth.
He, his nephew Axel (Harry), and their guide Hans encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy.   

The book has been filmed in 2008 by Eric Brevig and is starring Brendan Fraser as leading actor.

'First-aid' needed for 5,000-year-old Somali cave paintings

Prehistoric paintings of antelope, snakes and giraffes that have survived for around 5,000 years are now under threat from looting and a lack of protection.

The rock paintings, which include renderings of dogs and sheep as well as human figures, were discovered at Dhambalin, in a unique sandstone shelter close to the Red Sea in Somaliland, a breakaway state from war-torn Somalia.

They were found by Dr. Sada Mire in 2007, in what she says was first ever survey initiated and led by a Somali archaeologist in the region. Since then, Mire has discovered 100 cave and rock art sites across Somaliland, but they need desperately to be preserved.

Mire said the sites are not only vital to the understanding of pre-history across the Horn of Africa, but also important in bolstering cultural pride in the people of Somaliland.

"That gives them a sense of dignity and that they are not totally desperate, they have something that the world thinks is very valuable," she said.

The water we all drink

Following short video was presented on the international caving congress "Casola 2010". I really liked it and would like to share it with you guys.

It's titled "The water we'll drink" and is directed by Sandro Sedran (Federazione Speleologica Veneta) and it's starring Alberto Drago, Simona Tuzzato and Sandro Sedran. The music is from Deep Freq (Rapture)

Enjoy!

New headlamp: Scurion 1500

Scurion just released a new model headlamp: the Scurion 1500.

With a total light output of 1450 lumen (2x725 lm) it is one of the brighest headlamps available on the market.

The Scurion 1500 incorporates two Cree XM-L LED's. These new Cree leds deliver more light, yet consume less power than the MC-E LED's used in the previous top model (Scurion 1300), due to the increased luminous efficacy of the XM-L (100 lm/Watt).

The battery run time is comparable to the Scurion 1300:

Battery run time (4-cell Li-ion battery)

A complete Scurion 1500 set (headlamp, mounting bracket, charger and two 4-cell Li-ion batteries) will retail at about 724 EURO (excl. VAT).

Check out the pricelist for previous models.

Cave divers in deep trouble underground

Diving in Weebubbie cave, WA

Diving into the centre of the Earth almost killed Andrew Wight - but it also opened a new world of opportunity.

The desolate expanse of limestone that is the Nullarbor Plain seems to stretch forever, a dry, treeless desert under a relentless sun. But beneath the surface lies water - and one of the longest, deepest underwater cave systems in the world. For cave divers the Pannikin Plains system, up to 3.5km below ground, is so challenging it is has been likened to scaling Everest.

But cave diver Andrew Wight, about 500m in, was feeling pretty satisfied. It was the final day of a month-long expedition and Wight and the rest of the 15-member group had pushed themselves to the limit to explore this subterranean world - diving so deep they had run right off the end of the known decompression tables.

The doctors had warned it was virtually certain one of the divers would be killed or get "the bends" so badly they would suffer for life. But the team had defied the doomsayers. Certainly there were risks when diving so deep and in such isolation, but there were rewards too: massive underwater cathedrals, beautiful limestone rock formations, all waiting to be revealed for the first time in the light of their torches.

Death in the bat caves: Disease wiping out hibernating bats

Little brown bats in NY hibernation cave. Note that most
of the bats exhibit fungal growth on their muzzles.

Scientists suggest a roadmap to tackle disease which has killed over 1 million bats

Conservationists across the United States are racing to discover a solution to White-Nose Syndrome, a disease that is threatening to wipe out bat species across North America. A review published in Conservation Biology reveals that although WNS has already killed one million bats, there are critical knowledge gaps preventing researchers from combating the disease.

WNS is a fatal disease that targets hibernating bats and is believed to be caused by a newly discovered cold-adapted fungus, Geomyces destructans, which infects and invades the living skin of hibernating bats. Since 2006 about one million bats across six species in eastern North America have died from WNS, and as a result several species of bats face endangerment or extinction.

"White-Nose Syndrome was first documented in 2006 in a tourist cave near Albany, New York. Dead and dying bats were then found in four nearby caves, 30 km west of Albany," said lead author Janet Foley from the University of California, Davis. "By July 2010 G.destructans was identified in hibernating bats in 13 states as well as in Ontario and Quebec across the Canadian Border."

Death in the Bat Caves: Disease Wiping out Hibernating Bats

Little brown bats in NY hibernation cave.
Note that most of the bats exhibit fungal growth on their muzzles.
Credit: Nancy Heaslip

Conservationists across the United States are racing to discover a solution to White-Nose Syndrome, a disease that is threatening to wipe out bat species across North America. A review published in Conservation Biology reveals that although WNS has already killed one million bats, there are critical knowledge gaps preventing researchers from combating the disease.

WNS is a fatal disease that targets hibernating bats and is believed to be caused by a newly discovered cold-adapted fungus, Geomyces destructans, which infects and invades the living skin of hibernating bats. Since 2006 about one million bats across six species in eastern North America have died from WNS, and as a result several species of bats face endangerment or extinction.

"White-Nose Syndrome was first documented in 2006 in a tourist cave near Albany, New York. Dead and dying bats were then found in four nearby caves, 30 km west of Albany," said lead author Janet Foley from the University of California, Davis. "By July 2010 G.destructans was identified in hibernating bats in 13 states as well as in Ontario and Quebec across the Canadian Border."

Affected bat species include the endangered Indiana and gray bats (Myotis sodalis and M. grisescens), little brown bat (M. lucifugus) and the cave bat (M. velifer). Infection has also been confirmed in five species of bats in Europe, although no similar epidemic has yet been recorded.

12th International Cave Rescue Conference (Bulgaria)

The 12th international cave rescue conference (BCR / UIS) will be held from 8th to 15th May 2011 in Bulgaria.

For more information about the region and the topics, please visit the dedicated website: http://resconf2011.asobulgaria.org/

Documents:

• Registration form
• 2nd circular
• 1st circular

Beal Uni Core Enhances Climbing/Caving Rope Safety

Beal has recently come up with a new rope technology, called Uni Core, which binds the sheath of the rope to the core, enhancing safety in extreme conditions. By allowing the sheath and core to stay bonded together, sheath slippage is virtually eliminated in the event of a cut.

Below you can find the demonstration video (in English). For other languages (French, Spanish, German and Italian) click here.