Testing the upper limits - Case Study

PROJECT BACKGROUND

For two days, hydrogeologist Lee Florea and his fellow explorers have been slowly plodding step by step to the top of Washington’s Mount Rainier. Laden with up to 80 pounds of supplies and scientific gear, they watch enviously as recreational climbers cruise past them carrying half that on their path to the summit.

But there’s a big difference between the two groups: when Florea and his team members reach the top, their expedition will have only begun.

They’re on a quest for knowledge hidden in caves at the summit of Mount Rainier, formed by fumaroles leaking gases beneath glaciers trapped in volcanic craters. Gathering data in this hostile environment calls for scientists willing to go to the ends of the Earth—and an intrepid support team of expeditioners to get them there.

Exploring these otherworldly laboratories is more than just an adventure into the shifting depths of high-altitude ice. It’s a chance to make sense of complex hydrothermal processes, advance exploration of distant icy worlds, and better understand the impacts of a changing climate.

AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

When Lee Florea was in college, he had no idea he’d one day be pushing the boundaries of glacier cave research. In fact, he was majoring in physics and math when a class at Mammoth Cave sparked a passion for mapping caves. Today, he’s assistant director for research at the Indiana Geological and Water Survey and a hydrogeologist at Indiana University.

In 2014, Florea was at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in Vancouver when he met an old friend who was researching Mount Rainier’s summit craters.

In typical geologist fashion, his first question was, “Where do I sign up?”

As it turned out, her team had plenty of scientists and cavers, but few, like Florea, were both. So he jumped into the research and preparation for his first trip, set for the following year. It wasn’t going to be easy.

“Rainier was my first true technical mountain climb,” Florea says. “I’d been up a 14,000-foot peak in Colorado in summer—a trail that goes up to a pile of rocks—but nothing as serious as this.”

His colleague connected him with expedition leader Eddy Cartaya, co-founder of Glacier Cave Explorers. The group is part of a nonprofit chapter of the National Speleological Society, organizing cave research expeditions on Mount Rainier, Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. It’s a herculean effort that involves collaborating with multiple organizations, including obtaining permits from the National Park Service (NPS) and funding from National Geographic.

Cartaya, known as “Glacier Cave Eddy,” is a certified cave rescuer whom team members describe as someone akin to the Energizer bunny.

“That first year, I think Eddy was really concerned about me,” says Florea. Before the trip, Cartaya sent him workout schedules, to-do lists and tips, like stocking up on medication to prevent altitude sickness.

“He made it seem like you needed to know what you’re doing or you were going to die,” Florea says.