BLUE
RIDGE GROTTO
Meeting
Minutes
May 16, 2014 –
7p – Vinton Fire Department
|
Marian
McConnell – Chair |
Dan
McConnell – Safety & Techniques |
Randy
Sparrow – Guest |
|
Cathleen
Sparrow – Guest |
Rebecca
Frederickson |
Heather
Bostic |
|
John
Fox |
Bob
Gulden |
Dusty
Gulden |
|
Nicole
Gulden |
Karen
Kastning |
Bob
Alderson |
|
Bill
Walker |
Steph
Petri - Treasurer |
|
1.
TRIP REPORTS:
a.
James Cave, VA – April 19 –
Doug Feller, Susan, Pat, Sharon, about 4 hours.
Nice, decorated, beautiful in back.
b.
Brough Cave #2 (of 4) – May
4 – Dave, Brian, Steph, Sharon. Finished; then checked out sinkhole in Timber
Ridge which was full of trash, kettles, hubcaps; did some sketching and digs
and map for VSS.
c.
Dry Cave – May 10 –
Dave, Steph, Tommy Polson, Nicky Fox, Chris Coates, etc. (9 people) – 3 teams of 3 did a 12-13 hour
survey of 1,087’. Steph took great
pictures (which was the program for the evening).
d.
Butler Cave – Bob
Alderson did 4 trips over the past few months.
Worked on the Wind dig. Nice
crawlways, passage, belly crawl. Dug
through gravel, had to go through U-tube.
Found a date of 4/15/59 on a wall; had connected to Boundless Cave; not
on VSS property.
e.
Bob
Alderson worked with Dave Socky and Phil Lucas on Cave Digging video.
f.
Warner Noisy
Blower Cave
– Bob Alderson.
g.
Bob
Alderson worked on March 31 on a dig – couldn’t bend knees to get through.
h.
Bob
Alderson went last weekend (May 10) to enlarged hole which dropped into a 3’
passage – rectangular – big drop block with a crawl “slip and slide”, then a
small hole to a breakdown maze.
i.
New River
Cave, VA
– Bob Alderson, Nick Socky, Tim, Vanessa, went to Tuxedo Junction leads and did
a short dig in the stream passage.
Worked on maps on May 3rd.
j.
Bob
Alderson – worked on Birthday dig.
k.
Gap Cave – Bob
Alderson worked on dig, finished muddy lead from 2005, found rimstone area and
potential lead.
l.
Tawneys, VA – Marian
McConnell and Carl Cornett took a group of 9 from Roanoke Outdoor Club caving;
two participants had never even been in a commercial cave. They all loved it and did great; did the
complete loop to the back sinkhole and back.
m. Boomerang Cave, UT – Biker
guests of Marian and Dan – Cathleen and Randy Sparrow from Salt Lake City, UT – told about this
cave in Northern Utah that has a bell-shaped entrance room with a straight 350’
drop, then you can go 20’ and over 20’ to another 100’ drop. Randy met a guy coming out of there years ago
who was 60 years old and had one leg and a carbide lamp helmet from Scotland. The guy told Randy he had come all the way to
the USA just to do that cave. (Marian mentioned that the 2016 NSS
Convention will be in Utah; and it was later clarified it will actually be in
Ely, NV which is just over the border from Utah.)
2.
UPCOMING TRIPS:
a.
WVASS – Trip May 17
to Bill Balfour’s.
b.
Wishing Well
Cave
– June 21 with Dave Socky as leader.
c.
Speleofest – Next
weekend in Kentucky; Steph is going.
3.
PROGRAM: Dry Cave photos by Step Petri (outstanding!)
4.
TREASURER’S
REPORT: (Steph Petri)
General Fund $3,295.33
Conservation 227.34
Cave Bucks 199.30
Equipment 235.36
Misc. Fund 110.00
Grand Total $4,067.33
5.
NEWSLETTER: (Dave &
Mary Sue) Great issue, keep sending photos and articles!
6.
MEMBERSHIP: No new membership proposals. John Fox (sponsored by Dave Socky) and Karen Kastning
(sponsored by Mary Sue Socky) were voted in unanimously.
7.
ROCKS: Continuing
to map more Botetourt County caves.
8.
SAFETY &
TECHNIQUES: We had to cancel the last session at River
Rock Climbing Gym because only 2 BRG members signed up. Need to have at least 4-5 to make it
worthwhile. Marian and Dan will set up
another date.
9.
OLD BUSINESS:
a.
BRG
new grotto survey equipment – Steph reported it is being used a lot and is
working great!
b.
BRG
July and August meetings – still pending response from Chris Heptinstall.
c.
New
River as NSS Cave Preserve – Still in process; Wil Orndorff will be the primary
point of contact. Nick Socky is on the management
team as well.
d.
Forest
Service wishes to extend “blanket cave closures” on Southeast UFS Region. Despite the fact that the area is already
positive for WNS. They are required to
request input. Cavers need to let them
know “one size does not fit all.” There
are different methods of cave management – you can send your comments directly
to USFS.
10.
NEWS BUSINESS: (None)
11.
ANNOUNCEMENTS,
MAIL BAG, ETC.
a.
Murder Hole books still
available from Marian; or paperbacks are available through the NSS Bookstore.
b.
NSS
Convention will be in Huntsville, AL July 14-18.
c.
Heritage
Day at Grand Caverns will be on June 7 with cave trips, dance, etc.
Meeting
Adjourned at 8:20p
Notes
by Marian McConnell