The Big Squeeze

The claustrophobic or oversized need not apply. This sport is for the wily and wiry, or those who want to make like a pipe cleaner and worm through murky, dark crawl spaces hundreds of feet below ground, through tunnels with names like Birth Canal, Pancake Room and Godzilla’s Nostril. The sport is spelunking, or exploring caves up close, and it’s become a hot pastime among professionals looking to trade one sort of grind for another.

Joel Despain, cave specialist for Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, says interest in spelunking has doubled over the last five years.

“It appeals to executives because it tests their mettle,” says Laguna Hills resident Susan Witten, a health care manager who recently spelunked in Calaveras County. “It couples critical thinking with physical ability. You take the experience back to work and think more rapidly.”

Besides, it’s the closest most people will get to exploring another planet, says Stephen Fairchild, president of California Caverns, which owns and operates four commercial caves. And cheaper: Costs range from $70 to $100 per person for a three- to five-hour adventure, including gear and guide, whom you’d better be nice to.

Donna Sears, a 38-year-old sales executive and spelunker from Corona del Mar, described one outing in which she lay flat on a rock, arms and legs outstretched as she shimmied, pushing with toes and fingertips.

“It was dark. There wasn’t a lot of air, and I wasn’t sure I’d make it through.”

Her husband, Dave, a stocky 6-footer, opted not to press on and took one of several available vertical escape routes. This is one sport where size and muscle can be a disadvantage.

So can bats and salamanders. But the biggest obstacle is your imagination, says Fairchild. “As an adult in the outside world, you know there are no monsters. But in a dark cave you think, ‘Maybe there are monsters.’ ”

Ah, but then there’s that light at the end of the tunnel. Crawl spaces give way to walk spaces where you see stalagmites, stalactites, crystals and exquisite marble banding.

For the real crazies, says Fairchild, there’s underwater caving. “As you go in a cave, the water is clear, but coming out, if you’ve stirred things up, can be like swimming through dark chocolate milk with limited oxygen, through tight, contorted passages.” Need some air?

California Caverns’ four caves are located throughout Central California, with headquarters in Vallecito, (702) 234-2708. L.A.-based California Native leads spelunking expeditions through caves in the Mother Lode country, (310) 642-1140. Or call the National Speleological Society at (205) 852-1300 for the grotto nearest you.