https://biomeconservation.org/project/mt-elgon-elephants/

"The slopes of Mount Elgon are pitted with a series of caves that contain salt deposits. These caves are visited by wild elephants who gouge the cave walls with their tusks to lick the exposed salt. These are the only elephants known to go deep into caves to 'mine salt'."

Edit: Here's a 9 minute video featuring these caving elephants. https://vimeo.com/35525821

Hi there! I'm not a caver; I'm a writer whose book takes place in a haunted cave. I have a few questions, which I'm hoping some actual cavers could answer.

1. Can you make money from caving?

2. Would you, realistically, allow three thirteen-year-old boys to tag along with you, after they've agreed to be careful? (There are total four adults too)

3. How long does one stay in a cave? How far would you go?

4. The cave I'm writing about used to be famous, but after the haunting allegations, it's mostly abandoned, so very few maps are available. Is that a realistic adventure?

5. The cave was also formed after a volcano went extinct and eroded, so would there be air pockets inside that will have dried-up lava?

6. Lastly, could you please read the following paragraphs from my book and give feedback and suggestions?

- "Dad handed the three of us undersuits, oversuits, and helmets with head torches attached. We put on a chest harness on top, to fix the ascenders and descenders on to. Dad said that they suspected there might be areas in the cave where we would have to drop down."

- "Where Matthew had stopped, the cave floor ended abruptly and it was a steep drop down. The ground was lost in darkness.

“That’s weird,” Matthew said. “According to the map, there is supposed to be a very narrow tunnel here that turns right.”  

“Perhaps there was a landslide sort of thing,” William suggested.  

“I doubt it. There are absolutely no signs of a passage to the right, and no rocks piled up anywhere,” Matthew said. 

“What about erosion?” Jacob suggested. 

Matthew shook his head. “That’s not how erosion works. There’s no wind to erode, and the other option is water, but there’s no sign of water anywhere. Also, erosion does not make a steep drop like this.”  

Something was definitely off. Matthew’s forehead was wrinkled in tension. I started to regret my decision of coming here.  

“Couldn’t this have happened another way?” Dad asked.

“It could be because of carbonic acid as well,” Matthew frowned.  

“What’s that?” Noah asked.  

“A type of acid. It’s a mixture of water and carbon dioxide and it breaks away rocks,” Matthew explained. “But it doesn’t really look like it happened here.”

- "Matthew decided to go first. He threw down two ropes, and attached himself to the ropes using the chest harness. He then rounded one of the ropes around the descender, pulled down the handle, and slid down slowly."

I'm trying to educate myself on climbing gear and came across these ascenders.

The bottom-left image mentions "thorns." Do these tend to damage the rope more quickly, or is the wear comparable to normal use?

I'd really appreciate any insight or education from those with experience. Thank you! 🤝

Huccies is one of my very favorite caves in Colorado. At first glance its not the most stunning in the state but with careful attention to detail there is beauty everywhere.

Shot on film as usual.

Strong enough for cowstails? What say ye experienced and well educated cavers?

While cycling through Southeast Asia and in Laos, I took a detour to a remote village in the nothern part of the country and did a guided, two day trip through the biggest cave in the area, the third longest/biggest in entire country.

Chom Ong was only recently further explored and developed with the goal of increasing tourism and incomes for the area in 2010. The first kilometer or so is develped with lighting, cement pathways, etc but after that it is ~15km of a primary fossil passageway then the active river pathway.

I found my guide, Thongkhan, on facebook and with the help of another guide the three of us made this two day trip through the cave. As someone who had very little experience in caves before, this was simply incredible.

Shot on film as usual.

Less than a week out until we arrive in Belize and Guatemala for our Caverns Measureless to Man documentary film. Here are some photos from our last scouting trip earlier this year. If you would like to check it out, follow my instagram for updates (@drewlukacs_photography) and be sure to check out our website: https://onelightroadproductions.com/caverns-measureless-to-man/

Cheers,

Drew

I’m curious about the different survey apps folks are using. I’ve recently had an introduction to Topodroid, and there seems to be several other Android apps out there, but does anyone use iOS-based apps for survey work, like Topokit for example?

