“It’s scary big in there,” says diver Mike Young
Above, Neil Brownlow (left), an ER nurse by day and safety diver by weekend, readies his diving gear alongside Mike Young (right). While Young dives deep, Brownlow makes multiple shorter trips down, then back to the surface, to deliver air tanks as needed and to check on the safety of the depth-divers, specifically related to their required decompression intervals prior to returning to the surface. Photo by KISS Rebreathers.
Above, surface manager, Tony Bryant (left) records data prior to Jon Lillestolen (right) diving into Roaring River Cave.
Bryant’s service dog, Stutz, seems oblivious to the activity. |
Above, Curt Bowen, of Advanced Diver Magazine, films diver Randall Purdy prior to his submersion into Roaring River Spring. Photo by Sheila Harris.
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September 1, 2021
Sheila Harris
“It’s ‘scary big’ in there,” KISS Rebreathers head diver Mike Young reported, after climbing out of Roaring River Spring onto dry ground.
Still in his dive gear, Young splayed his hands and arms outward in a Y to emphasize the enormity of the underwater cavern he and fellow divers, Jon Lillestolen and Randall Purdy, were able to access over the weekend after navigating through a stricture and passageway once thought impenetrable.
At a depth of 225 feet below the surface water, the formerly prohibitive stricture had indeed been impenetrable for divers R. F. Fogarty and R. L. Miller, who first dived and mapped the cave in 1979. But with more compact diving equipment, including smaller air tanks and closed-circuit rebreathers, what was once impossible has become a reality for this intrepid group. The glass ceiling, or, in this case, the floor, has been shattered.
For what purpose? A few onlookers have asked. With the blessing of Roaring River State Park officials, the KISS Rebreathers team is remapping the subsurface cave - literally uncharted territory - for state park files. Jon Lillestolen, from Blacksburg, Virginia, is the head cartographer, who uses a system of ropes, knots and manually-taken measurements to record the dimensions of the new subsurface areas they are able to reach.
The dive team and videographer Tim Bass, of NWA Adventure Dive, in Bentonville, are also creating a short video for use in the nature center and a longer documentary they hope to publish, subject to park approval.
Last weekend marked KISS Rebreathers fourth monthly trip to Roaring River State Park since May.
“The flow (21 cubic feet per second) is the lowest it’s been since we began diving into this spring,” Young said, prior to his first dive on Friday. “I think we’re going to make history with this trip.”
A reconnaissance dive on Friday revealed that Young and cartographer, Jon Lillestolen, would need smaller air tanks than what they had initially planned for.
For Saturday’s dive, they donned smaller tanks and pushed backup tanks in front of them through the narrow stricture and passageway beyond. The extra tanks were then attached to safety lines which had been threaded through the opening.
What lay beyond the stricture and passageway surprised even seasoned cave-explorer, Mike Young.
“The bottom fell out on the other side,” he said. “It was nowhere in sight. And there weren’t any walls within reach either. Just nothing. At first there was a crack in the ceiling we stuck close to and followed, but then the ceiling disappeared, too.”
Young didn’t seem daunted by the prospect, though. Leaving nothing to chance by way of their sustainable air supply, the team returned to the surface, a journey which involves more decompression time at various depths than what is spent on actual exploration.
For Sunday’s dive, they took more air tanks down with them and were able to push a bit farther into the newfound cavern, but when Young experienced a wardrobe malfunction - just an unpredictable part of the job, he said - the divers returned to the surface.
Repairs to Young’s dry suit were made, courtesy of supplies provided by local diver, Charles Jay, and the team made a final foray into the cave on Monday before departing their separate ways: Mike Young, safety diver Neil Brownlow and surface manager Tony Bryant, to Fort Smith; Gayle Orner (the only female diver in the group), to Wisconsin; Randall Purdy, to Nebraska; and Jon Lillestolen, to Virginia.
Curt and Jennifer Bowen, publishers of Advanced Diver Magazine, were also at Roaring River over the weekend to film the park and parts of the dive for their own technical diving publication.
The weekend dive trip resulted in the navigation of the passageway beyond the stricture once thought to be impassable, the reaching of a record-breaking depth of 305 feet, and the lateral exploration of water 300 feet beyond the passageway.
