Cousin of Cave 2024

In my opinion, the trip officially began at our stop to the liquor store when Meg Schenk burst out laughing after seeing a sign that read “Enter to Win Skyy Vodka” but was re-written to say “Enter to win Skibbidy Vodka”. Brainrot would be a recurring theme throughout the trip. After leaving the liquor store, we were stopped during a road rage incident where a driver brake checked Ivan Fediaev’s car into a complete stand still in the middle of the highway. We thought we were going to have to fight him.

We arrived to the campsite in the pouring rain at around 11:00 PM. The lead car (Nick Hindley) made many wrong turns so we had to turnaround and backtrack at least 3 times. Ivan’s 2001 Toyota Corolla made many expensive sounding noises going over large rocks and deep holes. We were unsure if his car would make it. We arrived at camp and quickly setup our tents before going to seep.

We got up early the next day and quickly set out to find our first cave. The forest was ripe with mushrooms and vegetation. It was clear this place didn’t get many visitors. We split up into two teams: one with just men, led by our fearless leader Jacob Grossbard, and one with just women + Alex Koen.

The first cave was a great warmup. It wasn’t outstanding in any regard, but it introduced us to crawling, being wet, and being muddy. I also caught a cave cricket for my BIOL 327 entomology collection. The cave ended at the top of a 5 m waterfall and upon reaching it, we turned around.

The second cave introduced us to squeezes. This cave had a winding maze of narrow tunnels taking us in all directions. We crawled up, down, left, and right. I felt like a hamster inside a tube maze. This winding path ended in the “Birth Canal”, a 20-foot horizontal squeeze section. The opening was shaped like an egg: an oval with a narrower side and a wider side. On my first attempt, I couldn’t fit my torso through the start. However, after watching Matt Wilson make his way through, I shifted my body further to the wider side, let out all of my air, and was able to get through. I had to position my arms so that my right was pointed forward above my head and my left was back by my waist, kind of like swimming freestyle. I used my forward arm to pull myself forward and my back arm plus my toes to push myself along. There were areas where I needed to exhale hard to keep moving forward, but I knew that others made it through so I wasn’t afraid. It would’ve been impossible to turn around so I had to keep going. I reached the end and let out a sigh of relief. After that, we exited the cave after that and returned to camp for lunch.

Alex Koen squeezing through the birth canal

Alex Koen squeezing through the birth canal

Now that we were acquainted with caving, we set off to a cave known as “Emilia” to do what we came here for: ascend and descend underground waterfalls using SRT. Due to heavy rain leading up to the trip, the water level and flow rate in the cave was much higher than normal. This would introduce problems later. Immediately after entering Emilia, we knew this cave was different. We were greeted with deep rushing water flowing right through our path. There was an air of caution and nervousness among the group as we approached our first decent. Due to the high flow rate of the waterfall, Jacob advised us not to use a device for the rappel, lest we slip, invert, and dangle upside-down while being waterboarded. Instead, we wrapped the rope around our arms, over our shoulders, and shuffled down. The second descent was handled in the same manner.

Ivan descending the second waterfall in Emilia -  Photographed by Alex Levy

Ivan descending the second waterfall in Emilia – Photographed by Alex Levy

The third and final descent proved to be the scariest. The last waterfall was around 20m tall and the rope was anchored to bolts on the ceiling, hanging a meter from the ledge at the top of the falls. After unclipping from the handline and clipping my device in, I had to swing on the rope to start my descent. I was scared since it was my first time using a figure 8 and I had no idea how much friction I needed to keep me from falling. The descent was practically blind. My head was directly under the waterfall for most of it making it hard to see, hear, and breathe. Not to mention that the water was a frigid 5 degrees. I blindly made my way down using only my feet brushing up against the wall of the cave to orient myself. To my surprise, Jacob was at the bottom holding the rope, waiting to give a fireman’s belay if anyone needed. This added level of security made me feel much safer.

Max rappelling down a 20m waterfall - Photograph by Alex Levy

Max rappelling down a 20m waterfall – Photograph by Alex Levy

Ivan rappelling down a 20m waterfall - Alex Levy

Ivan rappelling down a 20m waterfall – Alex Levy

Jacob keeping us safe with a fireman's belay - Photograph by Alex Levy

Jacob keeping us safe with a fireman’s belay – Photograph by Alex Levy

Once everyone made it down, we ventured to the end of the cave to find a small pool. We took a swim and our guide Zach Osterlund let us know that there was a “cool cave” on the other side of the cave wall. All we had to do to get there was make our way through a 3 meter underwater tube known as a duck-under. However, he advised us not to attempt it since he had never seen the water level this high in the cave before, stating, “I just wanna say I do not think this is a good idea, putting it on the record”. I’m never one to back down from a challenge so while holding on to Ivan’s hand, I stuck my legs into the tube to feel where the roof would rise and open up to air. I couldn’t feel where it opened so I let go of Ivan’s hand and tried to swim through. After a few seconds I got a massive brain freeze and panicked. I tried to swim up for air but I bumped my head into the ceiling. I was confused, dazed, and disoriented. I thought “why can’t I see which direction to go?”. I realized my eyes were closed so I opened them, but it didn’t help. All I saw was sediment lit up by my headlamp. I frantically swam in a straight line hoping for the best. I felt the coldness from the water creeping into me through my wetsuit. It felt like the cold hand of death was reaching inside of me and grabbing my heart. After 17 excruciating seconds, my chest brush up on the shore of the pool and I stuck up my head, gasping for air.

