BLUE RIDGE GROTTO
MEETING MINUTES
MARCH 16, 2007
Marian
McConnell Pat Sims Chris Heptinstall Al Stewart
Susan Burr Dave Socky Mary Sue Socky Greg McCorkindale
Carl
Cornett Trish
Geiger Doug Feller Hayley Grasty
Rudy
Cole Frantz *Carl Alls *Amy Faub
* Guest
CAVE TRIPS
2/17/2007 –
BRG Trip to Porters Cave, Bath Co. VA. Doug
Feller, Susan Burr, Pat Sims. (Ldrs),
Hayley Grasty, Jeff Richards, Sam Aguilera, Jimbo Poff, Susan Neate, Carl Alls,
2/17: BRG trip to McClungs Cave, Greenbrier Co. WVa.
Lightner Entrance. Dave Socky, Rick Shortt (Ldrs), Aaron Moses, Greg McCorkindale,
James Maughan, Carl Cornett, John Layman, Cameron Hall. There was snow on eh ground. Everyone rappelled in, did the mud crawl to
the G Survey. Greg hurt his knee. Then they went to Bat Bone Crawl. Greg DID get wet! They also went to the 7 Fingers area. The only got turned around once. Headed out, no problems, 9 hour trip.
2/17: Trish
Geiger and 17 other cavers spent a day in the Lipps Maze section of
2/25: On
the coldest day of the year, Dave Socky, Pat Sims and Doug Feller met with a
Botetourt Co. landowner and checked out
a sinkhole on the man’s property.
The sinkhole had slumped in. They
did a little digging, encouraged the owner to “let his kids dig on it” and came
home. Brrr!
3/3: Dave
Socky attended the CCV Meeting in
3/3: Grand
Caverns Weekend. Pat Sims, Susan Burr,
Aaron Moses, Rick Shortt did the 2nd try on removing muddy
footprints on the flowstone in the New
Section of Grand Caverns. Pat swears
they didn’t get the porta-vac to work; they had better results using a deck of
cards to remove the mud.
March 4:
Trish Geiger, Cole Frantz, Carl Cornett, Brian Williams, and Marian McConnell
went with Phil Lucas on a photo tour of
3/6: Mary
Sue Socky gave 5 talks on Caves to Ms. Barnett’s 9th grade Earth
Science classes. Talks & slide show
went great, the kids seemed really interested.
Good “always get landowner permission” and safety messages.
UPCOMING CAVE TRIPS
Tomorrow: 3/17
– BRG trip to Cave Spring Cave, Rockbridge Co. VA. Dave Socky is leader.
Sat. 3/24 – Vertical Workshop at RocWood
Indoor Climbing Wall. 9a -4p. Dan & Marian McConnell are leaders. Please
sign up or RSVP to 309-4707.
Sun. 4/1 –
Easter 4/6-8: Grand Caverns
Conservation weekend. Andy Reeder and Meredith Johnson are
coordinators
Apr. 27-29: Spring VAR in Durbin, WVa.
? Is there
a GS trip planned for 5/6 or 5/13? (Mother’s Day) Marian will check with Nancy Kuebler.
April 21 BRG trip:
Plan A –
Marian McConnell with ask Phil Lucas if he can arrange access for BRG to visit
Plan B –
Vertical - Miller Cove Cave, Roanoke Co. VA.
Aaron Moses and Rick Shortt are leaders
AND
Horizontal
trip –
PROGRAM OF THE DAY – DVD, “Come to the NSS Convention in Marengo IN
July 2007. A highly entertaining 20 min.
“Indiana Jones spoof”. BRG showed
interest.
General Fund $
4908.30
Conservation $
584.00
Equipment Fund $
242.00
Total: $5805.60
Committee Reports:
Newsletter:
Editor Dave Socky thanks people for articles, photos (extra photos can
be seen on the E-DUMP site).
Membership: BRG ha 55 members and 5 subscribers. Pick up
your BRG membership cards, 2007 BRG Membership Lists, and Cave Rescue pocket
cards at this meeting; remainder will be mailed to members.
ROCKS: Is
alive! They have been ridgewalking… see
trip reports.
S&T: the next
vertical session will be March 24, 2007 at RocWood. 9a-4p. Contact Marian McConnell to sign up.
Conservation:
vacant. See Old Business
Ways &
Means: vacant
Membership Proposals – there were none.