Young has yet higher aspirations for the team’s fifth expedition scheduled for September 24 - 27.
“We’ll make exploring the new cavern a two-pronged mission,” he said. “Two divers will swim laterally inside the cavern; two others will dive deep. It will take more air tanks with different mixes of gas for deeper diving, but we want to find out just how big that cavern is.”
A “Meet The Divers” question-and-answer event for the public is in the planning stages for their September trip.
Sheila Harris
“It’s ‘scary big’ in there,” KISS Rebreathers head diver Mike Young reported, after climbing out of Roaring River Spring onto dry ground.
Still in his dive gear, Young splayed his hands and arms outward in a Y to emphasize the enormity of the underwater cavern he and fellow divers, Jon Lillestolen and Randall Purdy, were able to access over the weekend after navigating through a stricture and passageway once thought impenetrable.
At a depth of 225 feet below the surface water, the formerly prohibitive stricture had indeed been impenetrable for divers R. F. Fogarty and R. L. Miller, who first dived and mapped the cave in 1979. But with more compact diving equipment, including smaller air tanks and closed-circuit rebreathers, what was once impossible has become a reality for this intrepid group. The glass ceiling, or, in this case, the floor, has been shattered.
For what purpose? A few onlookers have asked. With the blessing of Roaring River State Park officials, the KISS Rebreathers team is remapping the subsurface cave - literally uncharted territory - for state park files. Jon Lillestolen, from Blacksburg, Virginia, is the head cartographer, who uses a system of ropes, knots and manually-taken measurements to record the dimensions of the new subsurface areas they are able to reach.
The dive team and videographer Tim Bass, of NWA Adventure Dive, in Bentonville, are also creating a short video for use in the nature center and a longer documentary they hope to publish, subject to park approval.
Last weekend marked KISS Rebreathers fourth monthly trip to Roaring River State Park since May.
“The flow (21 cubic feet per second) is the lowest it’s been since we began diving into this spring,” Young said, prior to his first dive on Friday. “I think we’re going to make history with this trip.”
A reconnaissance dive on Friday revealed that Young and cartographer, Jon Lillestolen, would need smaller air tanks than what they had initially planned for.
For Saturday’s dive, they donned smaller tanks and pushed backup tanks in front of them through the narrow stricture and passageway beyond. The extra tanks were then attached to safety lines which had been threaded through the opening.
What lay beyond the stricture and passageway surprised even seasoned cave-explorer, Mike Young.
“The bottom fell out on the other side,” he said. “It was nowhere in sight. And there weren’t any walls within reach either. Just nothing. At first there was a crack in the ceiling we stuck close to and followed, but then the ceiling disappeared, too.”
Young didn’t seem daunted by the prospect, though. Leaving nothing to chance by way of their sustainable air supply, the team returned to the surface, a journey which involves more decompression time at various depths than what is spent on actual exploration.
For Sunday’s dive, they took more air tanks down with them and were able to push a bit farther into the newfound cavern, but when Young experienced a wardrobe malfunction - just an unpredictable part of the job, he said - the divers returned to the surface.
Repairs to Young’s dry suit were made, courtesy of supplies provided by local diver, Charles Jay, and the team made a final foray into the cave on Monday before departing their separate ways: Mike Young, safety diver Neil Brownlow and surface manager Tony Bryant, to Fort Smith; Gayle Orner (the only female diver in the group), to Wisconsin; Randall Purdy, to Nebraska; and Jon Lillestolen, to Virginia.
Curt and Jennifer Bowen, publishers of Advanced Diver Magazine, were also at Roaring River over the weekend to film the park and parts of the dive for their own technical diving publication.
The weekend dive trip resulted in the navigation of the passageway beyond the stricture once thought to be impassable, the reaching of a record-breaking depth of 305 feet, and the lateral exploration of water 300 feet beyond the passageway.
Young has yet higher aspirations for the team’s fifth expedition scheduled for September 24 - 27.
“We’ll make exploring the new cavern a two-pronged mission,” he said. “Two divers will swim laterally inside the cavern; two others will dive deep. It will take more air tanks with different mixes of gas for deeper diving, but we want to find out just how big that cavern is.”
A “Meet The Divers” question-and-answer event for the public is in the planning stages for their September trip.