Intermediate Caving – Breathing Cave

OVERVIEW

Do you hate being in roomy, well-lit, and clean places? Did you see the movie The Descent and think wow that looks really fun? Do you secretly wish to live underground as a mole-person?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, come explore Breathing Cave – Virginia’s third largest caving system! This cave has a great variety of features and fun technical challenges – everything from low crawls to tight squeezes to large caverns to mud chutes to rock climbs and bouldering. With almost seven miles of passages, we’ll be spending approximately six to eight hours exploring underground.

This cave is not recommended for people without caving experience. It is intense, and we will be in there for a long time. Priority will be given to those with prior experience. Please note that the gear list for this trip is more extensive than for shorter caving trips. But don’t worry, I will be leading beginner caving trips later in the semester and next semester if that is more your speed.

Logistics:
– Leave from Echols at 7:00am
– Drive two hours to the parking area
– 45 minute hike to the cave
– Gear up, talk safety, and adventure through the cave as far as we can go (~5 – 8 hours)
– Hike back, clean up/change clothes,
– Stop for food on the way back if we want to
– Arrive back in Charlottesville no later than 9:00pm

You bring:
– 2 headlamps
– Additional backup light (phone or flashlight work)
– backup batteries for your headlamps
– helmet
– 2 trash bags (kitchen size)
– gloves (these are mandatory for protection of the cave and geological features)
– water (2 liters)
– snacks/emergency food supply
– breakfast for the road
– lunch for in the cave
– sturdy closed toed hiking boots
– backpack that can get dirty
– change of clothes and shoes for the ride back, everything you wear in the cave will get very dirty.
– container for human waste (pack it in, pack it out; we’ll be in there for a good long while). I recommend bringing used disposable water/Gatorade bottles so they can be used first as your water bottles and then as your piss bottle so you are carrying less.

Important notes:

-You MUST read the Caving Checklist provided by the club. But since it is currently MIA, you instead MUST read this https://caves.org/safety/safety.shtml (you can skip vertical caving and cave diving) AND https://caves.org/conservation/cavingcode.shtml . They are both short, should take like 5 minutes total.
– You are responsible for gathering all of your own equipment. Most of the gear is available at the club’s gear room. If you have any trouble/questions concerning the gear, please text me at 7037132682.
– You should be comfortable crawling around in tight spaces, being in the dark, and being in a cave for 6+ hours.
– 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.

**drivers are reimbursed +50% tip and will be given priority.