Another Cave Project in Utah...

For the last 2 months or so the Dive Addicts Exploration Team (Randy, Michael and Josh Thornton) have been hauling dive equipment into another Utah cave. A bit different than Ricks this time....although the cave is still within 3 hour drive of our home, logistically it is on a whole new plane.

Our current alpine cave project - Altitude: 2500m, terminal sump is currently at -374.5m (we hope to be pushing past that soon!).

The approach is fairly short, but very steep and rocky. Hauling equipment, it is about a 2 hour hike. It took 3 trips and participation from over 10 people to get all our equipment to the entrance, and then to the sump. We hope to be making our initial exploration dives in the next week or two. The potential for this system is in the miles! If the sump (we think it's a sump...) is passable, then this cave also has incredible vertical potential as well.

We owe a HUGE thanks to Peter who has been training us on and helping with the logistics of exploring a true Alpine cave. There is still snow and ice in the cave, it is extremely wet and as you can imagine- cold!

Anyway... I just wanted to start sharing some of the pictures thus far as I have had a few inquiries as to how it was going. Hopefully our next post will be some diving pics!

Before and after a long day (10.5 hours in cave equipment hauling trip)
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Waiting in line to drop into a huge 90m (300 ft) + pit, about 275m (900 ft) below the entrance
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Michael pushing a bag through
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At least it is a pretty hike!
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https://sphotos-a-pao.xx.fbcdn.net/h...68949732_n.jpg

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The water at the sump is 38F and crystal clear. Looks very promising.

Are ya'll diving Main Drain? If so, that's pretty cool.

Nice! I was wondering when someone was finally dive that cave.

Pete's a joy to hang out with and one hell of an Alpine Caver. I had the chance to meet him in Mexico years ago and I still tell some of his stories of caving with Russians before the fall of the Wall.

Best of luck in the dive. I still regret missing my opportunity years ago to cave in the Tony Grove...

-Jon

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Originally Posted by jason

Are ya'll diving Main Drain? If so, that's pretty cool.

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Winner winner!


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Originally Posted by jlillest

Nice! I was wondering when someone was finally dive that cave.

Pete's a joy to hang out with and one hell of an Alpine Caver. I had the chance to meet him in Mexico years ago and I still tell some of his stories of caving with Russians before the fall of the Wall.

Best of luck in the dive. I still regret missing my opportunity years ago to cave in the Tony Grove...

-Jon

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I'm surprised people on here knew about MD.

Peter is amazing. His knowledge, personality and stories are unrivaled. I can only hope to be doing half of what he does at 60 years old.


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very nice guys, good luck

Man, those Utah caves! Best wishes!

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Originally Posted by CCR Josh

I'm surprised people on here knew about MD.

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Not everyone gets into cave diving from the scuba side of things.... Neat project and good luck.

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Originally Posted by jason

Not everyone gets into cave diving from the scuba side of things.... Neat project and good luck.

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True! I got into caving for the diving... :)


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Awesome looking project. I hope you can make it go big! Wet or Dry!

I can attest that just getting the gear up to the mouth of the cave is no small feat in and of itself. Combine that with rappelling 1200 feet vertical and 1 mile into the sump over boulder strewn up and down and you start to get a better idea about the epic level of this effort. These guys are really paying their dues to get some serious cave diving exploration done!

Looking forward to updates, looks like a hellova an adventure!

Cheryl (the UWS Editor) and the rest of would love to see an article on your exploration in the UWS.

TF

Dived the terminal sump over the weekend. It Goes! We will be posting some more pics and video soon.

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Originally Posted by CCRMichael

Dived the terminal sump over the weekend. It Goes! We will be posting some more pics and video soon.

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Great to hear! Good luck on the rest of the exploration. Is it going deep, or might it come up in more "dry" cave?

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Originally Posted by FW

Great to hear! Good luck on the rest of the exploration. Is it going deep, or might it come up in more "dry" cave?

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Forrest,
I was expecting it to go back to dry cave quickly. We put between 250 and 300 feet of line in at a depth of 66 feet and then decided we needed to come back with much larger tanks to see where else it goes. Crystal clear water and a beautiful cave. Looking further it goes deeper and then turned a corner. We cannot dive it year around so the project is going to take some time.

