Climbing the Walls
Imagine what it would be like to climb into a dark cave.
spelunker—one who explores caves
routine—a fixed way to do things
descent—a trip down
It Only Looks Easy
“I NEED ANOTHER ROPE!”
screamed the stranded spelunker
(spi-LUNK-er). He was trying to
rappel (ruh-PEL) down into a
four-hundred-foot-deep cave called
Surprise Pit. Halfway down, he got
stuck on a knot in his rope. His friends
had already reached the bottom of the
pit. They could not help him. Now the
man was in big trouble.
Luckily, the Brown family was in
the same cave that day. Leah, age
eleven, her brother Jeremy, twelve, and
their father are expert spelunkers, or
cave explorers. They knew just what to
do to save the man. Leah and her
father swung a new rope down to him.
The man grabbed it. Thanks to Leah
and her father, he was able to rappel
(climb down on a rope) safely to the
bottom of the cave.
Spelunking with their parents has
helped Leah, Jeremy, and their
eight-year-old brother Nate become
top-notch cavers.
The Browns make spelunking look
easy. But you can’t just rush into being
a caver. It can be very dangerous.
Leah, Jeremy, and Nate spent hours
learning how to climb, rappel, and use
their equipment before they entered
their first cave. And they never go into
a cave without their mom or dad.
Cavers must learn to respect nature.
“We never leave litter or damage a
cave in any way,” says Leah. “We
leave the cave just as we found it.”
Cavers must also be in top physical
condition. Besides practicing her
climbing skills, Leah swims and works
on her gymnastics routines.
What’s the reward for all of this hard
work? “You get to go where most
people have never gone,” Leah says
with a smile. “Some people even say
that caves are like another planet.”
Putting It to the Test
One of Jeremy’s and Leah’s greatest
challenges was climbing the deepest
pit in the United States. They
rappelled down and then climbed back
up Fantastic Pit in Georgia—all 586
feet of it. Halfway down, Leah found
herself surrounded by complete
darkness. The only thing she could see
was her brother’s tiny lamplight at the
bottom.
“I didn’t get scared. It takes a lot to
scare me,” Leah says as she describes
her descent into the pit.
When climbing or descending a
deep pit, the Browns are extra
cautious. “I always go slow because
it’s easy to get out of control,” Leah
explains. It took Leah and her family
over fifty minutes to climb out of
Fantastic Pit.
Deeper and Deeper
The Browns’ next challenge is
Golondrinas (go lend rin ez) Pit in
Mexico. It’s over 1,230 feet deep!
Leah, Jeremy, and Nate have been
training every weekend to get ready.
Sometimes they climb 1,000 feet in
one weekend!
Leah is especially excited about the
trip. “Golondrinas is an amazing
place,” she says. “There’s actually a
jungle at the bottom of it!”
The Brown family is always looking
for new challenges. The excitement of
discovering new caves has brought the
family closer together. They’ve
learned a new respect for nature—and
a new respect for one another.
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