Customer Reviews

Beyond the Deep: The Deadly Descent into the World's Most Treacherous Cave

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a personal friend of both Bill & Barb, as well as several of the key players in this story, my original reason for purchasing this book was more as a token of friendship, than anything else. Although I have been a test-diver and active user of the rebreather technology it describes since 1994, I'd never had much of an interest in exploring caves. I had expected to skim through the pages, read a few paragraphs here and there, then add it to my bookshelf alongside other books of a similar vein. Boy, was I in for a surprise!

Even though I already knew most of the details of the expedition, and knew full-well in advanced how the story begins, develops, and ends...I was nevertheless held captive by it from the time I opened its cover and began reading, until I completed its last page. The motivation behind cave exploration never seemed to make much sense to me before, but now it all seems crystal clear. This is TRUE exploration at its most extreme -- something often boasted about, but seldom genuinely so. This one is as genuine as it gets.

Because it would be easy to discount my endorsement as merely a kind gesture to my friends, I leave you to make your own interpretations based on the comments of other reviewers having less direct associations with the authors and expedition participants. However, as somewhat of an insider, I would like to take this opportunity to vouch for the authenticity of the events as they are described. I have had many long (multi-hour) discussions with Bill, Barb, and Noel Sloan about what happened during this expedition, and have also had conversations with Kenny Broad and Jim Brown, as well as a number of other people directly associated with the events described in the book. Most of these discussions took place very soon after the expedition ended, when memories and emotions were still fresh. It's also fair to say that I have as intimate an understanding of the inner workings of these particular rebreathers and how to use them as just about anyone else. Thus, it is not without some measure of validation when I say that I was extraordinarily impressed with how precisely the details of these events as described in the book coincide with the facts as explained to me by many and varied sources.

The Authors' Note confesses to reconstructed dialog (which is understandable, as memories begin to fade), but it also correctly defends its fairness in describing those portions where memories and interpretations do not coincide in every detail. Virtually all such details are trivial in the context of the broader story - the most significant events of which are not in dispute by anyone, to my knowledge.

Each and every participant on this expedition - whether I know them personally or not - has earned my highest respect and admiration. This book has impacted my perception of cave exploration much more so than I had ever expected it to. For those who decide to read it (and I doubt you will regret such a decision), you should do so with the realization that these are very real, flesh & blood people, embroiled in a very real and harrowing situation. I am confident that they will earn your respect as admiration as well.

Author Bill Stone points out that the world never knows how deep a cave is until someone "bottoms it out." The tallest mountain's height is a known factor before anyone attempts the climb, but the mystery of caving remains.

"Beyond the Deep" recounts Stone's expedition into the cave system of Systema Huantla in Mexico, which as of 2001 was rated the 8th deepest cave system in the world at 1,475 meters. As the deepest cave in the world, the Kubera Cave in Georgia (formerly USSR) is 1,710 meters, only 235 meters deeper than Huantla, we are talking about some extreme caving.

The main purpose of the expedition was to test out Mr. Stone's "rebreather," an artificial breathing device that allows an underwater diver more than six hours of oxygen as opposed to 45 minutes in the average scuba tank. This amount of time is needed in caves with large "sumps" or underground water passages where the surface can be a great distance away. The problem with the rebreather, aside from its experimental nature, is its complexity, an added component of difficulty to a diver's already altered state of awareness.

The expedition was a diverse group consisting of five divers (these are extreme guys!), five top-of-the-line cavers, and Stone's girl friend, Barbara am Ende, a PhD geologist, but less experienced cave diver. The story unfortunately begins in Maryland where they assembled the group and the gear. I say "unfortunately" because it is an overlong section that leaves us a long time to wait before we get to the cave. Once at the site, the book is engrossing and exciting. Excellent maps are included that are vital to the understanding of what they were doing and where they were at any given time. Stone's descriptions of the types of caving and diving required are outstanding. I have never willingly been in a cave (my claustrophobia kicks in just reading about it!), yet I could easily visualize exactly what was going on. The dangers, particularly of diving, are appalling. After finishing the book, I looked up "most dangerous sports" and was surprised #1 is bull riding, #2 water speed records and #3 cave diving. After reading "Beyond the Deep," I was certain nothing in this world (and possibly the next) could be more dangerous than cave diving!

The book has weaknesses mostly in the format. Mr. Stone chooses to use the third person singular, i.e. "Bill Stone says--" when he is talking about himself, something I find irritating and pretentious. The author states at the beginning that the dialogue is not exact, only an approximation. It is extremely stilted and when the author tries to get off a good joke that "cheered everyone up," it falls flat as a flounder. Guess you had to be there. Ms. am Ende is portrayed as almost walking on water; her patience is unremitting, her cheerfulness amazing. This is in contrast to the other members who were displayed in a much more three-dimensional, interesting manner.

This is one of those books you feel like you don't quite have the whole story. Mr. Stone is an enthusiastic proponent of his rebreather, yet I felt the divers' concerns and uneasiness were quite understandable and to the point. The author is clearly a driven person and whether he showed bravery or a blatant disregard of safety by continuing the exploration with the inexperienced Ms. am Ende is something the reader will have to decide for himself.

A good, interesting read with glossary, index and notes.

This book is an incredible insight into the world of caving. I knew nothing about the sport or what drives people to do such a thing until after I had read this book. This book really gave me a feel for this incredibly demanding (both physical and emotional) activity.
Don't worry if you are the claustrophobic type, you can read this book and enjoy the cave exploration but be glad that you are not there.

