Cave Explorer Injured; Rescue May Take Days

CARLSBAD, N.M. —  A woman whose leg was broken by a falling rock must be rescued from two miles inside the nation’s deepest cave, authorities said Monday. Rescuers have to negotiate drops of as much as 150 feet.

It took Emily Davis Mobley’s companions seven hours to return to the surface to seek help, said Jeff Denny, a ranger at nearby Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the information officer for the rescue operation.

Experts were called in to rig special ropes to haul the injured woman in a flexible basket litter across chasms to the surface. Her trip out could take three days.

Mobley, 40, a veteran spelunker from Schoharie, N.Y., suffered the broken leg Sunday when climbing a pile of large rocks in a remote area of Lechuguilla Cave. When one 80-pound rock came loose, she fell backward 12 feet, and the rock landed on her lower left leg, snapping it, National Park Service spokesman Bob Crisman said. Mobley has been in Lechuguilla since Saturday with about five other members of a mapping expedition.

Lechuguilla is known to be 54.3 miles long and 1,565 feet deep. Undeveloped and closed to the public, the cave is the fourth-largest in the United States. It is a popular piece of underground terrain for experienced spelunkers who explore its numerous passageways.

Rope-climbing skills are needed to maneuver steep areas inside the rugged cave, including a 90-foot drop into the entrance. Once inside, explorers use mountain-climbing skills to scramble over tricky ledges, climb slippery formations and squirm through narrow passageways.

As of Monday evening, the rescue team had not yet begun the process of moving Mobley out of the cave, Denny said.

“She’s doing fine and is in good spirits other than the fact she’s in obvious pain,” Denny said.

Dr. Steve Mossberg, a physician from Parkersburg, W. Va., who was along on the mapping expedition, remained with Mobley, who was being given food, water and painkillers.

About 70 people were involved in efforts to bring Mobley out of the cave.

Mobley’s husband, William, said his wife is a veteran cave explorer who owns a bookstore in their hometown devoted to the sport and science of “caving.”