UAYCEF'S CAVING PAGE

FIRST TIME CAVER ORIENTATION INFO:

This page contains the following four sections:

I)-"An Introduction To Caving", an article designed to tell novice cavers a little something about the World of Caving; from the perspective of a Northeasterner.

II)-"Equipment Information", which will provide the first time caver with some useful information on how to prepare for that first trip.

III)-"Im Telling You The Truth Mom, This What I Did", an article by Sally Brackett of one of her first caving trips.

IV)-"Caving", an article from veteran caver Genevieve Doster about her first caving trip

PART I -An Introduction To Caving:

The Ukrainian American Youth Caver Exchange Foundation (UAYCEF), the caving club to which I belong, is one of over 200 NSS chartered caving organizations. UAYCEF has an average membership of about 70, and offers caving trips of all types. Locally, we spend much of our time, on an almost weekly basis in the summer months, caving in the Albany and Schoharie county areas of New York. We even have the benefit of the use of a cabin and campground, equipped with an outhouse, situated less than 300 feet from 3000 foot long Schoharie Cave. Other trips run by UAYCEF on a regular basis includes: bi-monthly trips to Central Pennsylvania, tri-monthly trips to West Virginia, semi-annual trips to TAG Country (that area where the states of Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia come together) and Puerto Rico, and annual trips to Russia and Ukraine. In addition, our members also occasionally visit caves in England, Spain, Mexico and Australia. .

As for the cost of UAYCEF trips, they range from as little as just sharing gas and toll money when car pooling upstate, to $280 for our recent 10 day PR trip, which included round-trip airfare, lodging, van rental, and gas/tolls. My most recent 3 week trip to Ukraine cost each individual $1180 total; including all gas, food,
lodging, and airfare all included. We depend much on the kindness and goodwill of fellow cavers throughout the world, who don't think twice about offering us lodging in their homes. Thus, the relatively low costs
for our trips.

While most caves in the Northeast tend to be cold, wet and only several miles in length, with New York McFails being one of the largest at 7.5 miles, the caves of West Virginia tend to be much larger, warmer and
deeper, with lengths typically in the range of anywhere from 5 to 12 miles. Then, there are the TAG caves which are unique because of the nature of many of their entranceways: deep pits of several hundred feet in length, with my favorite being Fantastic Pit (586 ft.) at the top of the list.

Well, as you probably guessed by now, there is a wide variety of caving out there, with New York offering a little for everyone: there are vertical, horizontal only, wet low water crawls, huge entrance pits, and just down right friendly caves like Wards-Gregory in Clarksville, NY.

In addition to offering caving trips, our grotto also offers vertical training, indoors in NYC in the winter, and outdoors up at Schoharie and/or Kingston, NY in the summer.

If you would like to purchase a membership in the UAYCEF, just forward a $5.00 check made payable to:

UAYCEF
C/O Chris Nicola
P.O. Box 23467
Brooklyn, NY 11202-3467

I also recommend that you take out a subscription to the NorthEast Caver (NE Caver), and become a member of the National Speleological Society (NSS), the parent organization of UAYCEF and some 200 other grottos around the world. As you found out this past weekend, the NE Caver offers not only numerous maps and articles about local area caves, but also cave access policy and owner contact phone number information. The benefits offered by the NSS are also of value to anyone interested in caving in the Northeastern US.

As an NSS member you receive an annual membership manual listing the names of individual members and grottoes all over the world, with all associated addresses and phones numbers. Armed with this manual you
can go anywhere and in a relatively short period of time be caving with perfect strangers who will turn out to be some of your finest and long lasting friends. This is what happened in my case in Puerto Rico, Russia,
Ukraine, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. You will also receive the NSS News, a monthly publication, and the NSS Accident Reports, a semi-annual publication. In addition, the NSS will also be
sending copies of the NSS Bulletin, a cave research journal.

While the NSS News keeps you abreast of what's going on in the caving community, both nationally and abroad, the Accident Reports offer probably some of the most valuable information. Many cavers upon
receiving these reports, end up staying up to the early morning hours reading them in their entirety as soon as they arrive. Each accident is not only explained in detailed, but then analyzed in terms of causation,
with an eye towards prevention of similar accidents in the future. Believe me, even the best of cavers tries to think of every possible scenario that could occur, only to discover a new one, or two, upon
reading these reports. Needless to say, by knowing what caused them, you, as well as others in your group, will be more prepared to prevent them from occurring.

Please feel free to call me about any concerns and/or questions you may have at 718 204-8373, or, if you prefer, by email at infoATuaycef.org (Replace "AT" with"@").

Hope to see you underground,

Sincerely,
Chris Nicola,
UAYCEF President

PART II -Equipment Information:

The caves in the Northeast tend to be rather cool in comparison to others throughout the US. So, hypothermia is always a concern. Thus, it is highly recommended that you wear "polypros", i.e polypropoleyne underwear, both tops and bottoms.

Ankle support is also important, so you need to have boots with very good ankle support. Don't use expensive boots because they will get muddy, scratched and wet.

