The tragedy of 2009 revolves around a specific spot on the map: The Big Slide (also called "The Chute"). On the map, The Big Slide is a yellowish-tan line branching off the main route, leading to a room called "Bob's Way."
However, the map also notes a smaller, unnamed passage near the top of The Big Slide. This passage leads to "Ed's Push"—a vertical chimney that goes down to an area called "The Birth Canal."
Here is where the map became a weapon of ironic tragedy. In 2009, John Edward Jones (a 26-year-old medical student and experienced hiker, though not a technical caver) was exploring with his brother Josh. They were using a laminated copy of the map. nutty putty cave map
The map legend indicated that "The Big Slide" was a large, open (though steep) decline that eventually led to a large room. Jones believed he was in "The Big Slide." In reality, due to a navigational error in the dark, he had entered the unnamed vertical chimney leading to "Ed's Push."
Because the map does not clearly label this chimney as a distinct, separate, and vertical passage (it looks like a slight bulge on the line), Jones mistook a 10-inch-wide vertical tube for a 45-degree sloping slide. He entered head-first. The tragedy of 2009 revolves around a specific
Nutty Putty Cave was discovered in 1960 by a group of geologists from Brigham Young University (BYU). Unlike the massive vertical pits or crystal cathedrals found in other caving systems, Nutty Putty was discovered to be a hypogenic cave—formed not by surface water erosion, but by hot, acidic hydrothermal fluids rising from deep within the earth.
Because of its unique "slickenside" clay (smooth, polished clay that looks and feels like chocolate frosting, hence the name "Nutty Putty"), the cave required extensive surveying. Over the next 40 years, the Timpanogos Grotto of the National Speleological Society (NSS) took on the Herculean task of mapping the complex. In 2009, John Edward Jones (a 26-year-old medical
The resulting Nutty Putty Cave Map is a masterpiece of by-hand surveying. Unlike a standard tourist map, a caving map uses a "plan view" (a top-down layout) and multiple "profile views" (side-cut diagrams) to show vertical stacking of passages.
While the Nutty Putty Cave map accurately depicts the distances and directions, a 2D piece of paper cannot convey the physiological demands of the cave.
The critical detail missing from most public versions of the map is the orientation of the passages. Nutty Putty is primarily a fracture cave. The passages are mostly narrow, horizontal slots. To navigate, you must turn your body sideways, or flatten yourself into a "caterpillar crawl" (belly-down, pushing with toes).
The map shows the "Main Branch" as a relatively straight line. In reality, that line represents a passage that in some places is only 10 inches high and 30 inches wide.