BLUE RIDGE GROTTO
April 20, 2012
Meeting Minutes
7:30p – Vinton Fire Department
Attendance:
David Socky |
Mary Sue Socky
– Vice Chair |
Marian
McConnell - Secretary |
Al Stewart |
Trish Geiger -
Treasurer |
Tom Tracy* |
Dusty Gulden* |
Nicole Smith* |
Pat Sims -
Chair |
Cyndi Hutchison |
Jen Perdue |
|
*Guest
1. Trip
Reports:
a. Haynes Cave – March 17, 2012 – Trish Geiger,
David Socky, Susan Burr, Stephanie Petri, Doug Feller, Aaron Moses, Jessica,
Ben – wandered around in this slippery cave.
What was supposed to be a big log was just a stick and not safe to use
to climb down in the saltpeter pit. They
also found the parking for Windy Mouth
Cave; Dave, Aaron, and Stephanie went through the stream, climbed up the
hillside, and found flagging tape and a hand line to the cave.
b. Paxton’s Cave – March 24, 2012 - March 24,
2012 - Doug Feller, Stephanie Petri and Susan Burr led 5 Roanoke College
Outdoor Club students into Paxton’s Cave.
The waterfall at the entrance was really flowing and beautiful. They
went in the cave an alternate route to avoid the waterfall into the cave and
the large pool of water just inside. The stream inside the cave was small
enough to usually avoid & was only at the mazy entrance section. They went
to the Christmas room and several other sections of the cave and had lots of
fun! After they changed the owner of the cave came over and talked with them...he
is VERY nice! Susan thanked him repeatedly for allowing cavers into his cave.
c. Grand Caverns – April 7, 2012 - Grand Easter
Restoration Weekend - Stephanie and Susan Burr drove up together. They spent
the day hauling and raking crushed gravel into Grand Caverns. Susan took pictures
at the request of Lettie Stickley, the manager at Grand and wrote an article
for the Dump.
d. Dry Cave – April 14, 2012 – David Socky went
to WVACs with Greg Springer, Errol Glidden; it was not dry but ankle to
yodeling depth. Lots of crawling, muddy,
had to use waterproof bag and drag through.
About 2000’ long and they surveyed 583’ with some nice formations. The trip lasted 10-1/2 hours.
e. Catawba Murder Hole – April 8,
2012 – Marian McConnell and Molly Miller took guest Laura Huang into the
Daylight Cave; Molly and Laura both rappelled off the big drop twice. Some significant new boulders have fallen
into the Daylight Cave.
f. Melrose Cave – April 17, 2012 – Mary Sue
Socky and Bob Thren ripped out wires; Pat Sims found daylight indicating a
possible new entrance but it ended up already being on the map.
g. Links Cave – April 7, 2012 – Nicholas, Mary Sue,
and David Socky went with VPI; Nicholas was tested to see if he could join the
VPI Grotto. However, he failed the test
to belay someone up a cable ladder.
Apparently “no one passes the first time.” He ended up finally passing by Tuesday and is
a VPI member now.
Upcoming
Trips:
h. Tawneys – April 21, 2012 – beginner trip. Contact Mary Sue.
i. McClungs – May 19, 2012 – vertical trip.
j. Melrose – May 19, 2012. Contact Mary Sue.
2. Program:
June 2003 Cave Rescue Practice video produced by David Socky.
3. Treasurer’s Report:
Petty
Cash 100.00
General 3,903.65
Conservation 266.59
Equipment 225.36
Cave
Bucks 154.90
TOTAL $4,649.90
4. Committees:
Newsletter – Thanks for all the
submissions; articles, photos, and artwork are always welcome
Membership – Mike Frazier paid his dues.
ROCKS – nothing new.
Safety & Techniques – Keep Dan
McConnell in your thoughts and prayers; scheduled for cervical [neck] fusion on
May 9th (was later changed to May 16th).
5. Membership
Proposals: Tom Tracy’s application
has been tabled since March 2012; he was voted in unanimously.
6. Old
Business:
BRG
Waivers – After much discussion it was decided:
·
We
will keep our BRG waivers the same and use them as we have been until we have
more information. BRG trips are trips
planned by the members; guests will be asked to sign a BRG waiver. Trips for groups
(e.g. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Colleges, etc., should use their waivers.
·
Marian
will share a copy of Tim Kilby’s Waiver for New River Cave (which was written
with assistance from a Virginia Lawyer), and of the Murder Hole Waiver (based
on the New River waiver).
·
Pat
will contact a Lawyer to see what his/her recommendations are.
·
All
of the above will be shared at the next meeting for further discussion.
7. New
Business:
a. CaveSim
(simulated cave) – This portable electronic cave obstacle course will require
funding for transportation to the NSS convention in WV in June. It was moved, seconded, and passed to send
them $100.
b. New WNS Decon
Protocol – immerse gear in HOT water for 15 minutes; this will kill WNS spores.
c. Peter
Youngbear 3-page letter posted on Listserve re “This is your NSS working for
you.”
d. “Spelunking”
added to WV’s Recreational Liability Law – what it means to cavers.
e. April 20, 2012
Roanoke Times article about bats in
the US may be developing an immunity to WNS.
8. Announcements,
Mailbag, etc.:
a. Virginia Cave
Week is April 22-28; discounts at Virginia commercial caves.
b. Spring VAR is
April 27-29 at Greenbrier Poor Farm, hosted by Tri-State Grotto.
c. NSS is going
paperless for the BOG (Board of Governors) vote. Hard copy information was provided if
needed. Voting ends May 1, 2012.
d. SERA Cave
Carnival is May 2-6 at Estill Fork, AL.
e. Wil Orndorff
will be our special guest speaker about WNS next month at the May 18, 2012 BRG
meeting.
f. New NSS
website www.caves.org is great; take a look!
g. NSS 2012
Convention “MayaCon” is June 25-29 in Lewisburg, WV. They are looking for trip leaders June 24-29;
any takers? Dan and Marian are offering
pre- and post-convention trips into Murder Hole on June 23 and June 30. Cavers must contact Marian to get on the
list.
h. Grand Caverns
Heritage Day is June 16.
i. Jane Fukert
from New Zealand will be staying with Marian June 5 – July 5; both are coming
to convention. If anyone would like to
show Jane around or spend a day with her while Marian is at work, please
contact Marian 540.309.4707. Jane will
be doing the Program for our BRG June15th meeting on New Zealand caving.
j. Marian is
leading a trip to Morefield Mine in Amelia County (just west of Richmond; world
famous for semi-precious gems – amazonite, topaz, garnet, amethyst, etc.) on
May 12.
Adjourned – cold beer and pizza 9:07p
Notes by Marian McConnell