Dictionary Definition
hellhole n : any place of pain and turmoil; "the
hell of battle"; "the inferno of the engine room"; "when you're
alone Christmas is the pits"; [syn: hell, hell on
earth, snake pit,
the
pits, inferno]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
English began using 'hellhole' in 1866.Extensive Definition
Hellhole is a large, deep cave in Germany
Valley in
Pendleton County, West Virginia that is also considered
important in the caving
community . It is the 11th longest cave in the United States and is
home to almost half of the world's population of Virginia big-eared
bats. It is the most extensive of several mapped caves in the
area (others include Memorial Day Cave and Schoolhouse Cave) and
the deepest cave in the valley (158 m).
Description
The only known entrance to Hellhole, located at the highest point in the cave, is a funnel-shaped pit entrance on the lower slopes of North Fork Mountain. Descent by rope through this spectacular and storied 154 foot entrance shaft gives access to a vast chamber ??? feet long. From the time exploration began there in the 1940s, cavers have documented over 28 miles of mapped passage in the Hellhole system."Little Hellhole" is a well known pit deeper in
the cave.
Hellhole's passages are developed predominantly
in a layer of limestone known as the New
Market. This same limestone is of remarkable commercial quality
and is the primary object of the nearby Greer
Lime Company open pit mining operations.
Bat biology at Hellhole
Hellhole is a hibernaculum site for two endangered and federally protected species of bats. For the Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus), it is one of the largest hibernation sites in the world. There are estimated to be about 9,000 individuals in the cave, as against a total world population of about 20,000. Thus, Hellhole contains about 45% of the world's total population. The cave is the largest hibernation site in the mid-Atlantic region for the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). The cave contains about 9,000 of these as well, many more than any other cave in the region. In addition, the cave is one of the world’s three or four largest hibernation sites for Little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), containing over 100,000 individual bats. Finally, the cave is also home to at least four other bat species.The crucial factor in Hellhole’s status as a
world class bat habitat is its low ambient air temperature. Most
caves in West Virginia average around 57 degrees Fahrenheit but
Hellhole's average is closer to 47 degrees. Located in the middle
of an enclosed valley, and, most importantly, having only one
entrance, all the cold air that flows off North Fork Mountain each
winter collects and becomes trapped in the cave. The cold air sinks
and, having no lower entrance through which to escape, fills the
cave's massive passages. This natural cold air trap may be unique
and, activists contend, is the reason why the cave is so vulnerable
to accidental damage from quarrying activities. If this natural
cold air trap were to be breached at an elevation lower than the
entrance, cold air would flow out, thus destroying the cave as a
vast bat hibernaculum.
Other species in the cave
Hellhole contains two rare cave invertebrates, both of which are millipedes: the Germany Valley Cave Millipede and the Luray Caverns Blind Cave Millipede.Greer Limestone/Hellhole bat controversy
From the 1940s, when exploration of Hellhole began, to the 1980s, cavers had mapped approximately 8.5 miles of passage in the popular Hellhole system. The cave is developed in New Market Limestone, the same rock unit that is mined in the nearby open pit quarry.Hellhole was essentially closed to the caving
community in 1988, two years after a lease on the land including
its entrance was obtained by the Greer
Limestone Plant, a part of Greer
Industries, Inc. in the nearby town of Riverton.
The only exception to this was the bi-annual bat counts sponsored
by the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In 2002, after
prolonged negotiations with Greer (which in 2000 had proposed in
public documents to expand its operations to the north and south of
its existing open pit quarry), the USFWS,
West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WV DNR),
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP),
caving organizations and local landowners, the Germany Valley Karst
Survey (GVKS) was contracted to pursue a survey of the extent of
the cave.
The entrance to Hellhole is owned by a private
landowner who has never wished to sell the land around it. The
quarry, immediately to the west of the cave entrance, is operated
by Greer Limestone Company (owned by West Virginia businessman and
politician John Raese).
Greer leased the entrance to Hellhole from the landowner in 1986,
and as the leasee, soon began to deny most access to the cave.
Greer did allow the
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WV DNR) to conduct
bi-annual trips into the cave for the purpose of counting the
populations of endangered bat species. In the 1990’s, at urging of
the WV DNR, Greer also began to allow limited exploration and
mapping of the cave (one or two trips per year).
