Hey guys! See the upcoming cover for Rocky Mountain Caving 44, 2. Photo from Lech by the imminently talented Norman Thompson of the Colorado Grotto.

Please consider getting a physical subscription - There aren’t many state level cave science magazines left. Colorado is one of them! Subscribe on substack @rockymountaincaving or email me directly at [email protected] for a $5 discount

I attended a workshop abroad in a vertical cave and fell in love with everything. I’ve been trying to find a caving community near me (middle of Norway) so I can start learning in depth here, but I can’t find any. Can anyone here help? 🙏

hey all!
I'm looking to do either wind cave or jewel caves wild cave tour. I know for jewel cave you have to fit through a 24" wide and 8.5" high space and wind cave is 36" wide and 10" tall. But I'm mostly looking for which one is just overall, better. I only have one day available to do the tour, so I won't be able to do both as the timing of them overlap.

Unable to find a wild cave to do, I was forced to sign up for the Historic Lantern Tour at the national monument. Totally worth it. Great photo ops because the lighting system wasn’t used for the tour.

Explored these caves early this month. Absolutely mind blowing!

I have always wanted to go caving, but I don't have any idea how to do it. I really don't want to do a guided tour or anything like that. Can I just go to a cave with a friend, and if so, how do I even find a cave? Idk if this matters at all, but I rock climb :-)

If I am thinking about this wrong, then lmk

Hi everyone, we found a cave, probably acting as an overflow for the lower spring.

When it was discovered decades ago, it had a sump at the entrance, recently we went again and the cave is "dry", so we discovered more 60 meters, actually blocked by a rock obstructing the passage after a meander.

The problem with this cave is that it has tight passages, crawling etc, in the mud. It's not simple mud, it's really fine mud, it traps your caving suit, your boots, sucking you in, and making it really difficult and energy consuming to navigate the cave.

Have you ever been in such a cave? Any useful tips?

We tried the "rally" method of multiple gloves too to keep hands clean to handle drills, gear, water etc, but everything doesn't work

The main problem is that with each passage the mud gets more and more bad, making you stuck, and the cave seems to go, great airflow too

What could be some solutions to make everything easier?

Thanks for the suggestions in advance!

I am trying to find this book, but I only have this scanned page about the tour cave I work in. I think it might be Caves of Tennessee by Thomas C. Barr, but I'm not sure, and I can't find a digital copy or one online that is not ridiculously expensive. (red lines cover location)

Please let me know if there is a better place to look/ask.

This person was just brought to the attention of the community via the Women of Caving FB Group.

Please contact the Cavers Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) or Mystik Miller if you have had similar communications.

Some of my favorite pictures from a West Virginia cave. Can't really tell from the first picture but that crystal pool is probably about 5 feet wide and the most beautiful one I've ever seen

Hello! My friend and I have gone to Petty John’s a few times, and I was wondering if there are any updated maps or resources that could help us navigate for the next time we go. Also, could anyone identify where we are based on the pictures? (Two separate locations)

Hand tightened, but I guess it tightened more during my drop - Only had this thing for a week. It won’t even budge with pliers or a wrench. Had to undo the back strap to get the harness off me.

A friend and I did some self guided caving adventures over the weekend and really enjoyed it. We would like to get more into the hobby and are wondering where to go from here.

An eastern Tennessee protected cave with a vertical entrance pit over 130 feet deep.

I'm trying to find out if they are active and have events often. I'm trying to make friends while doing what I enjoy.

Having a hard time getting in touch with our local grotto. I have emailed and attempted to reach out through their facebook page and haven’t had any luck. please advise

I've been caving off and on my entire 50+ years and have been caving again after a hiatus. I also climb, so to me sport means clipping bolts, while trad is placing gear.

I've done caving for fun as well as surveying/mapping (which really is for fun too).

It seems weird to have some type of distinction, such as sport, when all caving is fun and except for a few, not a well paying enough job. It sounds like elitist snobbery.

Addition based on comments.

First of all Thank you for the explanations.

One of things I like most about cavers, besides they are the coolest group of people I've ever met, was that it isn't so bogged down in "elitist" jargon like one experiences in the climbing world. Cavers always take themselves seriously when it comes to safety and preservation, but beyond that everything else is just a lot more chill.

So, when I started seeing sport caving being used and heard the term a few times at the NSS convention last week I was curious about the effect on the community. It really peaked my interest when a couple of the old guys asked what sport caving was when it was brought up.

To me, caving is caving whether you are just exploring, surveying, mapping, preserving, studying etc. Because it's just fun, even at times when it's not.

Except for cave rescue. Cave rescue has always carried the highest level of seriousness and respect.