Bring several large plastic garbage bags. One should be taken into the cave since it can always be used as an emergency Heat Tent. The others will be needed to put your damp clothing into following the trip.

In addition to the batteries in your lights, you should bring one complete set of spares as well. .

Bring a small bottle (not glass) of water or some other fluid in order to prevent dehydration. If you bring ready made Gatorade, you are advised to dilute it by one half. On your first few cave trips, Gatorade type fluids
containing electrolytes is a very good idea, as opposed to just plain water. As you cave more often, you will soon be able to judge as to whether just a bottle of water is enough. One or two candy bars, or power
bars is also a good idea. In addition to providing electrolytes, in the case of Power Bars, these foods will give you a quick source of energy should you become tired and/or cold.

An old wool sweater (cotton is a useless insulator once it gets wet) should be brought into the cave in the event that you get cold later.

The best knee pads, are those that are built into the more expensive type of coveralls that some cavers use. Conventional knee pads tend to slip and slide, and need constant adjustment. In addition, the straps running around the back of the leg on conventional knee pads sometime interupt blood flow, and can cause cramping to occur. Although some cavers solve the slipping/sliding problem by wearing their knee pads under their pants, it can become very frustrating when the pads do slide, and have to be adjusted. Soft knee pads, rather than hard roller blade type knee pads, are the preference of most cavers.

Loose fitting jeans, or any pants of a similar durable nature are advised.

In addition to the polypro top, an old long sleeve T-shirt is also advised to be worn into the cave.

You should have a small over the shoulder day pack of sorts to carry the above equipment and supplies. A fanny pack also seems to work for some. The important thing is that your hands should be free of all objects when moving in a cave, i.e. they should not be carrying anything.

If you have a wool cap of the type worn by skiers, bring it. If you get cold, you can easily put it on ( over 60% of body heat is lost through the head)..

Cheap gardening gloves of the type usually sold for 2 or 3 dollars in most convenience stores should be worn into the cave. In addition to providing you with some protection from the cold, these gloves will help you to
maintain good traction as you use your hands to move over slippery surfaces. They should be loose fitting.

Each person should have 3 independent light sources. Thus, if your have already made arrangements to borrow a grotto helmet with a headlamp attachment, you still need to bring two flashlights into the cave also.

If you have loose fitting coveralls (i.e. able to stretch your arms over the head with no problems), bring them. Otherwise, something like a military surplus field jacket will do just as well.

ver. 05/18/05

PART III - A Leigh Cave Trip Report; or "Mom, That's What I Really Did!"

It was Sunday, 12/6/98, one of the final days of fall, and we were heading out to Leigh Cave. It was to be my second sub-terrainian experience, Tom Watkin's second, and Lewis Antine's first, and Chris's..., well we just aren't counting anymore.

Buzzing from coffee and sugar, Chris threw his 4 wheelin' Bronco up the path; the majestic limestone gateway of the Underworld that laid in front of us.

Arriving at the cave's entrance, we geared up, and then watched Chris tie water knots in some webbing, test lots of dead batteries, and then get commitments from everyone to save one third of our water for his Premiere Carbide Lamp.

As Chris unlocked the entrance gate, I recognized the feeling of FEAR... "what on earth"..., "I can't fit through that pipe...", "how deep is THE PIT?"

Lewis entered first. Thank God he left his keys in the car because he dropped all his change while crawling in. Entering second, I was faced with an assortment of quarters, dimes and nickels. I thought to pick them up, but then realized I'd have to do it with my mouth, and then keep them in there for a little while. Realizing that it probably wasn't worth it, and that I'd look pretty desperate, I decided just to move on.

Crossing the first pit, which wasn't THE PIT, I quickly realized that Leigh Cave was much more vertical in nature than the relatively horizontal Clarksville, my first cave. Also, perhaps because of the way it was formed, the limestone was smoother than the rough exposed edges I experienced at Clarksville. While this allowed me to avoid a lot of bumping, banging and bruising, it did make navigating the multiple drops very expensive on the psyche.

Chris' knee became a regular foothold for all of us as we crossed THE PIT, and I'm not sure I would have done it if I had known I had to come out the same way.

Eventually the three of us resurfaced, muddy, broken and a little pissed off at the cave. Chris exited behind us, throwing some found coins back out to the owner; obviously hoping to improve his standing as he overheard us asking each other questions such as "why are we doing this?",and "why did he mislead and deceive us?" (he really didn't).

As I counted up all my battle wounds, I placated myself with the idea that I would gain from the experience - after time. A short time later, standing upright again on the surface, we were greeted by a twinkling night sky. Tom and Lewis saw a shooting star, and then we all headed for home - via way of the Sunset Dinner and a little pizza.

PART IV

Reserved for Genevieve Doster's Article.

Return to UAYCEF Homepage

For additional information contact UAYCEF, c/o Chris Nicola, 2446 43rd. Street, Astoria, NY 11103, or email at chrisnicolaATjuno.com (Replace "AT" with "@").

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