Nutty Putty Cave

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Nutty Putty Cave
Coordinates40°05′51″N 112°02′13″W / 40.09750°N 112.03694°W / 40.09750; -112.03694Coordinates: 40°05′51″N 112°02′13″W / 40.09750°N 112.03694°W / 40.09750; -112.03694
Discovery1960 (Dale Green)
GeologyChert
Entrances1
DifficultySlippery
HazardsSlippery and Tight
AccessClosed (since 2009)

Nutty Putty Cave is a hydrothermal cave located west of Utah Lake in Utah County, Utah, United States. Formerly popular with cavers and renowned for its narrow passageways, Nutty Putty has been closed to the public since 2009 following a fatal accident that year.[1]

Discovery and exploration[]

The cave, first explored in 1960 by Dale Green, is currently owned by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration,[2] and managed by the Utah Timpanogos Grotto. The name is believed to relate to the soft, brown, putty-like texture of the clay found by Green in many of its tunnels. It contains 1,400 feet (430m) of chutes and tunnels and, prior to closure, had been accessible via a narrow surface hole.

Before 2009 this cave had four separate rescues of cavers and Boy Scouts, who became stuck inside the cave's tight twists, turns, and crawls.[3] In 2006, an effort was put forth to study and severely limit the number of visitors allowed inside the cave. It was estimated the cave was receiving over 5,000 visitors per year, with many visitors often entering the cave late at night and failing to take proper safety precautions. The cave’s popularity had caused excessive smoothing of the rock inside the cave to the point it was predicted a fatality would occur in one of the cave's more prominent features, a 45-degree room called "The Big Slide". On May 24, 2006, a gate was installed, and the cave was temporarily closed. In early 2009, proper management was established and an application process was developed to ensure safety precautions were being met. On May 18, 2009, the cave was reopened to the public.[4]

Fatal accident and closure[]

On November 24, 2009, a man named John Edward Jones died in the cave after being trapped inside for 28 hours. While exploring with his brother, Jones mistook a narrow tunnel for the similarly tight "Birth Canal" passageway and became stuck upside-down in an area measuring 10 by 18 inches (25 by 46cm), around 400 feet (120m) from the cave's entrance. Jones was held in place like a hook, unable to move without causing serious harm due to the bends his body was placed in.[5] A large team of rescue workers came to his assistance but were unable to retrieve Jones using a sophisticated rope-and-pulley system after a pulley failed mid-extrication. Jones ultimately suffered cardiac arrest due to the strain placed upon his body over several hours by his inverted, compressed position. Rescuers concluded that it would be too dangerous to attempt to retrieve his body; the landowner and Jones' family came to an agreement that the cave would be permanently closed with the body sealed inside, as a memorial to Jones. Explosives were used to collapse the ceiling close to Jones' body, and the entrance hole was filled with concrete to prevent further access. A film about the tragedy called The Last Descent was released on September 16, 2016.

References[]

  1. ^ "Why Utah's Nutty Putty Cave Is Sealed Up With One Spelunker Inside. John James became stuck upside down in this cave and waited 28 hours until his death which he knew was coming". June 19, 2018. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  2. ^ Morgan, Emiley (November 26, 2009). "Man trapped in Utah County's Nutty Putty cave dies". Deseret News. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "History". The Nutty Putty Cave Official Website. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009.
  4. ^ "SITLA Owned Cave Access". The Nutty Putty Cave Official Website. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009.
  5. ^ "Nutty Putty: 'I really, really want to get out'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved February 22, 2022.

External links[]

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