Caves

Text Box: Caves are not all about research, I became interested in caves through caving and cave exploration. I have no idea how many caves I have visited or explored, although when I was keeping a caving diary, I visited 73 different caves in one year. Given that I’ve been caving for almost 20 years, that probably extrapolates into a number of between 500 and 1,000 different caves. I’ve also had the privilege to cave in countries as varied as Belize, England, Greece, Greenland, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand, the United States, Venezuela and Wales.
First a point of clarification…
I get asked this quite a lot, so it’s probably best to get this out of the way first - I consider myself a caver (someone who explores caves) and a speleologist (someone who studies caves). I do not call myself a spelunker. The term ‘spelunking’ was invented during the 1950’s by an author who didn’t like the term ‘caver’ to describe a character in one of his novels, so invented the term ‘spelunker’ (derived from speleologist) to describe his character. Cavers do not call themselves spelunkers, which means that anyone who does, isn’t that familiar with the sport - and these are the kind of people you find in the back of a cave, lost, completely in the dark with one broken flashlight, a candle and a box of wet matches (yes - I’ve found people in this condition). Hence the caver bumper sticker “Cavers rescue spelunkers.” So, to avoid being helped from the back of a cave by a smirking bunch of cavers, get the proper training.
Getting started...
Many people ask me how to get into caving, and the answer is simple: join a caving club. When I moved to the US from Britain I found members of the Colorado Grotto caving club (which was a bit trickier then without the internet, but you can try this link) and went to my first meeting only 2 days after arriving in the country. Joining the club is the easy bit, getting someone to take you caving is a bit more difficult.
Caving itself is a fairly dangerous pastime, so there is a lot of trust involved with the people you cave with. It’s important that you are patient and go on all the novice trips that the grotto offers so that people understand that you are serious, dedicated and trustworthy. EVERYONE has to go through this, it’s almost a right-of-passage within the caving community. I’d been caving for six years when I moved to the US and it took me about 6 months to be invited on anything beyond a ‘complete novice’ trip. But I persevered, and after going on more and more trips, eventually I was trusted enough to be invited on exploration trips. If you don’t have the time or this kind of patience, you might want to try ’wild’ trips offered by show caves (try this link). These can be a lot of fun and will give you a taste of what caving is all about.
Becoming a caver…
Caving can be a relatively cheap hobby, requiring nothing more than a helmet, three lights and some old clothes - unless you’re gear-hog like me, and then you need vertical equipment, rope, ice-climbing equipment, cave diving equipment, more rope, hot cave gear, cold cave gear, wet cave gear, cold and wet cave gear, extremely cold cave gear and did I mention rope…? But in general it’s a cheap hobby... except for that bit about getting to exotic places.
There are a number of rules that we never break, or break at your peril (I once went to a cave without telling anyone where I was, when the way out collapsed… if we hadn’t been able to dig our way out, it would have gotten very grim).
The rules are as follows:
1) Get the appropriate training - caves are inherently dangerous. They are completely devoid of light, contain unstable and slippery surfaces, loose rocks, deep pits, treacherous slopes and exposed traverses. If you don’t learn how to safely navigate these obstacles, the remainder of these rules are moot.
2) Get a helmet - I’ve had rock climbers tell me they don’t need helmets because they never fall. They probably don’t bang their head much of the ceiling of those wide open spaces either - you WILL do this in a cave, no matter how good your spatial awareness is, you will also have rocks dropped on you and friends accidentally kick you in the head (a consequence of tight crawls). If you are serious, you’ll get a helmet - it’s also a nice place to hang your lights.
3) Get three sources of light - and no, not a Bud light, Miller light or Coors light! You need a primary light, which will be your main navigation light. There are a ton of excellent lights on the market right now, I personally use a 14-LED array Petzl light (vendors are on the links page). You are aiming for bright with good battery life. You’ll also need a secondary or back-up, easily accessible on your helmet - if your primary goes out, it will inevitably be somewhere really scary, which is even scarier if you’re suddenly in the dark. I use a Princeton Tech dive light attached with elastic to the side of my helmet - it’s super bright and useful for sketching big cave passages as well. Finally, you’ll need a third source of light, simply so statistics are on your side - I’ve had both my primary and secondary go out on a trip, but in all my trips have never lost all three. I use a Petzl 5-LED Tikka, which I keep in my bag. REMEMBER to take enough batteries...
