Pit Cave
Encyclopedia
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
which contains one or more significant vertical shafts rather than being predominantly a conventional horizontal cave passage. Pit caves typically form in limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
as a result of long-term erosion by water. They can be open to the surface or found deep within horizontal caves. Among cavers, a pit is generally defined as a vertical drop of any depth that cannot be negotiated safely without the use of ropes or ladders.
Pit caving
Exploration into pit caves ("vertical cavingCaving
Caving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems...
", also called "pit caving") requires the use of equipment such as nylon kermantle rope or cable ladders. More specialized caving techniques such as the single rope technique
Single Rope Technique
Single Rope Technique is a set of methods used to descend and ascend on the same single rope. SRT is used in caving, potholing, rock climbing, canyoning, roped access for building maintenance and by arborists for tree climbing.-Historical Developments:...
(SRT) are common practice and the preferred method of pit exploration for cavers worldwide. The SRT involves the use of 9–11 mm nylon static rope and mechanical descenders/ascenders.
Vertical caving is a specialized sport that should be undertaken only after acquiring knowledge of, and expertise in, proper vertical caving equipment and its use. For obvious reasons, vertical caving is more dangerous than "horizontal caving". Vertical caving requires the intimate understanding of ropes, knots, anchors, rappelling devices and ascending systems. Veteran cavers typically are knowledgeable in self rescue techniques including change-overs (the act of switching from rappel to climb while on rope) and pick-offs (the act of rescuing a stranded caver from his rope and returning him to the ground).
History of vertical caving
Pit caving was pioneered by British geologistGeologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
John Beaumont
John Beaumont (geologist)
John Beaumont was an English physician and early geologist.-Biography:John Beaumont was a physician who lived in Ston Easton in Somerset....
(c. 1650–1731) who gave an account of his descent into Lamb Leer Cavern
Lamb Leer
Lamb Leer is a 14.59 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between East Harptree and Priddy in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1983. The cavern is a fragment of a very ancient major cave system which now contains one of the largest chambers on Mendip.- History :Several...
to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1681. French caver Édouard-Alfred Martel
Édouard-Alfred Martel
, the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation...
(1859–1938) first achieved the descent and exploration of the Gouffre de Padirac, France, as early as 1889 and the first complete descent of a 110 m (360.9 ft) wet vertical shaft at Gaping Gill
Gaping Gill
Gaping Gill is a natural cave in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the unmistakable landmarks on the southern slopes of Ingleborough – a deep pothole with the stream Fell Beck flowing into it...
, in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England, in 1895. He developed his own techniques using ropes and metallic ladders. In the 1930s, as caving became increasingly popular in France, several clubs in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
made vertical cave exploration into a recognized outdoor sport.
During World War II, a team composed by Pierre Chevalier
Pierre Chevalier
Pierre Chevalier was a well-known caver and mountaineer from France, with many alpine ascents and cave explorations to his credit. Chevalier is principally known for the exploration of the Dent de Crolles cave system over a twelve-year period , which became the deepest cave in the world...
, Fernand Petzl
Fernand Petzl
Fernand Petzl was a caver and manufacturer of outdoor equipment under the brand name Petzl.Petzl lived most of his life in the village of Saint-Ismier , France at the foot of the mountain Dent De Crolles. He first went caving in Trou du Glaz in 1933, and was immediately captivated by the idea of...
, Charles Petit-Didier and others explored the Dent de Crolles
Crolles
Crolles is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France. It is located in the Isère valley, 20 km north-east of Grenoble, upstream on the Isère River...
cave system near Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, France, which became the deepest known cave in the world (658 m (2,158.8 ft)) at that time. The lack of available technical equipment during the war forced Chevalier and his team to innovate and develop their own. The scaling-pole (1940), nylon ropes (1942), use of explosives in caves (1947) and mechanical rope-ascenders (Henri Brenot's "monkeys", first used by Chevalier and Brenot in a cave in 1934) can be traced historically to the exploration of the Dent de Crolles
Dent de Crolles
The Dent de Crolles is a karstic mountain of the Chartreuse Mountains range, 17 km north east from Grenoble, Isère . It has a characteristic "tooth-like" profile which is well-known sight of the Isère Valley seen from the Grenoble area...
cave system.
In the late 1950s, American caver Bill Cuddington, known as "Vertical Bill", developed the single rope technique
Single Rope Technique
Single Rope Technique is a set of methods used to descend and ascend on the same single rope. SRT is used in caving, potholing, rock climbing, canyoning, roped access for building maintenance and by arborists for tree climbing.-Historical Developments:...
(SRT) in the US. In 1958, two Swiss alpinists, Juesi and Marti teamed up, creating the first rope ascender known as the Jumar
Jumar
An ascender is a mechanical device used for ascending on a rope. One such device is a Jumar, named after the Swiss factory which developed the first tool for sale in 1958. The device's name also leads to the term Jumaring for the process of using such a device...
