Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991 TAG: 9104030279
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CARLSBAD, N.M. LENGTH: Medium
About 1,000 feet beneath the New Mexico desert, Emily Mobley and her rescuers maneuvered over huge boulders, past deep dropoffs and through tight passageways toward the entrance of Lechuguilla Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Officials said it will be Thursday or Friday before Mobley will be out. Fellow spelunkers who went for help after she was injured Sunday took eight hours to reach the entrance, about two miles away.
The pristine cave, discovered in 1986, is not open to the public. The National Park Service allows only about 200 people in annually for exploration and mapping. About 54 miles of passageways and rooms full of colorful, delicate rock formations have been mapped so far.
Mobley, a caver with 20 years' experience, fell about 12 feet Sunday while climbing down a steep slope. A rock had given way when she put her weight on it. The 80-pound rock fell on her left leg below the kneecap.
Bob Addis, 45, of Parkersburg, W.Va., a caver who was with Mobley when the accident occurred, said she was leading five cavers through an area known as the Reason Room.
"Emily went down over the rocks and she did everything absolutely correctly. She tested the rock ahead of time," Addis said.
He said her immediate reaction to her injury was "she hoped the media didn't find out about this."
Despite her splinted leg, Mobley managed to move about half a mile through a moderately difficult section of the cave by Monday night.
Rick Bridges, president of the Lechuguilla Cave Project Inc., said 18 people - including a doctor - were helping. She was able to hobble wherever there was enough room to stand upright.
by CNB