Eleven hours upside down in cave won't deter spelunker

The 39-year-old Valley Center software engineer spent a Sunday evening and Monday morning wedged between granite rock outcroppings in remote Thunder Canyon Cave in McCain Valley, some 70 miles east of San Diego near the community of Boulevard.

Colvin got wedged 30 feet underground and about 100 feet from the entrance of the cave. Five fellow cavers had already passed through the narrow opening but Colvin got stuck while trying to shimmy through a 10-inch crack.

Colvin said he knew he was in trouble. As his arm lost strength he began to sink lower into the crack, on his elbow with his head lowered, becoming wedged even more tightly. His nose was pressed against the rocks.

It was just after 5 p.m. and one of his friends ran for help.

Sheriff’s search-and-rescue coordinator Sgt. Don Parker was contacted and several specialized teams were mobilized, including the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, the Border Patrol, the Bureau of Land Management and rescuers from as far away as Mammoth Lakes.

Rescuers rigged a rope-pulley system and managed to get Calvin loose, then pull him by his ankles until he was freed at 3:45 a.m.

Afterward, Colvin said he isn’t giving up on cave exploration, but said: "I won’t be going though such a tight squeeze anytime soon.”

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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.signonsandiego.com