At 451 feet sub-surface, Roaring River Spring still “bottomless”
October 27, 2021
At left, CEO and head diver of KISS Rebreathers, Mike Young, emerged from Roaring River Spring after his 222 minute dive Sunday. According to Young, he reached a depth of 451 feet, with no bottom yet in sight.
The hardest thing he faces during the necessary sub-surface decompression-time prior to returning to the surface is boredom, Young says.
Photo by Sheila Harris.
The hardest thing he faces during the necessary sub-surface decompression-time prior to returning to the surface is boredom, Young says.
Photo by Sheila Harris.
October 27, 2021
Sheila Harris
The KISS Rebreathers dive team returned to Roaring River State Park over the weekend, and, during a series of three daily dives, firmly established Roaring River Spring’s status as the deepest recorded spring in Missouri.
“I made it to a depth of 401 feet on Saturday, then down to 451 feet on Sunday,” head diver Mike Young said.
Mike Young says the underwater terrain has changed at the newly reached depth of 451 feet.
“There’s still no bottom in sight,” he said, “but I’m beginning to see some ‘stepping down’ of rock formations along the sides, and there’s no silt, which leads me to believe I’m getting close to the source of the water.”
The lack of silt, Young says, signifies that water flow is keeping it at bay.
When asked why he didn’t continue his descent just 12 more feet to put Roaring River Spring in the record books as the deepest spring in the nation, Young said it’s because he didn’t want to deviate from his pre-established dive plan.
“If I swam down just ten more feet,” he said, “it would require an additional 30 minutes of decompression time before I could resurface. I didn’t want to do that to my teammates.”
For the KISS team, safety is a priority. Each diver has a written dive-plan recorded with surface manager Tony Bryant before entering the water.
“I record the time they go into the water, the length of time they plan to stay and the time come out,” Bryant said. “If they’re late resurfacing, we wonder why.”
According to Young, during Sunday’s dive, he had a little scare near the bottom of the abyss when he felt his safety line go slack.
Cartographer Jon Lillestolen had repositioned the small inner tube through which the safety line passed for the purpose of giving Young a bit more slack in his line. However, Young, for a startled moment, believed that his line had accidentally been cut.
“If that actually been the case, I could have found my way back to the surface,” Young said, “but it would have been a little more difficult.”
Young says he’s confident that Roaring River Spring’s depth will surpass that of Phantom Cave Spring in West Texas, which, at 462 feet, holds the current record as the deepest in the nation.
“There’s plenty more down there in Roaring River Cave still to explore,” Young said. “Lots more than 12 feet.”
In addition to reaching a record depth, divers also ascended to the surface after passing through the 224 foot restriction, where they discovered two more airbells.
“They’re larger than the Colossal Dome,” diver Jon Lillestolen said, “but they don’t contain as many attractive rock formations.”
Prior to exiting the cave after their final dive on Sunday, some 20 safety or “bail out” air tanks were brought back to the surface. The tanks were labeled for different depth levels and had been stationed along the course of the divers’ descent into Roaring River Spring over the weekend. According to diver Randall Purdy, each safety tank contains a specific mix of gas for its designated depth.
“The tank labeled for a 480-foot depth contains only enough breathable air to last a diver for four minutes,” he explained.
The KISS Rebreathers plan to return November 12 - 14, although, with the typical fall rains, Young doesn’t expect to be able to deep-dive any more this year.
“If we’re able to, we will,” he said. “But, if not, we plan to do more mapping of the cavern above the restriction.”
The KISS team’s chief underwater photographer, Randall Purdy, says he probably speaks for most divers when he says that the record-breaking Roaring River dive project represents the dream of a lifetime. Purdy says he plans to invest in a new camera capable of filming at a depth of 600 feet.
“I can’t take my current camera below 330 feet without it imploding,” he said.
A full-length documentary of the dive team’s exploration of Roaring River cave, which will also include history of the area, is being created by Tim Bass of TLBass Telepictures of Bentonville. Short video clips of the exploration can be found on the official Roaring River State Park Facebook page.
Sheila Harris
The KISS Rebreathers dive team returned to Roaring River State Park over the weekend, and, during a series of three daily dives, firmly established Roaring River Spring’s status as the deepest recorded spring in Missouri.
