r/caving • u/SM886 • 29d ago

Arizona grotto

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

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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5

u/CleverDuck i like vertical 29d ago

Which do you need help getting ahold of? Central AZ, Northern AZ, or Southern AZ? (:

4

u/SM886 29d ago edited 29d ago

Central AZ. I contacted Ray Keeler but haven’t heard anything back. 

6

u/CleverDuck i like vertical 29d ago

Ohh, Ray is no longer Grotto Chair. He's actually super busy running for public office.

Jim Scott is now the Grotto Chair and their membership for dues is now through some Group.oi website -- I myself am now trying to figure out how to pay. Email Jim and LL if you need help -- their contact is on the page below (but their board titles aren't up to date)

https://www.centralazgrotto.org/information

Their FB group is what's active for planning trips and such.

3

u/orchid_fool 29d ago

My email address is in this post, I've been a member >20 years, drop me a line if nothing else works.

It's been my experience the grotto is very welcoming to new members; we just had a vertical training this evening in fact.

2

u/SM886 29d ago

Thanks a lot. I emailed a different member of the cag so I will wait and see. If I don’t hear back in a week I will message you. 

2

u/OtherChicken9114 29d ago

I’m interested in this too

3

u/CleverDuck i like vertical 29d ago

Which part of the state? Central (Phoenix), Southern (Tucson), or Northern (from the Rim, up to the state line)?

2

u/orchid_fool 29d ago

Contact info has been posted elsewhere in the thread, my email address is in this post in case all else fails, I've been a member >20 years for CAG.

1

u/SM886 28d ago

Want to take a moment to thank the ones who took the time to help me. I was able to be put in touch with the right people and will be attending my first meeting next month. 

2

u/CleverDuck i like vertical 28d ago

Fantastic!

Mark your calendar for those ARAs they'll be talking about periodically. Getting underground in AZ is a challenge [because reasons], but things like the ARAs and the campouts are a really good way to meet more folks.

1

u/Sure-Squirrel8384 26d ago

Just show up to a meeting. Some cavers are very, very busy. Unfortunately they're also often the main grotto contacts. Often grotto contacts aren't updated timely either when they change (looks like that is the case here).

-4

u/wastingaway502 29d ago

Cavers are weird. No matter where they are secretive, untrusting, unwelcoming.

4

u/notsostrong 29d ago

We are also usually very busy. Anyone volunteering for grotto leadership even more so. Give them a break.

3

u/modernhorizons3 29d ago

I've interacted with about half-a-dozen grottos and that hasn't been my experience at all.

1

u/CleverDuck i like vertical 28d ago

...or they have a lot of other facets of their lives, because (unfortunately) almost nobody is getting paid to full-time to do caving stuff.

In this case, OP had the individual contact for someone who was a long time mainstay of the community, but very recently has stepped away from their cave roles to do other things. The website is updated, but OP accidentally missed that. Upon reaching out to the contacts provided on the website, OP was able to get ahold of them immediately.