OLD BUSINESS
·
Grand
Caverns – Muddy footprint report – see trip reports. Pat & Susan say they
are done.
·
·
Endless
Caverns. Chris Prinz (WVACS) will do the
new map of Endless Caverns; he will coordinate with VAR officers. There might be “check out” or “mop up” trips
in Endless.
·
Eight Rivers Environmental Group – Not much
happening, Spring VAR will be held very near this site.
·
·
Rufe Caldwell Sinkhole Cleanup – Is on semi-permanent
HOLD. Joey Fagan wants Marian McConnell
and Mary Sue Socky to contact, work with landowner to set up the cleanup.
However, Rebecca of the says owner would have to pay 3K to 13K “up front” for
the cleanout, owner might later be reimbursed. Marian and Mary Sue choose not to talk with
owner about this financial burden; the DCR people will have to do better to
come up with a much cheaper, easier plan before we contact the landowner about
the possibility of a sinkhole cleanout.
·
Science Fair Project.
Elliot George and Nick Socky advance to the Regional Science Fair on
March 24, 2007.
·
1.
New Cave
Trip Checklist
·
Some guests on BRG trips seem to think the Caving
checklist is a list of suggestions, instead of requirements.
·
Some sponsors and trip leaders are not checking to
see if new folk have all the required caving gear.
·
BRG is not following its own rules, is allowing
non-members to go caving without a trip sponsor/caving buddy.
All these things are not good. Some of these things are serious, may lead to
a caving accident. SO –
Introducing the NEW
Cave Trip Checklist (See appendix below)
2. New BRG By-Law
Proposal
This addition to the BRG By-laws was written by Dan &
Marian McConnell. Dan McConnell could
not be at the 3/16/07 BRG meeting. It
was introduced by Marian McConnell and reads:
BRG members must abide by NSS ethics, and practice cave safety and
conservation. BRG members who behave in an unsafe and/or disrespectful manner
may be considered for revocation of their membership. Any such behavior will be
called to their attention, (either verbally or in writing) to offer them the
opportunity to correct it. If the behavior continues, they will be given a
letter citing specific behaviors that need to be corrected, along with the
consequences of non-compliance. If they continue to continue the
unsafe/disrespectful behavior, their membership will come up for a vote by BRG
members at a regular meeting within 2 months of the date of the letter. If a quorum
exists and a majority of BRG members vote to revoke their membership, they will
be given a letter to inform them of the final decision.
Marian
& Dan
After some discussion, Marian McConnell proposed the new By
Law.
Susan Burr, Pat Sims seconded.
The proposal was immediately tabled, will be published in
the April CARBIDE DUMP and will be brought up for discussion at the April 20
BRG meeting.
·
Clean
Valley Day Mar 31, 2007. www.cleanvalley.org
·
Spring VAR Pre-registration forms. Pre-registration discount ends April 1.
·
Easter Conservation weekend Apr 7-8, 2007 at Grand
Caverns
·
Cave Hollow Farm (Balfour’s place in
·
·
Registration for the Baltic Speleological Congress
2007 is now open http://www/speleo.se/bsc
Meeting ended 9:07p.
Minutes submitted by
Secretary,
(Appendix # 1
March 19,
2007
5753
To: Connie Browning, Owner
Julie Carper, Caverns Manager
Hi Connie,
Julie,
Area cavers
are looking forward to working in Dixie Caverns on Sunday, April 1, 2007.
Project
hours will be 10a – 3p
We are
planning to tackle several areas of the cave for a “Spring Cleaning”.
I have also
invited cavers from other area grottos to come and help out, so we may have
more than the usual 6 or 7 volunteers for the conservation project.
Dust and lint – the cave formations are dull from
dust and lint carried through by normal “tourist traffic”
Mud – all caves are muddy. Some of
Green – we will use a hydrogen peroxide
solution to kill the moss and algae; no bad fumes, and it’s ecologically better
for the cave (if the peroxide doesn’t’ work, we’ll go back to using the Clorox
solution on future cleanups)
ON-SITE WORK MATERIALS
Lots of our work will involve water.
We need to have a water source. A
water source in the cave would be
ideal, but if it’s too cold to cut the water on inside the cave (just for the
day), we can work around it if we use a spigot outside the cave. (Of course, the more water we have to carry
into the cave will cut into our conservation activities in the cave.)
I have
noticed several “water cooler bottles” inside the cave near the beginning of
the “Entrance Hall”. If these containers
could be used for water, that would be great!
