Danger, Death Threaten Cavers -- Memphis Spelunker Dies In Surprise Pit, Second Since August

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. - Looking down into the blackness of a 400-foot-deep underground cavern, Alexia Hampton grabbed the rope, stepped off a rocky ledge and began her fatal descent into Surprise Pit.

The slender line snaked through her hands as she rappelled deeper into the darkness, bounding off rocky walls with her feet. The rush of water from an underground waterfall echoed through the cool void.

Deep in the heart of one of the nation's premier caving areas, Surprise Pit scares even veterans. But most come out alive. Hampton, a 35-year-old spelunker from Memphis, died this month as rescuers lifted her toward the open air, 12 hours after she fell onto a pile of stone.

Second death since August

The death was the second in an Alabama cave since late August after several years without a serious accident in the state. Five other cavers had to be saved in June when a cavern unexpectedly filled with water.

At least 13 people died in 133 reported caving accidents in 1994 and 1995, according to the latest figures available from the National Speleological Society in Huntsville.

Experts say the spate of recent accidents proves the human element is the most dangerous thing underground.

"Of all the deaths and rescues we have had, every one of them has been the result of negligence or inexperience - except in 1984, when a bus-sized rock fell on two Georgia Tech students," said Jim McCamy, a caver who also is the emergency management director of Jackson County.

McCamy said it was a bad decision that resulted in the Aug. 30 death of Karen Prowett, 46, of Alpharetta, Ga. Prowett was rappelling into Stephens Gap Cave when she attached a metal restraining device to the wrong rope, falling 100 feet after coming to the bottom of a line that lacked a knot at the end.

Authorities still haven't determined why Hampton went into an uncontrolled descent, said Ed Nicholas, operations chief for the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit.

Companions describing the scene said Hampton slid down the rope as it weaved through a metal guide attached to her body harness.

Hampton could no longer touch walls of the pit as it flared into a bell-shaped expanse 200 feet across. She was alone, with only her rope, her equipment and her experience. The slim beam from her headlamp lit only the rope and herself.

Dangling only 50 feet above husband Reid Hampton and two others, she lost control. She crashed onto the rock with a thud, breaking a leg and scrambling her internal organs.

"I'll be fine," she told rescuers.

`Right at the entrance'

Rescuers strapped her into an orange skid and brought her up to within 50 feet of the mouth of the cave when her heart gave out.

"We were right at the entrance," said Bill Putnam, chairman of the Southeastern Cave Conservancy. "It was pretty shocking."

Surprise Pit has one of the deepest vertical drops of any known cave in North America. It is near the center of the popular TAG Area - that spot where Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia converge in a geological zone that, viewed from inside out, resembles Swiss cheese.

Spelunkers still say the sport is safe, saying there are scores of safe expeditions in the area each week.

Gerald Moni of Nashville, Tenn., was one of 11 spelunkers who entered McBride's Cave in June after torrential rains, one in a series of admitted bad decisions. Rushing water swept him off a ledge, breaking a thigh bone like a toothpick.

Water was within inches of the cave's roof in some areas by the time Moni and four others were rescued. With 30 years of underground experience, Moni returned to the caves after missing two months of work.

"Accidents are really quite rare," he said. "It's one of the safest sports if you do it right."