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previous--Snedegar pg231
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MISADVENTURES IN
SNEDEGAR CROOKSHANK continued |
Crookshank's Hole entrance. Photo by C. Mothes
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John was then unanimously volunteered to be the first to rappel into Crookshank's. He rappelled down the fifteen foot rock side of the pit, and then was in free rappel the rest of the way to the bottom. Lew Bicking followed John to the bottom. I rigged in next and worked my way to the edge of the pit. Due to my lack of experience in rappelling, I had used two brake bars and after dropping into the edge of the pit, I found I was unable to go on down. Hanging there on the edge of the pit gave me time to meditate on the merits of vertical caving. Having gained a better view of the pit, I climbed out, and gladly relinquished my turn to John Cooper. John rigged into the rope and was about to descend when Holsinger advised us not to come down.
It should be mentioned here that it was very difficult to communicate with Holsinger and Bicking due to echoes. It was even harder for them to understand us due to another much more serious reason which will be discussed later.
Cooper and I waited at the top of the pit while they explored below. About an hour later Lew started to prusik out. When he arrived at the bottom of the rock lip of the pit, he appeared to be completely exhausted and was unable to climb the remaining fifteen foot vertical rock lip. He called for help and we were able to pull him up the rest of the way. He arrived at the surface completely soaked with icy water. His hands were covered with blood and he was shaking violently. John and I were fearful for Lew since he could not talk and appeared to be close to a state of shock. We got him to the fire and helped him remove some of his wet clothes. Some idea of his condition can be gained from the fact that fifteen minutes after he reached the surface he still was holding his gloves in his mouth and wasn't aware of it. Meanwhile John Holsinger attempted to prusik out, but for reasons unknown to us at the time, he was unable to do so. Cooper and I attempted to pull him out but it was a hopeless task. It was now about 7:00 PM, and completely dark. Holsinger had entered the cave around 3:30 PM. The darkness made operations at the top of the hole extremely dangerous. At this point Cooper and I reluctantly realized that there was no way to get Holsinger out without help. Our main concern at this point was to get more dry clothes down to him. This we did although some difficulty was experienced due to the water flowing down into the pit.
We had made several trips up the hill to get equipment. On one of these Cooper had attempted to drive his car closer to the cave, but he only succeeded in getting it hopelessly stuck in the mud. 
continued
George Titcomb, DOMC, 1968. Photo by P. C. Lucas. |
Lew Bicking in Friar's Hole, 1965. Photo by P. Grant. |
The nefarious Kaptain Karst. Photo by J. E. Cooper. |
The nefarious "Coop". Photo by J. R. Holsinger. |
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