A BRITISH caver told last night of the petrifying moment when his abseiling rope frayed, leaving him dangling for SEVEN hours above a 350ft chasm.

Terrified Tom Harvey, 22, was left clinging to a rocky ledge inside a giant sinkhole when the twine unravelled – leaving just a single thread to support his weight.

He was just minutes away from plunging to his death in New Zealand’s most perilous cave when rescuers arrived.

He admitted last night: “It was the single most terrifying experience of my life – I thought I was going to die.”

Tom’s ordeal began when he and two pals abseiled into magnificent Harwood’s Hole near Nelson, South Island, at 10.30am yesterday.

He had dropped 300ft into the 650ft deep cave when he realised his rope was not strong enough to hold him.

As it began to disintegrate, he had no choice but to cling by his fingertips to the razor-sharp ledge – supported by what was left of the cord.

Quick-thinking Tom, from Suffolk, shouted up to pal Tina Bark, who had just abseiled into the cave. She alerted her partner Leon Davis at the mouth.

Canadian Leon, 27, then ran for 40 minutes before he could raise the alarm.

More than 50 search and rescue volunteers rushed from the surrounding Takaka region to help the group.

They hauled out American Tina, 27, after six hours – and Tom an hour later.

Their friend – Welshman Ben Jones, 22 – had made it to the bottom of the chasm and was last night led out of the cave system by a team of experienced climbers. As he emerged, shaking Tom confessed he had “closed his eyes” and tried not to think of the worst.

He said: “Everything was going smoothly when I suddenly looked down and saw threads, not rope. The sheath had totally gone.

“I panicked and looked up to find there were three metres of fraying, sheathless rope above me. As the rope began creaking I grabbed a tiny ledge that I could just about fit my fingertips on.

“I closed my eyes and just held on. When the rescuers came there was barely one thread left on the rope.”

Trauma

Harwood’s Hole is a massive sinkhole at the top of Takaka Hill. It is part of a complex network of hidden limestone caves.

The climbers were yesterday slammed by cops – who said their equipment was not suitable for caving.

Sgt Blair Hall, of Takaka police, said: “Caving is a professional sport and should not be done by amateurs with amateurs’ equipment.

“We’re not annoyed, but it’s a resource-intensive hunt that’s probably unnecessary.”

Search-and-rescue coordinator Hugh Flower said: “It was a hell of a lot of work pulling those people out.”

Tina, of Arizona, said: “This was a traumatic experience but we’re all safe and grateful to those who helped.”

Quote from one the rags:

A BRITISH caver told last night of the petrifying moment when his abseiling rope frayed, leaving him dangling for SEVEN hours above a 350ft chasm.

Terrified Tom Harvey, 22, was left clinging to a rocky ledge inside a giant sinkhole when the twine unravelled – leaving just a single thread to support his weight.

A bit like this I suppose. I don't know why but I don't think I will be attempting this in the near future.

🙂

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