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A little after 3pm on March 22, 1959, a 20 year old British college student named Neil Moss stood in a cavern about 1,000ft underground in northern England. And as he stood there, he was staring with excitement into this dark hole right in front of him. The cavern that Neil was standing inside of was known as Peak Cavern. And it was one of the biggest and most twisting cave systems in the entire country. In fact, it was so big that at one point, an entire village of 30 rope makers lived inside of this cave. And then also after those ropemakers, the cave system became a hideout for criminals and thieves because there were so many secret passageways and basically places to hide behind inside of the system. So basically, Peak Cavern was a pretty famous place. And as a result, basically all of it had been mapped out or at least explored by scientists and spelunkers except for this hole right in front of Neil. It was an entrance to a tunnel that nobody even knew about. Neil and the amateur exploration group that he was a part of had discovered this entryway about two weeks earlier. Now, neither Neil nor anybody else in this group had actually gone into this hole yet. And the reason for that was it was pretty dangerous. I mean, the opening to this tunnel was pretty small. It was 1 1/2ft by 2ft wide at the opening. And just looking down into it, I mean, it's a dark hole that you really can't tell how tight or how far it even goes. And so once you went inside of it, you know, the deeper you got, the higher the risk of entrapment. And so whoever actually went into this hole really needed to be prepared. But Neil and the rest of his amateur exploration group really felt like it would be worth it to try to go down this tunnel. Not just because nobody had done it before, but specifically they thought there was a chance that beyond this tunnel, basically deep underground, if you followed it long enough, it could lead to another big open chamber that nobody had found before. And those types of big open chambers, whoever finds them gets it named after them. And so Neil and his group were thinking, hey, if we find this big chamber, you know, it'll be named after us. We'll be famous, at least in, you know, spelunking circles. But they also understood that there might be nothing at the other end of this tunnel. It could just be a dead end. But the only way to know for sure would be if one of the members of this group went into the hole. Now, in addition to a fear of being trapped in the hole, there were other big issues with blindly crawling into a tunnel no one's been in before. Like, for example, there could be a sudden drop off or running water or some other hazard that whoever went into the hole wouldn't know about until they were facing it. And so, naturally, everybody in this group was excited about the hole, but also a little apprehensive about being the guinea pig to actually go into the hole. And so after the group had kind of stood around the hole for a minute, kind of talking through who was gonna do it, Neil had finally, courageously volunteered to be the guinea pig. He would go down. And in many ways, Neil was kind of like the perfect candidate for this job. He was smart, he was strong, and most importantly, he was thin, which meant he could navigate a really tight space. The only drawback to Neil was he was pretty tall. He was over six feet. And generally speaking, the best cavers in the world are very short and thin because it allows them to get into the smallest, tightest spaces underground. And so Neil, who was standing over the hole, began to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do. He pulled out his flashlight and he shined it straight down into this hole, which, again, is a pretty narrow hole. And it basically went straight down. And as he was shining it, he saw about 12ft down, the hole kind of turned, and you couldn't see what was beyond it. And so Neil knew the only part of this trip he would know about is that first 12ft once he made that turn. I mean, everything beyond that was totally unknown. Literally no one in the world knew what was beyond it. But Neil was about to find out. The cave explorers anchored this 75 foot long wire ladder that was all rolled up to this rock that was inside the cavern right near the opening to this hole. And once that was in place, they spooled out the ladder and kind of dumped it down into the hole. And so it fell 12ft down and landed right where this tunnel turned and sort of went into oblivion, where nobody knows what happened after that. And so Neil, his job was going to be to go into this hole feet first, go down 12ft, and then with his feet as he kind of blindly crawled backwards, feet first, into the tunnel, he'd be kicking with his feet, this ladder, extending it farther and farther into this tunnel. The idea was this ladder was his way back out again. So he's basically on top of the ladder, making his way, and at any point he can just grab the ladder and climb back out again. And so once the ladder was in place and all the cave explorers were kind of waiting for Neil, Neil walked up to the edge of the hole, he took a deep breath, and then he swung one leg into the hole, placed it on one of the rungs of the ladder, put his other leg on the ladder as well, and kind of tested it to make sure the rock that was anchoring the ladder could hold his weight. Once he was sure it could, he said goodbye to the explorers and then began his descent, feet first down into the hole. As Neil slowly and carefully climbed down this ladder during this first 12 foot section, he felt the walls of this hole closing in on him. When he was close to the bottom of this first section, the walls were literally flush with his shoulders and back. I mean, this was a really tight space. And so finally he got to the very bottom of this 12 foot section, and he was about to step onto what he thought was another rung because he can't actually see where he's going. He's just using his feet to feel. And he stepped down and he felt something hard. It was the ground. So he had reached the bottom of the 12 foot section. He kind of tested the ground with his foot, you know, seeing if it would support his weight. And after feeling confident, he stepped off the ladder and just stood at the bottom of the hole. At this point, Neil used his feet to kick the ladder that was still coiled up at the bottom of the hole into the next turn into the next section of the tunnel that he'd be going down. And as soon as he kicked it, he heard it kind of spool out as it tumbled down this next section. However, it was not a straight drop like this first section was. This next section he'd be going into was more of a gradual decline, just based on the sound this ladder was making as it tumbled down. And so after the ladder had stopped making noise and he knew it had stopped, Neil gave one final look up at his friends above, gave them a little wave, even though he could barely move his hands because it's so tight around him. And then he got down on his stomach and feet first, began shimmying himself down into this next section. Now, during the first 12ft. And during the initial turn into this new section, Neil had been able to turn his head and basically look down and