MAPPING A MAZE

1991 was the year we were going to map Chiquihuitón Fissure, the crack that "just keeps a-going." However, three trips, 413.74 meters and 53 stations later, we were still far from done: all kinds of new passages had appeared, none of which were "mapper friendly." How much virgin passage do we have to deal with in one year, anyhow?

To make matters worse, Chiquihuitón always had a surprise or two awaiting us around every bend (of which there are plenty). For one thing, there's the HAM SLICER (El Cuchillo Tajador), a very narrow, vertical slot, which, when you squeeze through it, always manages to remove a few buttons and pockets, if not a few centimeters of your rubber tire. Then there are distractions: THE GIANT'S TRESSES are pigtail-like roots which disappear into the ceiling 35 meters above; then there's the WOLF'S DEN inhabited by a wolf spider, HAPPY SCORPION HOLLOW (inhabited by guess what) and, after 308 meters of crawling and squeezing, you at last come to an exit, which, however, is known as THE SPLITS because of a chimney that only a six-footer would ever want to tackle. Unfortunately, it's either that or go back the way you came!

On top of all these fine qualities, Chiquihuitón Cave also treats its visitors to a wee bit of the old histo. In Susy Pint's case, this wee bit turned out to be six months of uncontrollable coughing. Women, we have heard, very rarely get histoplasmosis, but when they do, they get it good!

Not shown in the accompanying photos are Luis Rojas and John Pint... who were too busy mapping.