"Why take that opportunity or option away from people?" he says. He feels people should make their own decisions about risky adventures. He also thinks if caving is considered dangerous, then what about extreme hobbies like rock climbing, paragliding and sky diving?īeard says cave entrapment deaths are very rare and most deaths in caves are from falls. "I don't know what you can say to the family, but certainly shutting everybody out of any risk is not the answer."īeard is worried it will lead to other cave closures. He's with the Wasatch Grotto cave club, a part of the National Speleological Society, and doesn't think Nutty Putty should be sealed. "I don't want anything to do with it," says Green.įruit Heights resident Mike Beard has been in lots of caves, too. He has been in Nutty Putty several times but won't go anywhere near the section where Jones got stuck. Green is now close to 80 years old, has been in close to 750 caves and says he discovered about 50 of them. "I never went back to that section again." "He kept pulling and pulling and finally I just popped out," says Green. He had to yell for a friend to get him out. I was slanted upside down and started to get a little worried," says Green. There was no way to push, and I couldn't get a grip with my feet. "I got down enough so my feet weren't quite sticking up the hole, and I realized I couldn't back out of this. Green knows how dangerous that one section is. I'm really not for sealing the whole thing." "I think they can do something to just try and prevent people from getting into that section. "That's the only dangerous place in the whole cave," says Green. When John Jones died after getting stuck late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, Green knew some people would want it closed however, he says only that one section should be closed, not the whole cave. Nutty Putty has since become one of the most popular caves in Utah, but its narrow passages have also made it one of the most dangerous. "It's been picked up by a lot of people," says Green. Green originally thought of calling the cave "Silly Putty" because of the clay but later thought "Nutty Putty" sounded better. When we went in, there was no sign whatsoever that anyone had been in there." "Everybody who goes through that cave comes out covered with the clay. "It was because of the nature of the clay that was in there," says Green.
When Green and some friends first went into the cave, he says they knew right away they were in a unique place. A rancher in the area of the cave said he had noticed warm vapors coming out of a hole and knew Green liked to explore caves. Salt Lake City resident Dale Green says he discovered Nutty Putty cave in 1960. No matter how it's done, though, some caving groups say closing it is a mistake. The Utah County Sheriff's Office has yet to decide exactly how Nutty Putty caves will be sealed. Rescuers worked furiously to get him out, but in the end ran out of time. John Jones died late Wednesday night after being trapped in the caves for more than 27 hours. He says that one spot has been a problem for years. SALT LAKE CITY - The man who discovered Nutty Putty Cave in 1960 says only the section where a man got stuck and died should be closed, not the whole cave. Reading or replaying the story in itsĪrchived form does not constitute a republication of the story. Only for your personal, non-commercial use.
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