March began with an expedition to the Western Branch led by Derek Bristol and focused on survey in the Red Lakes/Oasis, Oz, Keel Hall/Long Haul, and Wild Wild West areas. A technical climb completed on the first day of exploration led to the discovery of a large new room they named Zion. Zion is a significant breakout on the southern edge of the Western Branch that climbs nearly 500 feet above the Western Borehole. The main room in Zion is 600-feet long and 175-feet wide, with spectacular 80-foot columns throughout and numerous leads. Additionally, a re-sketch of Oasis on the first survey day revealed an extensive boneyard maze under this large room that occupied teams for several days with many leads left to explore. The results of the expedition included 6,160.7 feet of total survey; 5,887.5 feet of new survey, 230.7 feet of resurvey, and 42.5 feet of excluded or redundant survey. The expedition added 1.12 miles to the length of Lechuguilla Cave, increasing the length of the cave survey to 141.94 miles.
Lechuguilla Cave,|141.94 miles.
Lechuguilla Cave,|141.94 miles.