With all elevators out of service, it's a long, steep walk into Carlsbad Caverns/NPS

What goes down, should come back up. But it doesn't always work that way. That's what three visitors to Carlsbad Caverns National Park discovered the other day when one of the backup elevators they were in ground to a halt 740 feet below the surface.

Their rescue no doubt was more than worth the price of admission to the park in far southern New Mexico. 

After the elevator came to a halt, park rangers were able to communicate with the visitors via the elevator phone system to ensure their well-being and to keep them updated. The park then activated the interagency search-and-rescue team consisting of the Carlsbad Fire Department and park rangers.

Using the other backup elevator (there are two, to serve in case the two main elevators breakdown, which they have), the rescue team set up rigging in the elevator shaft's hoistway, and with three EMT/paramedics inside the operational elevator and a ranger up on top, lowered themselves to the stranded car. After reaching the visitors, the team harnessed each visitor with a lifeline and transferred them through the ceiling escape hatch of the broken down elevator to the adjacent operational elevator. After 3.5 hours, the visitors were safely back at the park's visitor center in good spirits.

"This is the first time we've had to conduct an elevator rescue operation and it went smoothly because the interagency search-and-rescue team had just recently trained for this exact scenario," said Park Service Incident Commander Tim Havens.

An inspection indicated that the elevator became stranded due to a worn cable that sends the correct signal to the controls that allow the elevator car to operate. Plans to repair the cable and reinstate elevator service are being developed.

The secondary elevators that now are out of commission are part of two separate elevator systems (in two separate elevator shafts) at Carlsbad Caverns. The primary elevator system was originally installed in 1955 and went out of service in November 2015 when a six-inch motor shaft unexpectedly sheared off. Work to repair and modernize the primary elevators began in December 2017, and is on schedule to be completed by the end of May. The secondary elevators have been providing all park elevator service while the primary elevators are being rebuilt.

Until the cable is repaired, there is no elevator service into and out of the cavern. Visitors will still be able to enjoy the cavern by hiking the Natural Entrance Trail. This 1.25-mile trail involves a steep 75-story hike into and out of the cavern. For safety, the trail isn't accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, or walkers.