President Stephen Wells' Role Highlighted in Mammoth Cave 50th Anniversary Stories
Oct. 21, 2022
On September 9, 1972, six members of the Cave Research Foundation (CRF) connected two long caves — Flint Ridge Cave System (then 86.5 miles long) and Mammoth Cave (57.9 miles) — to make Mammoth Cave System indisputably the longest cave in the world at 144.4 miles. These cavers were John Wilcox, Richard Zopf, Steve Wells, Cleve Pinnix, Gary Eller, and Pat Wilcox (Crowther).
On Sept. 9, 2022, Richard Zopf, Pat Wilcox (Crowther), Steve Wells, and Gary Eller, with Cleve Pinnix joining in remotely, presented their stories to an audience of National Park employees, CRF cavers, and the public at a 50th anniversary celebration at the Mammoth Cave Amphitheater in Kentucky.
New Mexico Tech President Stephen G. Wells was highlighted in several stories about Mammoth Cave, the world’s longest cave, in Kentucky newspapers and on the National Park Service website. President Wells was a member of a six-person team from the Cave Research Foundation (CRF) in 1972 that discovered a 144-mile passage to the cave system. The team recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their discovery.
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