A happy ending

The rescue operation that brought Johann Westhauser back to the surface was unique. He was trapped with a severe head injury almost 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) underground, in a gigantic and labyrinthine cave system. It took 12 days to carry him back to the surface in what can only be called a spectacular operation.

An added difficulty was that the entry to the cave is situated on a huge mountain mass, called the Untersberg, between Berchtesgaden and Salzburg, at a height of 1,800 meters. Rescuers and helpers as well as tons of necessary material had to be flown by helicopter to the cave entrance. The operation involved some 1,000 people, around the clock, including 202 cave specialists from Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia and Switzerland.

Not a question of money

But no sooner has there been an emotional happy ending that saw the researcher safely rescued than the discussions about the operation's costs started. And the question pops up, "Does it make sense for people to climb around in dangerous caves at all, unnecessarily endangering themselves and - in the case of an accident - their rescuers?"

It all just disappointing.

Granted, the costs of the rescue operation will be enormous. It will likely total a couple of million euros. Who will cover how much, which part will be taken over by the authorities in Bavaria, by the mountain rescue team, by Westhauser's health insurance and by himself - all of this will be thoroughly discussed over the next few months, and a decision will be made, according to specific criteria. But the operation will not have been more expensive than an extraordinary yet necessary police operation during soccer matches between rival sides, for example. And why not talk about the sense of massive public firework displays, while we're at it?

This operation saved a person's life. From a desolate situation. Without the impressively strong sense of solidarity among the rescue team Westhauser would never have left the cave alive. I have never experienced such a strong and positive team spirit and sense of confidence. Every day the message couldn't have been clearer: We can do this. Together.

There are not many cave specialists in Europe. Most of them received a phone call in the middle of the night when the accident happened. None of them once questioned whether they would take part in such a "crazy" and risky rescue operation. It was obvious they would go. But it's not obvious at all. They all have families and "normal" jobs. They're doctors, engineers, policemen, or - like Johann Westhauser - physicists. Cave research is their passion. It's not an athletic hobby, like climbing or skydiving, and it's not a senseless pastime either.

Valuable information for science

Speleologists, a.k.a. cave researchers, are not adventurers or gambling risk-takers. They are well-organized in networks of clubs, they spend most of their free time in caves and their physical and mental resilience is well above average. They explore caves and they deliver valuable information to science - in a completely unselfish manner. The job title "cave researcher" does not exist. Experts who research cave systems are geologists, paleontologists, or archeologists. Most of them will never actually descend into a cave themselves. That would be just foolish and risky.

So they work together with experienced amateur cave researchers, people like Johann Westhauser. It's only with their help that caves can be explored. They are the ones who discover Neanderthal bones, fossils and valuable ground water arteries. They also advise communities and authorities as to which caves are safe for visitors and which ones ought to be closed.

They do risk their lives doing it. Accidents can happen. Caves are not playgrounds. Falling rocks, slippery ledges and narrow mines where you have to hold your breath to get through, water pools you have to dive through to continue in the next part of a cave sysem. Cave researchers are aware of the danger. And they know how quickly they can find themselves in a difficult situation. A broken leg a couple of hundred meters underground can be a death sentence for them. That's why they are willing to help each other - under any circumstances.

Smaller-scale rescue operations, which, incidentally, are paid for by a fund that the cave clubs setup for that purpose, happen all the time. Rarely do they get any public attention. There will probably not be a second massive-scale operation like the one in the Untersberg Riesending cave any time soon - particularly not with such a happy ending. So let's just be glad that the rescue team's efforts paid off and that Johann Westhauser is alive.