see where his feet were going. But after only a few feet of going into this new section, the walls had become so tight on his body that he couldn't even move his head. He really was blind and had no idea where he was going. Now, for a lot of people, this would have been a claustrophobic nightmare. Neil is in this unbelievably tight space. He has no idea what's going to happen next. He doesn't know if it's going to get so tight. He'll get wedged in there. It's cold, it's damp, I mean, it's pitch black in there. He does have a headlamp, but his head is like kind of pressed to the ground and he can't really move it. So, you know, he's not really able to look around him. And periodically as he was shimmying his way down deeper into this tunnel, he would dislodge rocks from the wall and he would hear them strike the wall as they tumble down into oblivion. He had no idea if these rocks were tumbling into a dead end or if they were tumbling off a ledge somewhere, a ledge that he wouldn't be aware of until he got to it. But for Neil, this environment was something he thrived in. It was why he was so drawn to cave exploration. As much as cave exploring was a physical exercise and a physical test, it was much more a mental test. I mean, can you handle being in these tight spaces and persevering and continuing on when you're all by yourself and it's like dangers all around you? And also Neil just loved being alone and in the dark. So cave exploration was like perfect for him. When Neil had made it about 10ft down this new section, his feet touched the rolled up section of the ladder. And so with his toes he kind of gave it a kick and the ladder tumbled for a second and he could hear it and then it just kind of vanished altogether, like the ladder had gone over a cliff. And so Neil realized very likely just beyond his feet, even though he cannot see it, is a ledge and very likely either a drop off or, or a new cavern. You know, the thing they hope is on the other end of this tunnel. And so this was exciting for Neil. He felt a rush of adrenaline. You know, there's a new turn in the tunnel and for all he knows this is the cavern they're looking for or it's just another section of tunnel he would have to explore. But either way, he's making progress. And so Neil very carefully scooched backwards until he felt the edge, at which point he let his legs go over the edge. He found his footing on the ladder. And it was at this point, when he kind of turned around a little bit, that he could see this was not some big open cavern he had found. It was just a turn in the tunnel system. It was now going back to basically a vertical hole big enough to fit inside of. But Neil has no idea how deep it goes or what it leads to. But Neil was totally undeterred. He lowered his whole body into the section, got on the ladder and began descending. And very quickly as he began this descent, the walls of this section, this new vertical section, were so tight, it was about 18 inches in diameter, that he actually couldn't just go straight down. His body didn't fit, just trying to maneuver down. So the only way he could get himself to go down further was to like shimmy himself side to side like a corkscrew, basically forcing his body deeper and deeper into this hole. And so Neil continued doing this for an additional 18ft down in this new section of tunnel, which put him at a total of 40ft down into this tunnel from the entrance where the rest of his friends were. And when he got down there, 18ft down, he went to step onto the rung to continue his descent. But his foot hit rock and he felt around with his feet and he realized this tunnel did not lead to a big new chamber. It instead was a dead end after all. Now, just to be sure, Neil actually kicked as hard as he could. You know, he's kind of restricted, but he kicked with his legs as much as he could to see if maybe this wasn't a true death, maybe it was just an obstruction and he could clear it. But he could tell, you know, after a few stomps, this was not moving. This really was the end. Now, part of Neil was disappointed because he was hoping that by doing this, they would discover this big new chamber and they'd get it named after them. But on the other hand, he was also relieved because by this point it was extremely claustrophobic, even for a guy who thrived in this environment. You know, by the bottom of this 40 foot section, he is completely wedged in place. And so Neil decided it was time to head back to the surface. But from where he was at, he couldn't even hear his friends. He's way down deep in this tunnel. It's totally pitch black and so what he needed to do was just begin climbing back up this ladder. And then, you know, about halfway up, he could call up to his friends and tell them, hey, you know, I'm returning. But remember, to get to where Neil is, he has literally forced his body down into this tiny hole, basically corkscrewing himself as deep as he could get. And so he's totally restricted, and his arms are basically by his side, and his hands are basically pinned in front of his body. And so Neil tried to grab the ladder, which is literally pressed up against his chest, to begin the ascent. But even though his fingers could touch the rungs of the ladder, he couldn't actually move his arms to pull himself up the ladder. He could just hold the rung. That was it. But Neil had been in similar situations before, and what you do is you just use your legs. You drive with your legs and push your body up until your arms can go above your head, and then you continue the ascent. However, his legs also were basically in the same situation. It was so unbelievably tight around his legs that he couldn't lift his legs up. He could just basically wiggle his feet. Basically, there was no way physically for Neil to get himself out. He would need his team up above to pull him out. And so Neil began shouting as loud as he could, trying to get the attention of his friends up above, you know, telling them, hey, I'm stuck. Pull me out. And then also, as best as he could with his hands on the rung, he kind of pulled on the ladder, signaling to them, like, hey, get me out of here now. He couldn't really hear anything up above. It was sort of muffled, and, you know, he couldn't tell if they were yelling back down to him. But as he was holding onto the ladder, he felt a little bit of tension, suggesting they were pulling on him. However, as he held on, waiting to be pulled up and out, he didn't budge. Like, despite the tension on this ladder, clearly coming from the surface from his friends, he wasn't moving. And that's when Neil realized he had made a critical mistake. When he had reached the bottom of this tunnel, when he realized it was a dead end, he had stomped with his feet to confirm it really was a dead end. And when he had done that, he had inadvertently kicked the rungs of this ladder into a crevice and then rocks, which he had heard kind of falling when he was kicking, landed on top of it, basically pinning the ladder in place. Basically, this ladder was now anchored inside the cave, which meant no matter how hard his friends on the surface pulled, they would not be able to pull the ladder up, which meant they couldn't pull Neil up. And Neil, once he realized this was the issue, he tried to move his.
