On October 3, 2001, two cavers were rescued from a Pinnacles Cave after being stranded at the bottom of a pit for several hours. At 12:30 p.m. a group of 4 inexperienced cavers set out to explore Pinnacles Cave about 30 miles SE of Las Vegas, Nevada. None of the cavers had helmets and only had two harnesses and a small amount of vertical equipment between them. When they reached the cave entrance, they rigged a 200 foot rope to rappel down the 120 foot entrance pit. They used a series of overhand knots to secure the rope to a rock next to the entrance. It is unknown why, but one of the men decided not to go into the cave and stayed at the entrance while the other three explored the cave.
The most experienced caver rappelled down first to a ledge about 70 feet from the top without incident. When he reached that point, the other cavers pulled up his harnesses and rappel equipment to the surface to use again. After all three cavers rappelled to the bottom, they continued to rappel down the remaining 50 feet of the pit passing gear back to each other. After reaching the bottom they continued deeper into the cave and spent a few hours exploring the rooms and tight passages.
At about 5:00 p.m. the cavers returned to the bottom of the 120 foot pit and began ascending up the first 50 foot section. The ascending equipment was made from 3 Gibbs ascenders using prussik cord as a tie in and foot loops. During the ascent, one of the cavers became very fatigued while ascending. Due to his unfamiliarity with the ascending equipment, he spent a considerable amount of energy struggling up the rope. Eventually the caver was able to get to the top and rest at the bottom of the first drop. After all three cavers reached the bottom of the first drop, the strongest caver ascended to the surface with out any difficulty. The ascending equipment was lowered back down, then the fatigued caver began his ascent. After just a few feet he became completely exhausted and was not able to continue further. The remaining caver helped him back down and out of the equipment. At that point they decided that he did not have the strength to ascend the remaining 70 feet. One of the cavers stayed with him while the cavers at the top then went for help.
At 6:45 p.m., The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Search and Rescue Unit was called to rescue the two cavers. Upon arrival, rescuers constructed a tripod (Arizona Vortex) over the entrance of the pit and a main and belay rope system to lower one rescuer the 70 foot pit to the waiting cavers. The cavers were found cold and tired after waiting several hours for rescuers to reach them. When secure on the ledge, the rescuer disconnected himself from the ropes and attached the main and belay line to the fatigued caver. A 3:1 Z-Rig was used to raise the caver to the surface. The ropes were then lowered back down the pit and the rescuer attached himself and the other caver to the ropes. Both the rescuer and caver were then raised to the surface.
Contributing Factors: This incident was caused due to the inexperience and improper equipment of the cavers. Only one of the cavers had been in the cave before and had very little experience with vertical caving.
Report by: Steven Ross, NSS #32687
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