Took me a long time to finally get this together, but here is a teaser video. Let me be 100% honest - it is a teaser in the sense that you all get to see very little of the cave, not so much a teaser in the sense that this is really all the usable video we have so far! :)

Gave a short presentation at the 2013 Cave Summit this weekend, that's what finally pushed us to get the video together.

Big plans to make a push this winter.... we'll keep you all posted.

https://vimeo.com/76739780

You guys are stirring my blood.....You're the real deal..........awesome find ! Utah rocks ! In more ways than one !

Man, I wish I was 25 years old and had my good joints back! I'd be all over that! Looks like a great find! Being from the west, I'd love to do that.

Making a equipment haul trip this weekend.... here is the first week's load! Hoping to dive on March 1st.

We have decided to do one more OC dive before hauling CCRs in. If it continues, we will work out a nice long CCR push later this summer.

https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/..._5404204_n.jpg

This looks to have the potential to make a really great video. Haha

Like the pigs!

Peter

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Originally Posted by Sh0use

This looks to have the potential to make a really great video. Haha

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I would agree! Can't wait to hear whether this goes!!

Garth

Nice! Can't wait to hear the results.

Be sure to send some pics over to Petzl, they're not as supportive of caving here as they are in France, but you never know they might float you some free bits of gear. And they're pretty close to you guys!

If you decide to carry in a CCR, which unit and why?

-Jon

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Originally Posted by jlillest

If you decide to carry in a CCR, which unit and why?

-Jon

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THAT is the big question. The Flex in some ways is ideal, in some ways not. It breaks into 2 pieces fairly well, but it is more rebreather than we needed for this particular trip. It would have added 2 full bags to our hauling over what we have this trip. And when we have so much vertical work, ANY extra weight or bulk hurts a lot. We want to stick to SM for the time being, as there is a restriction (it would be tight with BM) to stat the dive, and we have no idea what is ahead.

For this trip we are planning on a 60m max depth, and probably no more than 200m penetration in zero flow conditions. That is if it even makes it down to 60m... maybe we will be shallower and get more penetration?

I guess either way - after this trip we will have a really good idea if it keeps going - then we will be on CCRs no matter what. Possibly for a multi-day, multi dive push later this summer. Time will tell.

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Originally Posted by CCR Josh

THAT is the big question. The Flex in some ways is ideal, in some ways not. It breaks into 2 pieces fairly well, but it is more rebreather than we needed for this particular trip. It would have added 2 full bags to our hauling over what we have this trip. And when we have so much vertical work, ANY extra weight or bulk hurts a lot. We want to stick to SM for the time being, as there is a restriction (it would be tight with BM) to stat the dive, and we have no idea what is ahead.

For this trip we are planning on a 60m max depth, and probably no more than 200m penetration in zero flow conditions. That is if it even makes it down to 60m... maybe we will be shallower and get more penetration?

I guess either way - after this trip we will have a really good idea if it keeps going - then we will be on CCRs no matter what. Possibly for a multi-day, multi dive push later this summer. Time will tell.

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I would recommend the KISS Sidekick.

Trip pushed back again..... Due to blizzard conditions. Our support team could not even get up to the entrance using snow mobiles.

Next trip- TBD


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This little piggy went to the sump. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy got EOL. This little piggy had none. And this little piggy cried "She goes She goes She goes!" all the way home!

Our next dive is planned for Oct 3rd... planned max depth of 60m. We have also created a facebook page for those of you that would like to follow: https://www.facebook.com/MainDrainDivingProject

We have been hauling in gear for a month now.

• LP45s for bottom mix
• 2L bottles of 50%
• Atomic T3s to save weight
• Atomic M1s for deco
• Fourth Element Kevlar dry suits
• Fourth Element Xerotherm UGs (to layer on top of our Xerotherms already worn under caving coveralls)
• SM rigs
• Light Monkey lights
• Rescue tent for resting before ascents
• Light Monkey lights

We decided to go with Atomic regs because we know we can leave them down in the cave for a months at a time and not worry about the reliability when we go to use them.

http://www.ccrjosh.com/wp-content/up...9/photo-18.jpg

We are getting excited! Stay tuned for more news... :diver

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Originally Posted by CCR Josh

True! I got into caving for the diving... :)

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Ha! I got into diving for the caving.

