The Women Caver of the 90's

We sure have come a long way and the 90's was just the beginning. Read here some excerpts from article writer Andrew Todhunter who said "grace of movement underground is the first sign of a skilled caver." After recalling a particularly difficult crawl-way navigation Todhunter said "I slither[ed] downward and emerged beside [Carol] Vesely in a lower passage." she said 'A squeeze is like a combination lock,... you only need to know the combination.'"

He explained this theory in recalling convention activities: "At caving conventions above ground cavers often force themselves through adjustable wooden "squeeze boxes" in good-natured competitions. In the safety of these controlled settings cavers may push far beyond what they might hazard underground, and for the remainder of a convention they may wear pins declaring their tightest squeezes, measured to the eighth of an inch ... women are most commonly arrested by the depth -- front to back -- of the pelvis. A very slender woman's tightest squeeze may be defined by the width of her skull turned sideways. Some women thus emerge triumphant from squeeze boxes with symmetrical abrasions over their cheekbones. At parties, improvising, some cavers will pass through wire coat hangers bent into rings. I have attempted this unsuccessfully in the privacy of my living room and can report that it is a good deal more difficult than it sounds. Bill Frantz once brought a squeeze box to a junior high school class, and, unsurprisingly, the two smallest girls in the class attained the tightest squeezes. "They were the best at something physical for once," Frantz says, "and they were thrilled." 

SOURCES
m.theatlantic.com
image: jillcataldo.com