BLACK HILLS, S.D. – Following a complicated and time-consuming rescue that spanned over two days, a young man was pulled from a Black Hills cave last weekend.
Custer County Search and Rescue responded to a call for help Friday, Oct. 7. A group was exploring a cave on private property with the owner’s permission when the man who was following an unexplored passage got stuck, search and rescue organizers said.
According to search and rescue personnel, the man had been following an unexplored passage (or “lead”) that was very tight, reportedly 9 inches high. He squeezed through it and then around a tight 90-degree bend, and found a slightly larger space where he could turn around. But when he came back the same way, he was unable to maneuver his body around the bend.
Authorities say it’s not unusual for cavers to fit through a hole going in one direction, and then not fit through the same space when going the opposite way. The man’s companions tried to rescue him but unable to move him, followed a passage back to get help.
Drills were brought in to widen the passage, and webbing was passed to him and he was able to pull himself free after 18 hours. After reaching a larger room, he was able to crawl out of the cave, uninjured. He was initially 40 minutes from the cave entrance.
The Black Hills contain many caves, large and small. The best known are those in National Parks or Monuments, such as Wind Cave and Jewel Cave. But there are also commercial caves and many other lesser-known caves on public and private land.
Cave rescue is a highly specialized and technical field. Local search and rescue groups, fire departments or other agencies typically don’t train in the field, beyond assisting with medical issues along the easily-traveled tour routes of public caves.
In the Black Hills, there are experienced cavers from the Paha Sapa Grotto, a subchapter of the National Speleological Society. There are also individuals in local communities who have taken courses offered by the National Speleological Society’s National Cave Rescue Commission (ncrc.info), the primary source for cave-rescue training in the United States. That include a cave-rescue instructor for the NCRC.
