Exclusive | New York man recounts slip-up that trapped him 400 feet from safety in upstate cave for 7 hours
He’s not taking anything for granite ever again.The Brooklyn man who was “jammed” in a slim crevice of an upstate cave for seven hours last month in a harrowing situation similar to the film “147 Hours” said the terrifying ordeal came down to one tiny slip-up.Aidan Kirsch — who revealed himself to The Post as the mystery caver — said he was just 400 feet from exiting Merlin’s Cave in Columbia County when he lost his footing and wedged himself between two tight rocks, he told The Post Tuesday.“The funniest part is we were basically done.We’d been in the cave exploring for five hours, and then we’re maybe ten minutes from the exit … and my foot slips,” Kirsch, 26, recalled of the incident, which occurred while he was bellycrawling through a slippery stretch known as the bear trap.“I was trying to free myself, but I just ended up sliding down more and getting more stuck.
By the time I realized that it was a serious stick, it was a little bit too late.”Kirsch, of Bushick, had been exploring the grotto as part of a caving weekend extravaganza hosted by the regional National Speleological Society.The non-profit worker had already visited a series of other larger caves over the previous days, and planned to cap off the exhilarating weekend by scouring the underground waterfalls and stalagmites that make Merlin’s Cave notorious.It also marked a serious intensity escalation for Kirsch, who has been caving for just two seasons.Merlin’s Cave is so treacherous that a minimum group of three cavers is required for excursions and all must be equipped with a helmet, three sources of light and knee pads, according to the Northeastern Cave Conservancy (NCC).“Merlin’s cave is definitely more technical.
The first few hundred feet, you’re crawling flat on your stomach, getting through twisting caverns, and then after that, you come to a mini waterfall that you have to boulder down carefully,” explained Kirsch, originally of Connecticut, adding...