In accordance with USFWS requirements regarding
endangered bats, all annual survey activities have to be completed
within a 16-week window during the summer months. In a feat of epic
caving over the next three years (2002-2005), members of the GVKS
surveyed more than 12 miles of virgin passage, increasing the known
length of the cave from 8.5 miles (13.7 kilometers) to 20.3 miles
(32.7 kilometers), and established Hellhole as the deepest cave
drop in West Virginia -- 265 feet (81 meters). Subsequent
investigations extended these numbers to 28.28 mapped miles (45.50
kilometers) and 519 feet (158.2 meters) of depth.
In 1995 an extension to the cave (“Krause Hall”)
was discovered in the extreme northwest portion of the cave. In
1996 one of the deepest sections of the cave was explored at over
400 feet below the entrance elevation. In 1997, a break-through
discovery off this area extended the known extent of Hellhole well
to the south of its originally known range. This showed that the
historically known portions of Hellhole were a mere side passage to
a much larger cave system.
By this time the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had recognized Hellhole as a
critical habitat for two species of endangered (and federally
protected) bat, the Indiana bat
(Myotis sodalis) and the Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus
townsendii virginianus). It was known that about 45% of the world’s
estimated 20,000 remaining Virginia big-eared bats hibernate in
Hellhole. Greer had responded by establishing a no-work buffer zone
of 250 feet and a no-blast buffer zone of 500 feet from the nearest
known passage in Hellhole. That word “known” proved to be the bone
of contention.
The reason Hellhole is such an important cave for
these bats is its unusually low ambient air temperature. Most caves
in West Virginia average around 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Hellhole
averages around 47 degrees. This cold temperature is critical for
these species survival. The cave remains cool because it functions
as a natural cold air trap. Located in the middle of an enclosed
valley, and having only one entrance, all cold air flowing off
North Fork Mountain in winter collects in the cave. Cold air goes
down, and having no place to escape, stays down, filling the cave's
massive passages. This cold air collecting phenomenon is what makes
the cave so vulnerable to accidental damage from quarrying
activities. If this natural cold air trap were to be breached at an
elevation lower than the entrance, the cold air would quickly flow
out, and the cave would likely no longer function as a bat
hibernaculum, at least for these particular species.
With the advent of the 1997 discoveries, Greer
was threatened with the potential loss of a valuable section of
limestone to the endangered species habitat. From that point
forward Greer permitted no further exploration of Hellhole. Cavers
perceived that because the quarry did not wish to lose any further
areas of limestone to bat habitat, it effectively began to impede
further exploration and, therefore, "knowledge" of the cave's
extent.
In 2000, Greer announced its intention to seek a
renewal permit to continue its quarrying operations in Germany
Valley and to extend them to the north and south of the existing
open pit. This request was filed publicly, as required by the
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP)
requirements, and it ignited a furor among Virginia and West
Virginia cavers who began petitioning officials and started a
letter campaign. In their view, it was highly likely that quarry
operations, conducted with a lack of knowledge regarding the cave's
complete extent, would in time penetrate some portion of the cave.
Such an event, it was argued, would have disastrous effects upon
the suitability of the cave as an endangered bat species
hibernaculum. In 2002 -- after prolonged negotiations with Greer --
the USFWS,
West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WV DNR), WV DEP,
caving organizations and local landowners, the Germany Valley Karst
Survey (GVKS) was formally contracted to survey the extent of the
Hellhole cave system. In accordance with USFWS requirements
regarding endangered bats, all annual survey activities must be
completed within a 16-week window during the summer months. Since
that time, the known extent of the cave has expanded to 24.9 mapped
miles (40.1 kilometers) and 519 feet (158.2 meters) of depth.
In 1971-1972, Buddy Bundy, Victor Lutz, Jon
Bakanas and other cavers from Falls Church High School and VPI
(Virginia Tech) caving groups explored outside of the cave's known
boundaries, resulting in the earliest trips into "New Hellhole" and
opening the directions of future exploration.
Miscellany
- According to the NSS Geo2 Committee on Long and Deep Caves http://www.caverbob.com/wlong.htm (updated 05 September 2007), Hellhole is the 58th longest cave in the world.
See also
References
- Dasher, George R. (2001), Bulletin #15, The Caves and Karst of Pendleton County, West Virginia Speleological Survey.