Protective Rock.
We will need pieces of rock for two activities:
Mud.
We will use mud from the “dig” in the Wedding Bell Room to cover wires
and conduit.
HOW
If at all
possible, we need to enlist Dixie Cavern Staff support for pre-cleaning set-up.
·
Filling
and distributing large water bottles throughout the cave.
2 filled cooler containers by “the Cascades”
2 filled water containers in the “Wedding Bell Room”
·
Selecting
and piling rock in “off trail” areas where it can be used to cover
conduit/build barriers. This rock can
come from in the cave, or outside (stream or campground rocks should be washed
off before being brought into the cave).
Do Not Break Formations!!
·
Cavers
may use brooms, rakes, ladders, etc. that are stored in the
PROJECT:
Depending
on the number of cavers participating, the following areas will be tackled for
the 2007 Dixie Caverns Cleanup:
Future Projects:
These are
ideas the cavers have come up with as they tour Dixie Caverns – for the future.
Well,
that’s it. If you have any questions or
concerns, please contact me at sockymss@cox.net
or 540-989-7693.
Cave Softly,
Mary Sue
Socky
NSS # 24206
FE
cc: Connie
Browning, Julie Carper
Appendix # 2
CAVING TRIP CHECKLIST
ALL items on this list
are REQUIRED!
YOU must carry your
own gear.
Think small, durable, and
lightweight – because caving will trash, ruin, destroy anything you bring with you.
You will need TWO sets of clothes (1) caving clothes, and (2) a complete change
of clothes and shoes for the ride home. Avoid cotton clothing for your “cave
clothes” (wet cotton is cold against the skin and causes hypothermia.) Polypro, nylon, acrylic, synthetics, and wool
will keep you warmer and drier underground.
!
Leave your “after cave” change of clothes in the car for the ride home.
CLOTHING: Bring
to change into or wear into the cave:
o
Sturdy hiking boots with DEEP LUG SOLES
and ankle support
o
Thermal underwear
o
Coveralls, with thermal underwear underneath. If you do not have coveralls, then wear layered clothing (sweatshirt/sweater) over your thermals, and
an “outer layer” of jeans or pants and a windbreaker/jacket.
o
Two pairs of Wool or Synthetic socks –
NO
COTTON.
o
Knee Pads (optional, but highly
recommended)
o
Leather-palmed or gardening gloves
o
Hair tie back (if you have long hair)
o
Bandana (optional)
o
Approved HELMET with a non-hanging chin strap and HELMET MOUNTED LIGHT (BRG has extra helmets available for a small
donation the first trip or two; after that you need to buy your own.)
o
CAVE
PACK
– absolutely necessary! Choose a
pack with adjustable straps that will hold ALL the equipment listed below. A lightweight “day pack” or kid’s school
backpack will work. So will military
surplus packs. This is your survival
pack; its contents will help you survive underground for 24-48 hours if you
become separated from your group lost, hurt, or trapped.
In the Cave Pack,
you must have:
o
Extra set of batteries for the primary
electric light system.
o
A “back-up” light system (and extra
batteries for it) if your primary light fails
o
Small
flashlight with new batteries.
o
Candle and matches (store in a waterproof
bag)
o
Unbreakable plastic water bottle. NO GLASS OR CANS of carbonated drinks! NO ALCOHOL!
o
Extra ziplock bags (optional)
o
Small (palm sized) first aid kit
(optional, recommended)
o
Small pocketknife or multi-use tool
(optional)
o
Whistle (optional)
o
One LARGE (30gal) plastic trash or leaf
bag.
o
Food: trail mix, granola/power bars,” junk food” are
best. Choose high energy food that does
not need to be refrigerated, can be “mashed” and can be eaten cold.
Remember,
· Cave Softly and
Safely with landowner permission
· If you bring it
into the cave, you must bring it out
· Leave no trace of
your visit underground
· Always make sure
the leader has a “call back” with a responsible party – which cave, and what
time you WILL call by.
· The trip leaders
have the right to say NO to someone who is
not properly prepared/equipped or who does not comply with NSS safety and
conservation ethics. Cavers who cannot
comply will be escorted out of the cave.
· Please contribute
gas money to the driver when carpooling.
· NON-BRG members
must have a BRG member sponsor on each cave trip, and they must sign a waiver.
Take nothing but pictures, leave
nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time (NSS motto)