Bowling Green , Ky. - One of the deepest caves in the United States is home this week for two Hilltoppers.
Pat Kambesis, the assistant director of Western Kentucky University’s Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, and geoscience graduate student Melissa Hendrickson are on a weeklong expedition at Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico.

Kambesis has made numerous trips inside the vast cave over the past 20 years, but this is Hendrickson’s first visit, according to Dr. Chris Groves, director of the Hoffman Institute.

The cave was discovered in 1986 and has gained international attention for its stunningly beautiful passages, deep pits and scientific wonders. It is also now one of the world’s longest caves, currently fifth on the list. About 101 miles have been explored and mapped so far and the deepest part measured goes down 1,632 feet.
Unlike Mammoth Cave, which has many entrances, Lechuguilla Cave has only one known entrance and the distant parts of the cave are extremely remote and difficult to reach.

“Exploring the cave requires extensive rope work in vertical shafts,” Dr. Groves said. “This is an extreme expedition. It takes a full day just to reach their base camp inside the cave. And the trip is made even more difficult because they’re carrying a week’s worth of camping gear and supplies with them.”

Kambesis has been one of the cave’s principal explorers and cartographers and is one of the co-authors of the 1999 book “Deep Secrets: The Discovery & Exploration of Lechuguilla Cave.”

The two explorers and four other teammates will be exploring and mapping passages, and documenting the National Park Service cave’s resources, returning at the end of each day to their base camp deep underground. They entered the cave Sunday afternoon and are scheduled to arrive back at the surface next weekend.

“This expedition demonstrates the level of expertise that our students bring to the scientific community and the kinds of exciting engagement opportunities available to students beyond the traditional classroom environment,” said Dr. David Keeling, head of WKU’s Department of Geography and Geology.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Chris Groves at (270) 745-5974.

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