Awkward Starts – Inverting

In the category of Near Miss.

Inspired by this week’s full moon and the recent post from Sonny Lawrence titled, Helmet in Monkey Face Falls, which at first glance I mistakenly read as, Helmet in Monkey Face…falls. Reminded me of an incident some 3 or 4 years ago – the disaster that wasn’t.

Brief history: There is a “keeper pothole” in North Alabama called, Neversink. It is a beautiful 162′ open air pit. Well known by cavers and canyoneers alike – a TAG classic (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia). Arguably the most photographed pit in the region, with fern covered ledges and waterfalls; and caver owned since 1995 (an SCCi purchase). The pit is about 50 feet in diameter at the top, then bells out to 130 feet at the bottom. A quick Google image search will return a number of stunning pictures and videos.

It has also been the scene of a few near misses over the years, however to my knowledge, no fatalities. Which is remarkable, given that it has probably been bounced well over 10,000 times. To cite an example: Patrick, my canyoneering partner last September, recorded a vertical mile there one afternoon/evening, with 33 consecutive yo-yo trips.

But that’s enough for the sales pitch.

Certainly a beautiful place during the day, Neversink is also regularly frequented on a clear, full moon, night. I have made the celestial trip a few times over the years. It IS mesmerizing, to say the very least. And maybe, in a twisted way, romantic. It is also not uncommon to show up, during one of these lunar events, only to find a considerable number of romantics with the same objective. Ten ropes circling the pit, is not an unheard of probability.

On this particular full moon night, we were there with various other groups from around a 100 mile radius of Jackson County. Around 25+ participants that evening; all shapes, sizes and abilities. Having a plan, being focused, with clear communication, especially when there is a lot of commotion and excitement, is preeminent. With only the illumination of the moon and a few headlamps swirling about as people rappelled and climbed – I hope you can visualize the mental image.

At this time, I was at the bottom of the pit providing belay on one of our lines. There was a group to my left, that from earlier indication, had some first-timers to the pit with noticeable inexperience. It can be quite unnerving, given the circumstances. And based on the coaxing and banter that echoed down from the two individuals, one on-rope with another coaching, an obvious first-timer was engaged at the edge. The communication was intensifying in both volume and adjectives.

Then Suddenly, a scream rang out! Followed by an unmistakable helmet and light plummeting into the blackness. An instantaneous and overwhelming sick feeling enveloped everyone below, “fatality unfolding”. The helmet crashed down 20 feet from where I stood, but thankfully, with less impact than expected. It was headless and body-less, for that matter. The now rattled, helmet-less, on-rope individual, while negotiating an awkward start, inverted and had not secured the chin-strap on his headgear. An audible sigh of relief from all, followed by eye-witness chatter – above and below. Each conversation beginning with, “I just knew…”.

Takeaways: Awkward starts are just that, awkward, and require attentiveness and often times a level of skill, to avoid precarious predicaments. Inverting on rappel, though not desirable, is relatively easy to recover from, if you maintain composure (a good thing to practice during those training events). At all times, keep your head about you…wear a helmet and buckle that chinstrap – not too tight, not too loose.

Neversink