Four die while exploring underwater cave
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ScubaSixString
Contributor
miskatonic:
Sounds like they were attempting to reach another cave by swimming. Not diving.
Sad stuff. Anyone have any idea what happened?
OP
ScubaSixString:
I read the CNN report. It said swiming. They were exploring a cave by swiming?!
ScubaThor
Guest
miskatonic:
Darwin at his finest?
ScubaSixString
Contributor
miskatonic:
Underwater cave is a misnomer. From what i understand they were in a dry cave with a sump. Tried to swim to another dry chamber....just wonder what went wrong.....
Ok... after reading the follow-up article I'm ready to bet on what happened to these poor souls... a little rain, a little higher water, and the "three or four feet of air" they expected to find in the "next chamber" just wasn't there.
Terrible.
Rick
Terrible.
Rick
This kinda "sump pushing" is commonly done in 'dry' caves througout the US.
The smart ones take a small (6cf usually) pony bottle and pull a handline to get to the other side. These things are often less than 5 feet or so.
Pople sometimes push them. I've done it on one occasion where I was very familiar with the passage in drier times, and I could feel the large airspace on the other side with my hand. I probably wouldn't do it again, but there you go.
The smart ones take a small (6cf usually) pony bottle and pull a handline to get to the other side. These things are often less than 5 feet or so.
Pople sometimes push them. I've done it on one occasion where I was very familiar with the passage in drier times, and I could feel the large airspace on the other side with my hand. I probably wouldn't do it again, but there you go.
darkstar
Contributor
From the Salt-Lake Trib.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2955309
PROVO - In an underground tunnel, in water over their heads and holding their breath, four adventurers apparently began swimming their way out of an obscure Provo cave early Thursday.
They never made it.
Later that morning, rescuers in wet suits and wearing breathing apparatuses retrieved their bodies from the water-filled tunnel of the east-bench cave on Provo's Y Mountain.
Police identified the victims as Jennifer Lynn Galbraith, 21, of Pleasant Grove; Scott K. McDonald, 28, of Provo; J. Blake Donner, 24, of Springville; and Ariel R. Singer, 18, of Orem.
Preliminary tests indicate all four drowned.
Meanwhile, city officials sealed up the so-called Cave of Death - possibly an abandoned mine - which sits on city property east of the Seven Peaks Water Park.
Members of Galbraith's family were shocked when authorities told them of Jennifer's death.
"Your whole life kind of turns upside down on you," said Chris Galbraith, Jennifer's father.
Galbraith said Jennifer, the youngest of four children, was outgoing and adventuresome. She was entering her second year at Orem's Utah Valley State College, loved photography, playing bass and guitar and was "full of dreams."
"She liked to experience new things and go places," he added. "Like others at that age, she just enjoyed spreading her wings."
Jennifer was dating Donner, lead singer of the band Parallax.
Donner's cousin Max Robison said Blake's band had performed Wednesday night at a Provo cafe called Ironic Ashes and was preparing to cut an album.
"He was a good musician and a good guy," Robison said. "He tried to help me any way he could."
Robison said Donner, a UVSC student, was a writer who had penned some pieces for magazines.
''The last thing I said to him was, 'Good luck at the show,' '' he recalled.
Singer graduated early from Orem High. "She was a very bright and capable girl," said Glenn Martin, bishop of her Orem LDS ward.
Martin said Ariel's mother is returning from Colorado Springs, where she was giving a seminar. "Of course she is very distraught," he said. Her father is on his way to Utah from Chicago.
Police said the four and Joseph Ferguson, 26, of Reno, Nev., went to the cave Thursday about 3 a.m. Ferguson waited outside as the four entered the cave and the submerged tunnel to make their way to a cavern on the far end.
"We believe they had already been
into the cavern and were on their way out when something went wrong," said Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Bennett, noting that the four were found in the passageway, facing the entrance as if they were trying to get back out.
Police said the tunnel, which is about 15 feet long and about 2 1/2 feet in diameter, links the mouth of the cave with the underground cavern. A rope tied off at both tunnel ends helps swimmers pull their way through.
Provo resident Brian Lamprey, 29, knows the cave and recalls a time when he got disoriented and missed the hole that serves as the tunnel's entrance.
"I had the same experience," Lamprey said. "I didn't realize I just overshot the hole. You kick up dirt on the bottom and the water becomes totally cloudy. If you're not holding the rope, you can get lost."
Lamprey hit a wall four feet past the hole before overshooting it again on the way back, hitting his head twice on the tunnel roof and racing back to the cavern on the other end for some air. He tried again and found the hole to exit safely.
"It was so cloudy," he recalled. "Even with an underwater flashlight you couldn't see anything."
Rescuers found a flashlight in the tunnel and some unlit candles in the cavern but were unsure if the items belonged to the victims. Police said the men were dressed only in shorts and sandals and the women wore shorts, shirts and tennis shoes.