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Originally Posted by CCR Josh

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We decided to go with Atomic regs because we know we can leave them down in the cave for a months at a time and not worry about the reliability when we go to use them.

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Ok, so I do not have even remotely close to the experience or knowledge of your team, so I'm asking to learn, not contradict or be a smart a$s, but...
Why can you "leave Atomics down in the cave for months at a time and not worry about their reliability" over any other brand of regs?
What is it that I'm not even aware of that I don't know?:smt100

BTW, best of luck & eagerly awaiting the trip report

Thanks
Bentley

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Originally Posted by Webmaster

Ha! I got into diving for the caving.

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Me too! :)

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Originally Posted by Hammerhead Ferrari

Ok, so I do not have even remotely close to the experience or knowledge of your team, so I'm asking to learn, not contradict or be a smart a$s, but...
Why can you "leave Atomics down in the cave for months at a time and not worry about their reliability" over any other brand of regs?
What is it that I'm not even aware of that I don't know?:smt100

BTW, best of luck & eagerly awaiting the trip report

Thanks
Bentley

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I have tried just about every regulator out there, and have also been factory trained to service them as well. Out of all the regs I have tried and serviced, I am most impressed with the Atomics. We even had another manufacturer give us, free of charge, regs to use in this project, but we have switched over to 100% Atomic Regs.

• Extremely stable (not needing to re-tune or adjust between service)
• Titanium - Light weight and doesn't rust
• Breaths extremely well (and still stable when tuned very light)

Basically Atomic regs were the only ones we would trust to haul in there, leave for 3-4 weeks in near freezing temps and wet and know that they would work well when we needed them. Now they have been in there for 2+ weeks AFTER and I know they will still work!

Not saying there are not other good regs out there, because there are (we sell several brands). We just feel as though the Atomic are the most reliable when tuned lightly, the most corrosion resistant (titanium!) and they are a pleasure to breath. They also hold up to an amazing amount of abuse :smt068

Trip report coming soon... just trying to get caught up on work!

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Originally Posted by CCR Josh

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• Extremely stable (not needing to re-tune or adjust between service)
• Titanium - Light weight and doesn't rust
• Breaths extremely well (and still stable when tuned very light

...

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Ok! thanks for the info...
Do you use Titanium first stages on O2?
I ask because I've witnessed one, and saw the aftermath of another, O2 fire in first stages, and BOTH were titanium. That was scary enough to keep me from even considering titanium as a material of choice on deco (>EAN50) regs.
The one I witnessed, just seconds earlier I was sitting directly in the "line of fire" cutting torch that reg turned into!

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Originally Posted by Hammerhead Ferrari

Ok! thanks for the info...

Do you use Titanium first stages on O2?

I ask because I've witnessed one, and saw the aftermath of another, O2 fire in first stages, and BOTH were titanium. That was scary enough to keep me from even considering titanium as a material of choice on deco (>EAN50) regs.

The one I witnessed, just seconds earlier I was sitting directly in the "line of fire" cutting torch that reg turned into!

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No we had 50% with us. For 50% we use the Atomic M1. It has a piston in the first stage made of Monel.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by CCR Josh

I have tried just about every regulator out there, and have also been factory trained to service them as well. Out of all the regs I have tried and serviced, I am most impressed with the Atomics. We even had another manufacturer give us, free of charge, regs to use in this project, but we have switched over to 100% Atomic Regs.

• Extremely stable (not needing to re-tune or adjust between service)
• Titanium - Light weight and doesn't rust
• Breaths extremely well (and still stable when tuned very light)

Basically Atomic regs were the only ones we would trust to haul in there, leave for 3-4 weeks in near freezing temps and wet and know that they would work well when we needed them. Now they have been in there for 2+ weeks AFTER and I know they will still work!

Not saying there are not other good regs out there, because there are (we sell several brands). We just feel as though the Atomic are the most reliable when tuned lightly, the most corrosion resistant (titanium!) and they are a pleasure to breath. They also hold up to an amazing amount of abuse :smt068

Trip report coming soon... just trying to get caught up on work!

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Well if you weren't so busy conquering the world... :)

Can't wait to hear more from the main drain!!


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