You don't have to be a caver to enjoy this book. With the help of indespensable illustrations the authors paint a picture of a cave system with a life (and legends) of its own, and the story of a crew with a resolve to discover its depths. Anecdotes and suppositioned dialogue aid in endearing the crew to the reader as we follow the challenges, determination & yearn for discovery that accompany Bill & Barbara to the "mother of all sumps".... or the beginning of the next exploration.

It was hard to put this book down once the caving and diving actually got going. Being a keen scuba diver I thought I would only be interested in the extreme diving and the trial of the newly-invented rebreather but actually found all aspects of the adventure extremely interesting. The writing flowed very well and gave me a feeling of being there, alone in the cave/diving etc. The pictures certainly helped show the beauty and mystery of the Huatla (excuse spelling) Cave System. It must have been awesome standing alongside the underground waterfall where no other person had ever stood!

This book is a story about human endurance and the will to go on despite devastating setbacks (such as the death of one of your party members!) and the psychological affects this has on the different personalities involved. It is hard for us common-folk to understand why people would push themselves to the limit like that but this book definitely allows us to empathise with those that do, by describing, in detail, the bounty that awaits. Regardless of the bounty, I think I'll stick to openwater reef and wreck diving!

I HIGHLY recommend this book.

When's the movie?! This book was a great read. I couldn't put it down during the final 100 pages. If you like a good story, you'll like this book. Dig a little bit more and you'll see that Barb is an inspiration to all who want to live their own dream - and help others live theirs. Gloria Steinhem take note! Not nearly enough is devoted to the obvious hours and days she learned, trained, and most importantly gained and sustained confidence in the bleeding edge rebreather. She apparently did a majority of the thankless task of obtaining sponsor support (how do you think they got all that gear they were hauling around!) I was impressed throughout that Barb was obviously the toughest person there. She should be an inspriration in the struggles and rewards of teamwork to all women - and for that matter - all men as well.

At one time I was a skinnier human being and I occasionally went caving. I never learned to use equipment for vertical caving and I only went through one sump [or 'near sump' as the book would describe it] in all my years of caving. But I can tell you that being underground was one of the biggest thrills of my life, especially when it appeared that I might be entering virgin cave. Beyond The Deep by William Stone and Barbara am Ende with Monte Paulsen should convey the trials and thrills involved with caving to anyone who reads it. Beyond The Deep is an evenhanded book, addressing the concerns of all of the people involved with the 1994 effort to push the Huatla Cave System to it's deepest. I am especially glad that it doesn't suffer from the blaming I found in the book No Apparent Danger. If you like a good adventure [even if you're claustrophobic], I highly recommend Beyond The Deep.

Fascinating book about the ultimate 'adventure' junkies-- who explore the world's most treacherous cave in Mexico. An amazing crew of people. What's so unusual is that these are divers-- deep see divers, not just guys and gals who go down into the cave on ropes or climb rocks. They call themselves CAVERS -- details make the true-life adventure come alive. What's disturbing though is that lives were lost on this expedition and the authors tend to gloss over those lost in their quest for the ultimate experiences. Cinematic and even outrageous tale of diving into disaster.

This was an experimental book for our book club, it was meant to experience something new and to give us an inside look at the scientific minds of these fabulously driven men and women who take and adventure and transform it into a full blown obsession, thus sacrificing their lives, their family lives, their sanity, but to understand the superficial way of thinking of the rest of the world you have to really think of the contributions to our world these people make for our benefit. For example years spend in a laboratory translate into just a simple new pill for an illness, which not many of us would give it a second thought. I thought it was a gripping tale of adventure, exploration, clash of personalities, crew sacrifices, leadership gone haywire,and mental exhaustion. Resilience and the promise of the ultimate reward at the end of the rainbow is what made this book, scientifically explicit as it was, such a page turner. You had to know what happens to the best man in that crew and if they find the booty (as they called it). The pace that it was written in deems itself worthy of being called a suspense that holds your grip until the end, as any literary work of fiction might do. Bill Stone's 13 years of dedication to develop his rebreather to facilitate and enable his divers to spend longer hours underwater was and is quite a scientific achievement to be revered. Team work and dedication is what makes the end of the story rewarding.-GREAT ADVENTURE, unusual choice for us but very much an eye-opener of a book. S.Wildburger- Dallas TX

I was really excited about reading this book because I love reading about cave diving, technical diving, and adventure stories. However, while reading this book I was often frustrated by its construction. I feel this book should have been written as a memoir. A lot of its awkwardness is due to writing what should have been a memoir as a third person nonfiction book. I wonder WHY it was written as such, since Bill and Barbara are the authors. I wish we had been allowed to get inside their heads. Especially Barbara, since she seems comes off as such a martyr without much of her own opinions.

Also, it was kind of hard to figure out the audience for the book. Some of the details were technical and presented in a way that made it confusing for me to really appreciate the quest. The book is kind of front-loaded with a lot of technical information.

At times I'd become frustrated with asides and side stories that seemed to reach no conclusion or point. They seemed interesting, but were under explained or weren't tied into the story. I also felt that the book ended kind of abruptly; since we followed Bill and Barbara so long I would have liked a more drawn out conclusion. For example (not trying to spoil the book), we're introduced to them as a couple, see the lengths they go through together, but it ends with a one-sentence line saying they broke up (yet presumably came together to write this book?).

I gave it 3 stars because I don't regret reading it and I found parts of it fascinating, but the above problems with the book prevented me from really enjoying the narrative.