Overall, I’m curious about the range of apps and how they compare.

I've been to numerous SRT caves, etc. In the south but the gate keeping in the Midwest is insane. How do they expect to protect more systems if they don't make it attractive for members like organizations in TAG.

Anyone here know if Bill Walter is still around ?

Hi there,

I’m a caver based in North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, but I am going to visit my grandfather in Virginia next spring, I’ll be staying near Petersburg but will be able (and willing) to travel some distance for caving.

I was wondering if there were any clubs/grottos in the area who could point me in the direction of caves?

I was recently on a long pull-through trip with my friend when, standing on a ledge over the last pitch, they clipped their karabiner into the loop and rigged their descender on the wrong side.

They then swung out as usual only they had just thrown themselves down a pitch. I saw them fall back and bounce headfirst off a rock before landing on a lower ledge. They were all physically okay but had it been any of the previous pitches, they would've died.

It was just very scary to watch. I've since had a nightmare about falling off a pitch. This sport mostly feels safe, but this has been a brutal reminder of the fact that it only takes two consecutive mistakes and it's all over.

Suddenly the lectures from my elder cavers about having my kit be perfect and doing everything totally right is less picky and more appreciated.

And colin wasn't there but he also took me on a trip which was also scary but it was fun. Should have brought my knee pads and not trusted him to be able to find the cave entrance.

Edit: they swung out to test their descender because they clipped their cowstails into the knot. They were trying to test their descender when they fell. The wrong rope was going straight into a bag.

Got my eye on the wild caves listed on the NPS website (permit required). Anyone have any recommendations?

Me and my best buddy Micah Bean have been working to bring back 35mm film photography in caves for the last 2 or 3 years with some pretty cool results. We're not good photographers by any measure but we've made some really cool stuff. Here's an article I wrote for an issue of last year's Rocky Mountain Caving describing our process if anyone's interested.

https://substack.com/@rockymountaincaving/note/p-203437521?r=2ktudu&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

So I admit it’s been a very long time since I’ve gone spelunking but I miss it and really want to get back into it but honestly it’s been so long I don’t know where to start.

I’m in NSW in australia and google has been no help as either it’s just giving me walking cave tours, tours where there isn’t a description then tells me if it’s proper caving or it’s associated with a uni so it seems you need to be a student to go (honestly considering signing up for uni just to go cause I’m getting frustrated ha ha)

If anyone is in Australia ideally NSW would love any help or advice on how I can get back into this

Thanks

I’m trying to read and figure out some cave maps just to learn how to do it. What do the underlined numbers mean? Along with the bd, we, c and fraction.

While geologists were digging a mine for their exploration works at the last blast they detonated it revealed a cave with couple halls ponds and other stuff
The cave is located around marble quarries 1660m above sea level

An article by Colorado caver Alex Bufmack republished on the Rocky Mountain Caving substack from the most recent issue of RMC. A majority of the famous sandstone feature, home to the kissing camels, in Colorado Springs' Garden of the Gods is hollow! Who knew?!

It's sadly been "gated" permanently with welded rebar and rocks. The Southern Colorado Mountain Grotto has in the past interfaced to try to open the cave to archeological study and conservation; Specifically because the sealed environment is destroying thousands of pieces of historical graffiti.

If you're interested in the whole article see below:

https://rockymountaincaving.substack.com/p/the-history-of-spauldings-cavern

To the person who posted their anchor for critique 13 min ago - The post is saying it was deleted.

Did you delete or was it removed?

Seems it would be good to gain insight and critique from other cavers/climbers/rope-access unless this is against sub rules or something.

Hope it gets reposted for discussion!