Ellison's Cave: Two Ropes in a Waterfall
Ellison's Cave, Georgia, 12 February 2011: a backpack falls into the Warm-Up Pit, a University of Florida student goes down after it on a rope rigged inside a waterfall, and a friend follows him on a second rope. Told from the National Speleological Society's accident report and the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. Content note: this story ends in two deaths.
The case: Ellison's Cave, Pigeon Mountain, Walker County, Georgia, 12 February 2011.
On Saturday 12 February 2011, ten University of Florida students went into Ellison's Cave on Pigeon Mountain, Walker County, Georgia. When a backpack fell into the Warm-Up Pit, Grant Lockenbach went down after it, and Michael Pirie followed on a second rope. The call to 911 was logged at 2:19 p.m. Both men were out of the cave by 8:30 that night.
Chapters
0:00 Two ropes in a waterfall
0:36 The Warm-Up Pit
1:35 The backpack
2:26 Difficulty on rope
3:06 The second rope
3:51 2:19 p.m.
4:26 The rescue
5:20 What the record says
6:20 Both still on
Watch this story, animated, on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTNDWDy8RfM
Sources
NSS, American Caving Accidents 2011–2012 (NSS News, August 2013, pp. 13–14)
Carnegie Hero Fund Commission: Michael Wayne Pirie
Full transcript:
https://pub-413c1fc5107e439dbec7a1f1c322ed45.r2.dev/transcripts/ep04.vtt
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