4) Tell someone where you are going - and also, when you’ll be back. Caves are geologic features and, although rarely, things can change - like whether the entrance is navigatable or not. Sometimes ropes can be a tad short, or climbs can be a lot harder on the way up than you planned on the way down. If you are at the bottom of a cave, it’s hard to get someone’s attention for help, so folks need to know where you are.
5) Clothing - make sure you have the appropriate clothing for the type of cave you’ll be in. Remember, cotton-is-rotten, even under standard caving conditions, hypothermia is the biggest threat to your well being. I usually take an extra thermal layer of some kind, such as a polypro shirt. If the cave is wet, you might need a wetsuit. Starting out, jeans and a sweatshirt may be fine - check with someone who knows the cave and the condition to expect before you go. Your footwear is going to make the difference between enjoyment and a ’thrill-a-minute’ experience, so make sure you have good traction.
6) Leave nothing but footprints… - everything that goes into a cave, must come back out. That include all human waste. Number one’s are easy - carry a bottle (ladies, practice in the shower ahead of time - trust me!). Number two’s require quite a bit more fortitude and a couple of large zip-lock baggies. I’ll leave that to your imagination, but carry everything you might need on EVERY trip - you never know when nature might call.
7) Take nothing but pictures... - caves are beautiful, pristine environments. Good cave ethics dictate that you damage nothing in, or remove anything from, the cave; allowing everyone else can enjoy this beautiful pristine environment. When people take hikes, they may sometimes pick up a rock or shell that they find along the trail for a memento. That’s a no-no in caves - you should not remove any item, including broken formations, things on the floor, bones, crystals, even pebbles. They are part of a cave environment that may have taken millions of years to form, so leave them be.
8) Kill nothing but time… - with little energy coming into caves, their ecosystems are even more delicate than those on the surface. In addition, many of the species we observe in caves are listed as endangered and are under constant threat from surface activities and pollution. Hanging on the brink of extinction, as these ecosystems do, we have to be very cognizant of our activities underground. It is important to be aware of bat activities and not enter caves with significant bat populations during hibernation periods. Minimize any activities that may lead to leaving waste behind: batteries should be in packs, not in pockets; cave appropriate food produces little in the way of crumbs (think powerbars, not fried onion rings); eat over zip-lock baggies to avoid spilling ANY food; avoid clothing that shreds as you crawl over sharp rock; if you have a personal accident, clean up the detritus (vomit, skin, blood and any items identified in #6). Finally, to protect the microbes, make sure you wash all clothing between different caves. No one is perfect, but we can minimize our impact to a level that will not endanger the organisms of the environment we are visiting.
Enjoying caves…
As you become more adept at caving and better understand the cave environment, there are many different aspects of caving that you can enjoy - and there is something for everyone. I know a 150 lb man who is a hard-charging, cave explorer who can climb 100 feet of rope in less than a minute, pushing himself to his physical limit in caves most weekends. I also know a 400 lb man who gives a lot back to caving through cave restoration projects. There are many ways you can enjoy the cave environment, including:
             Exploration - in order to understand the cave environment and determine how to best protect it, it is critical we understand the resource. To this end, exploration and cave surveying is the way to go. It also gives you the opportunity to see things that no human has ever seen before, or express your artistic flair through cave cartography.
             Conservation - we know a lot more about caves now than we did even 20 years ago. With a changing understanding comes a changing ethos and the necessity to restore some of the damage that was done through carelessness or direct vandalism. Much of this work is involves cleaning, scrubbing and mending, along with the satisfaction of restoring a thing of beauty to its original glory.
             Science - not everyone needs an advanced degree to carry out cave science projects. Within Kentucky we have the Watershed Watch group, who routinely travel to caves to test the water quality of streams as an early warning sign for pollution of important karst aquifers. Many other grass-roots groups are constantly needing assistance with bat counts, biological inventories, etc., as are cave researchers.
             Aesthetics - in order to help people understand the cave environment, we have to share our emotional connectedness to the environment. This is best done through photography, art, poetry and song. There are a number of dedicate folks who spend their weekends underground to bring us images and understanding of this remarkable environment.
             The written word - to truly bring caves and caving alive requires articles, books, trip reports and stories. Many cavers from across all disciplines within caving take their time to write about their experiences and keep the rest of us excited about being underground - even when we’re stuck in an armchair!
             Camaraderie - the very best thing about caving can be the people you meet. Cavers are interesting people, driven to explore and understand the as yet unknown - sometimes this can be interesting in the most fascinating way, other times confusing, or even slightly weird. But caving events are never boring!

Text Box: Caves and Caving