Pit cave

Among cavers, a pit is a vertical drop of any depth that cannot be negotiated safely without the use of ropes or ladders.

[citation needed] Pit caving was pioneered by the English geologist John Beaumont (c. 1650–1731) who gave an account of his descent into Lamb Leer Cavern to the Royal Society in 1681.

During World War II, a team composed of Pierre Chevalier, Fernand Petzl, Charles Petit-Didier and others explored the Dent de Crolles cave system near Grenoble, France.

In the late 1950s, American caver Bill Cuddington further developed the single rope technique (SRT) in the United States.

Pursuing these developments, in the 1970s Fernand Petzl started a small caving equipment manufacturing company.