Eagles Nest Line To Be Cut Back

[DMoore]

As part of the NSS-CDS accident prevention mission and as part of my role as Eagles Nest Safety Officer I have requested that Colt Smith, one of the IUCRR recovery divers, cut back the line that leads to the restriction where we believe the recent tragedy occurred.

This is part of an effort to be proactive in accident prevention. Our rationale is that areas of the cave requiring special expertise to negotiate should not be inviting and easy to find. Hopefully this will encourage newcomers to seek out information and knowledge from others who have been there.

Also, I would like to report that I have spoken to IUCRR and the data analysis has not been completed as of yet. I have been assured that when it is complete there will be an analysis of same and it will be made available to all who are interested.

I would also like to thank all of you who have shown restraint and resisted the urge to speculate out of consideration for the survivors of the decedents. We all want to know what is fact and what is fiction.

Respectfully,

Joe Citelli
Chairman, NSS-CDS


Thoughts????

[LiteHedded]

My first thoughts are that it's a stupid idea

[bamafan]

What is next after someone else makes a bad decision and hacks themself? Pulling all the line out?

[jlillest]

My first thoughts are that it's a stupid idea

Yeah, maybe so, but in a reactionary environment where people expect the agencies to do something/anything after a stressful event like this then it's a pretty reasonable compromise. The agencies get to seem proactive and it doesn't really affect diving too much, even those that could make the dive there.

I'm glad that the CDS is involved (as they have been in the past). The action is probably better as a reminder that they're involved then us not seeing anything happen and them getting grief for not being involved. Big thanks to the CDS, by the way.

-Jon

[LiteHedded]

So the next accident will be a similar situation but also entangled in line.

[PfcAJ]

Cutting back the line is as moronic as closing the cave. Trying to protect people from themselves.

Cave diving is for grown ups. Make grown up decisions.

[Maxpcf]

Lose lose either way it seems.

On one hand you have all the pressure to do "something" on the other hand you might have increased the risk to divers as instead of asking advice/diving with someone who has been there they might try to simply run line themselves and either miss the passable part of the restriction or get entangled in their own line as others have said above.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Dsix36]

The first time that I went through there I ran my own line anyway and getting tangled was a complete non issue. If the diver can not run their own line in this area safely then they have no business being there in the first place. I am OK with it either way and actually think that any diver getting to the EOL downstream should already have enough training and functioning brain cells to make there own decision whether to continue or turn the dive at that point.

There are similar tight restrictions in many other cave systems that no lines run to for this exact same reason. Not all divers need to even know where they are or be tempted to go where they should not venture. I applaud the efforts to actually do something rather than trying to just let it slide by and fade away. This goes to show that as a community, we are making efforts to govern ourselves and keep everybody safe without removing access to the more advanced.

[LiteHedded]

I mean, in your story, didn't you get entangled in your own line and have to take ur fin off to remove it? It's a silly thing for grown people to have to deal with on a grown up dive. Running jumps in 300' caves...foolishness

lets just stop the line at the debris cone because after that it gets deep and dangerous

[bamafan]

Would the CDS not following their own bylaws and doing accident investigation as well as releasing statistical data not be doing something too? Maybe education instead of trying to make something idiot proof. You know what they say about that.