"They could have been better prepared," Provo Police Lt. Scott Finch said. "This was a treacherous environment."
Despite the cave's east-bench location, Provo and Utah County officials were unaware of it.
"Our people didn't know this existed," Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said. "If we had known, it would have been closed a long time ago."
City officials learned about the cave from Ferguson, who opted not to enter the chamber early Thursday with the four others.
He waited about 45 minutes for them to return and then began calling friends who were familiar with the cave, Provo police Sgt. Max Troxel told The Associated Press. As time passed, Ferguson became increasingly alarmed and called 911 about 6:30 a.m., Troxel said.
Members of the Utah County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team and Provo Police and Fire departments rushed to the site. They were joined by Orem police with equipment geared for working in confined spaces, said Provo police spokeswoman Karen Mayne.
To get to the victims, rescuers crawled through a narrow crawl way into the mouth of the cave, which is about 5 feet high, and then walked the 90 yards to the hole in the ground that serves as the watery tunnel's entrance.
Before entering, rescuers inserted a hose and forced oxygen into the cave and used a sump pump to drain water out of the tunnel. As the water level dropped, rescuers saw the body of a woman floating in the six-inch airspace between the water and tunnel roof. They recovered her body about 9:45 a.m. and the remaining three an hour later.
They found the second victim, a man, submerged on the tunnel floor, and the two remaining victims were found floating farther back in the tunnel.
Preliminary findings from the state Medical Examiner's Office show all four died from drowning.
Bennett said the cavern at the far end of the tunnel measures 6 feet 6 inches at its highest point and is wide enough for two adults to stand upright and for several others to crouch down.
Kellie Primoch, a 20-year-old Brigham Young University student from Scottsdale, Ariz., said she ventured into the cave about two weeks ago with a group of eight people after her brother had heard about the place from someone else.
She said the water is so cold it takes your breath away and noted that cavegoers had worked out a system of tugging on the rope so that any others in the group would come up in the right place.
"If you're not comfortable with holding your breath and not knowing when you'll come out, it would be easy to freak out," Primoch said.
City officials believe the tunnel and chamber are part of an old mine.
"We've given an order to have the mine closed," Billings said. "A Forest Service archaeologist will do some more research to pinpoint other mines. We're seeking to find other mines in the area and possibly close them."
---
Tribune reporters Justin Hill and Jason Bergreen contributed to this story.
===========
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2955309
PROVO - In an underground tunnel, in water over their heads and holding their breath, four adventurers apparently began swimming their way out of an obscure Provo cave early Thursday.
They never made it.
Later that morning, rescuers in wet suits and wearing breathing apparatuses retrieved their bodies from the water-filled tunnel of the east-bench cave on Provo's Y Mountain.
Police identified the victims as Jennifer Lynn Galbraith, 21, of Pleasant Grove; Scott K. McDonald, 28, of Provo; J. Blake Donner, 24, of Springville; and Ariel R. Singer, 18, of Orem.
Preliminary tests indicate all four drowned.
Meanwhile, city officials sealed up the so-called Cave of Death - possibly an abandoned mine - which sits on city property east of the Seven Peaks Water Park.
Members of Galbraith's family were shocked when authorities told them of Jennifer's death.
"Your whole life kind of turns upside down on you," said Chris Galbraith, Jennifer's father.
Galbraith said Jennifer, the youngest of four children, was outgoing and adventuresome. She was entering her second year at Orem's Utah Valley State College, loved photography, playing bass and guitar and was "full of dreams."
"She liked to experience new things and go places," he added. "Like others at that age, she just enjoyed spreading her wings."
Jennifer was dating Donner, lead singer of the band Parallax.
Donner's cousin Max Robison said Blake's band had performed Wednesday night at a Provo cafe called Ironic Ashes and was preparing to cut an album.
"He was a good musician and a good guy," Robison said. "He tried to help me any way he could."
Robison said Donner, a UVSC student, was a writer who had penned some pieces for magazines.
''The last thing I said to him was, 'Good luck at the show,' '' he recalled.
Singer graduated early from Orem High. "She was a very bright and capable girl," said Glenn Martin, bishop of her Orem LDS ward.
Martin said Ariel's mother is returning from Colorado Springs, where she was giving a seminar. "Of course she is very distraught," he said. Her father is on his way to Utah from Chicago.
Police said the four and Joseph Ferguson, 26, of Reno, Nev., went to the cave Thursday about 3 a.m. Ferguson waited outside as the four entered the cave and the submerged tunnel to make their way to a cavern on the far end.
"We believe they had already been
into the cavern and were on their way out when something went wrong," said Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Bennett, noting that the four were found in the passageway, facing the entrance as if they were trying to get back out.
