Cavers Frozen Alive | The Ellison's Cave Tragedy

on February 12th 2011 10 students from the University of Florida ventured into Ellison's cave but their Adventure turned into a nightmare when two of them got stuck into a pit together they would fight against the freezing temperatures and for their lives this is the unfortunate story of the Ellison's cave tragedy North Georgia investigators say Perry and lock and boach were wearing shorts and t-shirts and not dressed appropriately for the weather or the cave one of the most technical caves in the United States they have the freest the deepest freef fall pit in the US on February 12th 2011 with winter almost gone but still giving off extreme cold temperatures 10 students five boys and five girls from the University of Florida decided to go caving the lead planner was 20-year-old Grant lackenbach who was to celebrate his birthday the following week Grant Michael and some of the other students had done caving before hence this looked to be just another adventure for them Michael and Grant though at different University levels and departments were very close friends because they both were academic Scholars and Christian Brothers Who Loved Adventures from rock climbing to skydiving wake surfing all the way to cave exploring only a few weeks before the tragic accident the two guys had visited another cave and were all delighted with their experience as they planned for the next trip on February 12th they picked Ellison's cave an over 1,000 ft deep cave which is nestled in Walker County on Pigeon Mountain in Georgia this cave is considered the 12th deepest in the whole of America but what's more crazy is that it has the deepest unobstructed pit in the United States this pit is so deep it is called the fantastic pit and it is almost two times taller than the Statue of Liberty to get there the students traveled over 400 miles from the university the previous day they reached Georgia in the afternoon and booked a hotel close to the Wildlife Management Area where Pigeon Mountain is located the following day they all got up enthusiastically and prepared for the mountain they were dressed in casual clothing and bustled about putting their caving materials headlamps helmets and ropes into their vehicles however before they started the climb they left their phones and took along with them only caving Essentials leaving their phon behind would be something they would come to regret later as the group made their way up the mountain they started to worry about the cold that was intensifying as the temperature continued to drop unfortunately for them nobody thought to consider the weather enough to bring thick clothes along Grant and Michael were also dressed casually the last time they went caving so they probably thought everything was going to be fine besides they weren't even planning to go too far into the cave as the student approached one of the entrances of the cave after hiking for almost 1 hour they were shocked by what they found a narrow opening Jagged around its edges it was so small that only one person could cross it at a time and with some effort they couldn't see anything beyond this entrance but the darkness of the cave was beckoning to them so one by one they lowered their bodies into the cave and soon came face to face with a daunting darkness that was gradually replaced by their headlight as the insides of the cave became fully visible they were amazed to see the beauty of it unfortunately though they still had the biting cold to worry about in the summer the water in the cave was around 56° F so you imagine how freezing it would be in the winter hence the group settled for a brief exploration of a little part of the cave and would be on their way out besides nobody was even thinking of bathing in the waters or anything but then some unexpected happened as they were completing their exploration the backpack of one of the students fell into a vertical pit called the warm-up pit this one is not as deep as the fantastic pit as it is just 125 ft but it was nevertheless risky the temperatures here were extremely cold because of a waterfall there that roared like a lion and chilled like Antarctica it wasn't a place anyone should enter especially someone dressed the way that these students were dressed but the backpack contains some essential materials that the group would need and it wasn't like they planned to spend long down there it was only going to be a quick drop to retrieve the bag and then out again being the leader of the group Grant volunteered to get the bag his friends told him to not risk it and just leave the bag because they could send something bad was going to happen but he didn't listen and insisted that he would be fine so they tapped him on the back and told him good luck as he made to lower himself down the pit with a rope Grant slowly repelled down the abyss to a considerable distance when he started to shiver a little as the cold intensified but he hadn't gotten to the worst of it yet as he approached further below the noise from a rushing waterfall nearby began to grow louder and louder but he could still hear his friends talk and reassure him he had gone halfway down when something terrible happened as he descended further Grant came face to face with the Wailing waterfall already shivering hard now he tried to avoid the freezing water from touching him but in his attempt the worst happened first he heard a loud jolting sound come from his harness and rope he had stopped moving with his shivering it wasn't hard for panic to fill his veins so he started jolting with his rope and harness to try to get it to work again but his attempt only meant that the Rope wrapped around him further then his worst fear came to pass as he tried to get himself out of the entanglement the ice cold water drenched him by this time he was already screaming at the top of his lungs for for help but his shouts were muffled and suffocated by The Roaring waterfall and his shivering mouth nevertheless his friends did hear him and shouted back they all looked at each other confused and worried but Michael didn't hesitate to strap on the same rope his friend had used down as he descended to save his friend he cried at him to sit tight he soon reached Grant who had become slow and incoherent with words and movement save for his severe Shivers and Confused State he was exhaust Ed and could only fumble his hands Michael screamed this update towards his friends above who were slightly relieved but couldn't predict what happened next as Michael tried to ring his friend free he too became entangled by the Rope even worse his body was also being soaked in the same cold water that was already freezing his friend to death realizing that he too couldn't move neither up nor down the Rope he started screaming for help as well on hearing this their friends above were thrown into a frenzy but needed to act fast some of them stayed behind while the others made their way out of the Cave the ones that stayed continued communicating with the boys below giving them words of encouragement they prayed for and assured them that help was on the way those who made it out started descending the mountain with all the strength they could muster and in less than 30 minutes they were at its floor with hands shaking and eyes blurry they retrieved their phones that they had left in the car and quickly phoned the authorities by that time it was 2:19 p. m. back in the cave the voices of Michael and Grant were growing fainter and fainter as the cold ripped into them their friends above were fearing the worst would happen and were doing their best to encourage and make them resist while rescue was on the way the cold was using up all their bodies energies their respiratory systems and hearts were failing and after around 30 minutes of communicating with their friends above their voices could not be heard anymore their friends were devastated to see the rope that the boys used down just dangled slightly this way and that after a while the other friends who had left before returned with the County's cave in Cliff rescue team and while part of the rescue team was offering treatment against hypothermia to the eight other students the other Rescuers quickly descended down the pit and found Michael and Grant hanging from the Rope at 3:30 p.

m. they checked for their pulses but found none they were already too late they communicated their findings to those above and the cave echoed with endless sobs and whales as the other members tried to console The Grieving students those who had descended down the pit faced a huge problem getting the boys off of the entangled rope was impossible just as the heroic Michael had found it hard to rescue his friend even these experienced Rescuers also had a hard time prying their bodies loose the only difference was they were well-dressed for the unfriendly weather and equipped with various rescuing tools so they went to work their efforts lasted for 6 hours and only reached completion around 10 p. m.