After I was shaken to my core, our fearless leader Jacob swam into the murky depths and disappeared. We made no plans, had no safety measures, and no way to communicate with Jacob. After a minute of failing to resurface we started to worry. Did he make it to the other side? Did he get stuck in the tube? Why isn’t he back? Is he dead? We poked around the tube trying to feel for a body. We also shined our lights under water in case he couldn’t figure out which direction to swim. After a few minutes of us worrying, Zach told us if Jacob was stuck down there, he’d already be dead so it wasn’t worth worrying about him anymore. It seemed satirical but with a grimly serious undertone. To our relief, Jacob emerged minutes later calmly and collected.

Now it was time for us to ascend the 20 meter waterfall. Anton Isak Larsen was the first to go. He made it look easy and was up in under 10 minutes. This set our expectations for the difficulty pretty low. Next up was Max Holstegge. The ascent was much harder for him and gave me a glimpse of the struggle ahead. After making it past the first half of the ascent, we watched as he was thrown around by the force of the water, struggling to ascend. Ivan and I severely underestimated the difficulty of what we were watching and joked “put the fries in the bag bro”. Max spent roughly 30 minutes ascending and became so cold he spent the entire next day in a heated van. Around this time, Ivan’s attention span needed a recharging so he took out two phones to watch Family Guy funny moments compilations and play Subway Surfers at the same time.

Max begining his ascent of a 20m waterfall - Photograph by Alex Levy

Max begining his ascent of a 20m waterfall – Photograph by Alex Levy

I shivered at the bottom of the falls for two hours waiting for Matt Wilson, Zach, Eros Rojas, and Ivan to ascend. When it was my turn to ascend, a foolish sense of arrogance clouded my judgment. I was convinced I would be the fastest one up. How hard could the climb be? Ascending felt easy when we practiced in the aviary.

For the first third of the ascent, the waterfall was angled so only my waist was submerged. It was more challenging than expected, but doable. The proximity to the rocks and angle of the rope made ascending more difficult as I had to balance my feet on the rocks while also operating the devices, unlike the hanging ascension we practiced in the aviary.

The second third of the ascent pushed me to my limit. The rope was hanging directly under the waterfall so this entire section was completely submerged in water. When I looked up, water would slam into my face and I couldn’t breathe. With every inch I pulled myself up the rope, I grew more and more exhausted. Water poured down onto me, blinding me. My hands probed the cave walls, desperately searching for a concave section to hide from the water and rest in. I found a hole and stuck my head in so I could finally breathe. However, once I stopped moving, I started shivering uncontrollably. I knew my muscles needed rest to keep going, but if I rested for too long, I might succumb to hypothermia and die. I decided to go back into the water and keep moving. I only managed to pull myself up a few more feet before I lost function in my hands and arms due to the extreme cold and exhaustion. At this point, I was hanging on the rope in the direct flow of the water knowing that I needed to let my muscles rest to keep ascending. But, if I rested for too long, I would become hypothermic. I chose to rest and accepted the possibility of death by hypothermia. I felt sleepy and helpless. I was unsure what would happen but I was powerless to change my fate. Moments after this grim realization, there was a tug on my rope from above. It felt like the hand of god had reached down to pull me out of an icy grave. Help had arrived and I wasn’t going to die alone in a cave. Zach and Nick had set up a pulley system and pulled me up from the top, saving my life. They told me they started puling me up when they heard screaming, but I don’t remember screaming

Eske being helped up at the end of his ascent - Photograph by Alex Levy

Aske Kondo being helped up at the end of his ascent by Stefanija Rekasius, Alex K, and Nick – Photograph by Alex Levy

Ivan's 1000-yard stare - Photograph by Alex Levy

Ivan’s 1000-yard stare – Photograph by Alex Levy

When I was at the top of the rope, I was so cold I couldn’t move my hands and needed help unlocking my carabiners to get onto the handline. Once off the rope, I looked over and saw Ivan huddled up and shivering. He had a thousand-yard stare. Ivan later told me he began the process of taking off his ascender, preparing to descend, moments before he was rescued. He was being choked by the water and didn’t think he could make it up. He described the feeling of being rescued as akin to being revived by Mercy from Overwatch. I asked Zach how hard this ascent was in comparison to others. He said out of the 1000’s of ascents he’s done, this was one of the top 10 most physically challenging. Overall, out of the nine of us that descended that waterfall, four of us needed a rescue.

After getting out, we made our way back to camp, set up a nice fire, and played “Sock Wars”. The second day wasn’t as eventful. My group explored some chill caves and the girls descended down Fishy Hole. Overall, CoC 2024 was a 10/10 experience that made me appreciate the fragility of life and deepen my respect for the power nature commands.

Sock Wars! - Photograph by Alex Levy

Sock Wars! – Photograph by Alex Levy

Us after the first day

Us after the first day

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5 Responses to Cousin of Cave 2024

  1. Stefanija Rekasius says:

    Such a fun trip! Can’t wait for more squeezes :)

  2. Alex Barth says:

    Great trip report! Can confirm from a year with much lower water, that the “cool cave” is pretty cool

  3. Ivan Fediaev says:

    Kudos to you for bringing your nice camera into the caves, the photos are freakin awesome!

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