Will Crowther Caving Anedcote

I forgot–on the way out Z, at w-l=Z-1, Rick Olsen, at great cost to his body, entered the tight canyon heading south with the great water sounds. It turned out to be a 1′ high 9″ wide waterfall. The canyon continues as a very bad lead ‘2’h X 1’w with a 1″ stream in the floor. Rick lost a sock in this one–it came off and he couldn’t backup to recover it. Why did he have his shoe off? I told you, it is. a very tight canyon. —Will Crowther

Will Crowther Caving Anedcote (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog)

Will Crowther, the creator of “Colossal Cave Adventure” and the grandfather of the adventure game genre, filed this anecdote as part of a Cave Research Foundation expedition report, dated May 17, 1975.

From this passage, we can glimpse both Crowther’s subtle sense of humor and the caver’s attention to resource management — both of which are evident in “Adventure.”

Note that the caving term “canyon” simply means a passage that is taller than it is wide.