“I made it to a depth of 401 feet on Saturday, then down to 451 feet on Sunday,” head diver Mike Young said.
Mike Young says the underwater terrain has changed at the newly reached depth of 451 feet.
“There’s still no bottom in sight,” he said, “but I’m beginning to see some ‘stepping down’ of rock formations along the sides, and there’s no silt, which leads me to believe I’m getting close to the source of the water.”
The lack of silt, Young says, signifies that water flow is keeping it at bay.
When asked why he didn’t continue his descent just 12 more feet to put Roaring River Spring in the record books as the deepest spring in the nation, Young said it’s because he didn’t want to deviate from his pre-established dive plan.
“If I swam down just ten more feet,” he said, “it would require an additional 30 minutes of decompression time before I could resurface. I didn’t want to do that to my teammates.”
For the KISS team, safety is a priority. Each diver has a written dive-plan recorded with surface manager Tony Bryant before entering the water.
“I record the time they go into the water, the length of time they plan to stay and the time come out,” Bryant said. “If they’re late resurfacing, we wonder why.”
According to Young, during Sunday’s dive, he had a little scare near the bottom of the abyss when he felt his safety line go slack.
Cartographer Jon Lillestolen had repositioned the small inner tube through which the safety line passed for the purpose of giving Young a bit more slack in his line. However, Young, for a startled moment, believed that his line had accidentally been cut.
“If that actually been the case, I could have found my way back to the surface,” Young said, “but it would have been a little more difficult.”
Young says he’s confident that Roaring River Spring’s depth will surpass that of Phantom Cave Spring in West Texas, which, at 462 feet, holds the current record as the deepest in the nation.
“There’s plenty more down there in Roaring River Cave still to explore,” Young said. “Lots more than 12 feet.”
In addition to reaching a record depth, divers also ascended to the surface after passing through the 224 foot restriction, where they discovered two more airbells.
“They’re larger than the Colossal Dome,” diver Jon Lillestolen said, “but they don’t contain as many attractive rock formations.”
Prior to exiting the cave after their final dive on Sunday, some 20 safety or “bail out” air tanks were brought back to the surface. The tanks were labeled for different depth levels and had been stationed along the course of the divers’ descent into Roaring River Spring over the weekend. According to diver Randall Purdy, each safety tank contains a specific mix of gas for its designated depth.
“The tank labeled for a 480-foot depth contains only enough breathable air to last a diver for four minutes,” he explained.
The KISS Rebreathers plan to return November 12 - 14, although, with the typical fall rains, Young doesn’t expect to be able to deep-dive any more this year.
“If we’re able to, we will,” he said. “But, if not, we plan to do more mapping of the cavern above the restriction.”
The KISS team’s chief underwater photographer, Randall Purdy, says he probably speaks for most divers when he says that the record-breaking Roaring River dive project represents the dream of a lifetime. Purdy says he plans to invest in a new camera capable of filming at a depth of 600 feet.
“I can’t take my current camera below 330 feet without it imploding,” he said.
A full-length documentary of the dive team’s exploration of Roaring River cave, which will also include history of the area, is being created by Tim Bass of TLBass Telepictures of Bentonville. Short video clips of the exploration can be found on the official Roaring River State Park Facebook page.
Above, KISS Rebreathers diver Randall Purdy, of Kearney, Nebraska, displays the camera and housing used for shooting photos of the team's underwater explorations. Purdy says he has reached the camera's depth limit of 330 feet in Roaring River Spring and has plans to invest in a new camera capable of operating at a depth of 600 feet. Photo by Sheila Harris.
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Above, KISS Rebreathers diver/ cartographer Jon Lillestolen, of Blacksburg, Virginia, swims head fiirst through the restriction at a depth of 224 feet in Roaring River Cave. Photo by Randall Purdy Photography, used with copyright permission from TLBass Telepictures.
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KISS Rebreather diver and surface manager Tony Bryant holds the clapper board in front of the face of diver/cartographer Jon Lillestolen (seated) prior to Lillestolen's recorded interview with Tim Bass (far left), of TL Bass Telepictures. Bass's assisstant, Barry Gooch, holds the microphone. Photo by Sheila Harris.