Police said the tunnel, which is about 15 feet long and about 2 1/2 feet in diameter, links the mouth of the cave with the underground cavern. A rope tied off at both tunnel ends helps swimmers pull their way through.
Provo resident Brian Lamprey, 29, knows the cave and recalls a time when he got disoriented and missed the hole that serves as the tunnel's entrance.
"I had the same experience," Lamprey said. "I didn't realize I just overshot the hole. You kick up dirt on the bottom and the water becomes totally cloudy. If you're not holding the rope, you can get lost."
Lamprey hit a wall four feet past the hole before overshooting it again on the way back, hitting his head twice on the tunnel roof and racing back to the cavern on the other end for some air. He tried again and found the hole to exit safely.
"It was so cloudy," he recalled. "Even with an underwater flashlight you couldn't see anything."
Rescuers found a flashlight in the tunnel and some unlit candles in the cavern but were unsure if the items belonged to the victims. Police said the men were dressed only in shorts and sandals and the women wore shorts, shirts and tennis shoes.
"They could have been better prepared," Provo Police Lt. Scott Finch said. "This was a treacherous environment."
Despite the cave's east-bench location, Provo and Utah County officials were unaware of it.
"Our people didn't know this existed," Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said. "If we had known, it would have been closed a long time ago."
City officials learned about the cave from Ferguson, who opted not to enter the chamber early Thursday with the four others.
He waited about 45 minutes for them to return and then began calling friends who were familiar with the cave, Provo police Sgt. Max Troxel told The Associated Press. As time passed, Ferguson became increasingly alarmed and called 911 about 6:30 a.m., Troxel said.
Members of the Utah County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team and Provo Police and Fire departments rushed to the site. They were joined by Orem police with equipment geared for working in confined spaces, said Provo police spokeswoman Karen Mayne.
To get to the victims, rescuers crawled through a narrow crawl way into the mouth of the cave, which is about 5 feet high, and then walked the 90 yards to the hole in the ground that serves as the watery tunnel's entrance.
Before entering, rescuers inserted a hose and forced oxygen into the cave and used a sump pump to drain water out of the tunnel. As the water level dropped, rescuers saw the body of a woman floating in the six-inch airspace between the water and tunnel roof. They recovered her body about 9:45 a.m. and the remaining three an hour later.
They found the second victim, a man, submerged on the tunnel floor, and the two remaining victims were found floating farther back in the tunnel.
Preliminary findings from the state Medical Examiner's Office show all four died from drowning.
Bennett said the cavern at the far end of the tunnel measures 6 feet 6 inches at its highest point and is wide enough for two adults to stand upright and for several others to crouch down.
Kellie Primoch, a 20-year-old Brigham Young University student from Scottsdale, Ariz., said she ventured into the cave about two weeks ago with a group of eight people after her brother had heard about the place from someone else.
She said the water is so cold it takes your breath away and noted that cavegoers had worked out a system of tugging on the rope so that any others in the group would come up in the right place.
"If you're not comfortable with holding your breath and not knowing when you'll come out, it would be easy to freak out," Primoch said.
City officials believe the tunnel and chamber are part of an old mine.
"We've given an order to have the mine closed," Billings said. "A Forest Service archaeologist will do some more research to pinpoint other mines. We're seeking to find other mines in the area and possibly close them."
---
Tribune reporters Justin Hill and Jason Bergreen contributed to this story.
===========
I live in Provo and have been to this particular cave. When the news broke yesterday I was at work nearby and realized it was in this particular cave.
Of the three times I entered the cave, I only did the swim-through one time. I took several friends there, but always advised them not to swim though. The one time I swam through I admit that I was not as prepared as I could have been. I wore a 7mm vest, a mask, and had a large light, but only the vest helped. The water was clouded with silt as soon as you hopped in and the light became useless until you reached the second chamber. I would estimate the water temperature to be in the 50's.
This is a tragic event. I feel terrible for the families of the victims who were just four more adventurous kids that didn't know what they had gotten themselves into.
From the recent happenings I have taken a deeper look into some of my activities and realized how lucky I am to be alive. I am grateful, but at the same time pained for those affected by this tragedy.
Of the three times I entered the cave, I only did the swim-through one time. I took several friends there, but always advised them not to swim though. The one time I swam through I admit that I was not as prepared as I could have been. I wore a 7mm vest, a mask, and had a large light, but only the vest helped. The water was clouded with silt as soon as you hopped in and the light became useless until you reached the second chamber. I would estimate the water temperature to be in the 50's.
This is a tragic event. I feel terrible for the families of the victims who were just four more adventurous kids that didn't know what they had gotten themselves into.
From the recent happenings I have taken a deeper look into some of my activities and realized how lucky I am to be alive. I am grateful, but at the same time pained for those affected by this tragedy.
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