Beginner Caving – New Trout Cave

OVERVIEW

We’ll be heading out to New Trout cave in West Virginia. This is a relatively extensive maze cave with lots of fun passages and climby/squeezy parts to explore. It is an extremely dry cave (black dust everywhere), so if you have asthma or breathing issues this might not be the one for you. For the rest of us, that means hooray for no mud.

Beginners are welcome on this trip. All the info you need is in this trip description and in the caving checklist. Note that nothing on the equipment list is optional.

Logistics:
– Leave from Echols at 1430
– Drive two hours to the cave
– Gear up, talk safety, and adventure through the cave for a few hours (1630 – 2000)
– Hike back, clean up/change clothes, and drive home
– Arrive back in Charlottesville around 2200

Equipment list:
– 3 headlamps
– backup batteries for your headlamps
– helmet
– 2 trash bags (one for hypothermia kit; the other for dirty clothes/gear)
– gloves
– water
– snacks/emergency food supply
– sturdy closed toed shoes
– backpack that can get dirty
– change of clothes (including shoes)
– container for human waste (pack it in, pack it out; we’ll be in there for a good long while)

Important notes:
– You MUST read the Caving Checklist provided by the club. It can be found under the Member Resources tab (policies > officer policies > caving checklist).
– You are responsible for gathering all of your own equipment. Most of the gear is available at the club’s gear room.
– You should be comfortable crawling around in tight spaces and being in the dark.
– Because caving is such a dangerous sport, I will be very strict in ensuring you have the proper equipment (i.e., if you are not properly equipped with EVERYTHING mentioned above (even trash bags and spare clothing), you are not entering the cave).
– It is a good idea to not have anything important scheduled for the evening of the trip just in case we are delayed.