. In 1968, Bruno Dressler asked Petzl, who worked as a metals machinist, to build a rope-ascending tool, today known as the Petzl Croll
Petzl Croll
A petzl croll is an ascending device used in caving and industrial rope access made by the French company Petzl. Its name comes from the town Crolles where Petzl's company headquarters are located but might also be a reference to the nearby cave system of the Dent de Crolles, The exploration of...
, that he had developed by adapting the Jumar
Jumar
An ascender is a mechanical device used for ascending on a rope. One such device is a Jumar, named after the Swiss factory which developed the first tool for sale in 1958. The device's name also leads to the term Jumaring for the process of using such a device...
to the specificity of pit caving. Pursuing these developments, in the 1970s Fernand Petzl
Fernand Petzl
Fernand Petzl was a caver and manufacturer of outdoor equipment under the brand name Petzl.Petzl lived most of his life in the village of Saint-Ismier , France at the foot of the mountain Dent De Crolles. He first went caving in Trou du Glaz in 1933, and was immediately captivated by the idea of...
started a small caving equipment manufacturing company Petzl
Petzl
Petzl is a world leading manufacturer of climbing gear, caving gear, work-at-height equipment, and headlamps based in Crolles , France. The company was created by the cave explorer Fernand Petzl in the mid-1970s...
, which is today a world leader in equipment for both caving, mountaineering and at-height safety in civil engineering. The development of the rappel rack and the evolution of mechanical ascension systems, notably helped extend the practice and safety of pit exploration to a larger venue of established cavers.
Notable pit caves and underground pitches
- The deepest individual pitchPitch (vertical space)-Climbing:In rock climbing and ice climbing, a pitch is a steep section of a route that requires a rope between two belays, as part of a climbing system...
(vertical drop) within a cave is 603 m (1,978.3 ft) in Vrtoglavica CaveVrtoglavica CaveThe Vrtoglavica Cave is a cave located inside the Kanin mountain in the Slovenian part of the Julian Alps, near to the border between Slovenia and Italy. The cave holds the record for having the deepest single vertical drop of any cave on Earth at a depth of ....
in SloveniaSloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. - The second deepest pitch is Patkov GuštVelebit cavesThe Velebit mountain of Croatia has several deep caves with some of the world's largest subterranean vertical drops."Lukina jama" cave is 1392 m deep , the deepest cave in Croatia and the deepest in southeast Europe...
at 553 m (1,814.3 ft) in the VelebitVelebitVelebit is the largest though not the highest mountain range in Croatia. Its highest peak is the Vaganski vrh at 1757 m.The range forms a part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior...
mountain, CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. - Sótano de Las Golondrinas ("Cave of SwallowsCave of SwallowsThe Cave of Swallows, also called Cave of the Swallows , is an open air pit cave in the Municipality of Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The elliptical mouth, on a slope of karst, is wide and is undercut around all its perimeter, further widening to a room approximately 995 feet by 440 feet wide...
"), San Luis PotosíSan Luis PotosíSan Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, at 1094 ft (333.5 m), is the world's deepest freefall drop. - El Capitan Pit, Prince of Wales Island, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, USA, at 598.3 ft (182.4 m) is the deepest vertical shaft in the United States. - Fantastic Pit, Ellisons Cave SystemEllisons CaveEllisons Cave is a pit cave located in Walker County, on Pigeon Mountain in the Appalachian Plateaus of Northwest Georgia. It is the 12th deepest cave in the United States and features the deepest, unobstructed underground pitch in the continental US named Fantastic Pit...
, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, USA, at 586 ft (178.6 m) is the deepest freefall pit in the lower 48 United States. - Stupendous Pit, Rumbling Falls Cave, TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, USA, is a 202 ft (61.6 m) pit that drops into a 26 acre (105,218.4 m²) chamber. - HellholeHellholeHellhole is a large, deep and — in the caving community — fabled pit cave in Germany Valley, eastern West Virginia. It is the 11th longest cave in the United States and is home to almost half of the world's population of Virginia big-eared bats...
, West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, USA, has a 154 ft (46.9 m) entrance drop and was the site of development of the single rope technique in the 1950s and 60s. - Natural Trap Cave, located in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, is 85 ft (25.9 m) deep and home to one of the largest fossil finds in North America.
- Lamb LeerLamb LeerLamb Leer is a 14.59 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between East Harptree and Priddy in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1983. The cavern is a fragment of a very ancient major cave system which now contains one of the largest chambers on Mendip.- History :Several...
, SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England, was entered by a 25 m (82 ft) pitch as early as the 17th century.
See also
- CenoteCenoteA cenote is a deep natural pit, or sinkhole, characteristic of Mexico and Central America, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath...
s and Blue holeBlue holeA blue hole is a cave or underwater sinkhole. They are also called vertical caves. There are many different blue holes located around the world, typically in low-lying coastal regions...
s (vertical cave sinkholeSinkholeA sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
filled with water) - Pitch (vertical space)Pitch (vertical space)-Climbing:In rock climbing and ice climbing, a pitch is a steep section of a route that requires a rope between two belays, as part of a climbing system...