Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 01:28:15 -0500 From: "David A. Riggs" Subject: 2006-11-08 WVUSG Meeting Minutes Minutes for the November 8, 2006 meeting of the WVU Student Grotto. There were 14 people present this evening. 1. Brian is leading a trip to Elkhorn Mountain and Sites Caves this weekend. The trip is now closed because the group has grown so large, we will visit these caves again sometime. 2. Bob Kilbert [1] is going on a trip this weekend, either to My Cave in Pocahontas County or somewhere in Tucker County. Contact Bob ASAP if you are interested in some horizontal caving. 3. We will have a video after next week's meeting courtesy of Dr. Rauch. It is a Nova special on hypogenic caves like Lechuguilla and Carlsbad, with sulphuric acid, toxic gas, and extremophile bacteria "snotties" dripping from the ceilings. 4. The week after Thanksgiving break we will have a special presentation, Introduction to Cave Surveying. That weekend we'll practice surveying on Rich Finley's new property near Snake Hill. 5. Kyle and Rich did an inventory of the grotto's gear. They tossed some old equipment out that was deemed unsafe, and auctioned off some "prime" gear at the meeting. We will publish the inventory list soon. Paid WVUSG members are entitled to borrow grotto equipment, contact Kyle [2] to check something out. We could seriously use some new gear -- we don't even have a single complete vertical system! Kyle and I are cleaning the grotto ropes tomorrow to make sure they're in good shape. 6. Trip Reports: a) Kyle told us about booming borehole passage and huge formations in Butler Cave with the Nittany Grotto down in VA. b) John Harman told us about rappelling Harper's Pit in Pendleton County. c) Dave and Kyle talked about some fun ridge walking in the Cheat Canyon and a short trip into Beaverhole Lower Cave [3]. d) We heard about the grotto trip to Beaverhole Upper Cave. First-timer Nicole Bodkin had such a good time that she wasn't afraid to come back to the meeting tonight. e) Ryan Ellers showed up and gave a trip report from the Bat Ranch at VPI and JMU's halloween party. d) Dave, John Tudek, and Dr. Rauch did a slide show [4] from the Karst Class field trip to Pocahontas, Greenbrier, and Monroe Counties. We saw Falling Spring, and Maxwelton Sink Caves, did Snedegars Saltpetre (Friars Hole) Cave and Lost World Caverns, as well as seeing lots of fascinating sinking streams, springs, blind valleys and dolines. [1] Bob Kilbert [2] Kyle McMillan [3] http://wvcaving.blogspot.com/2006/11/ridge-walking-in-cheat-canyon.html [4] http://gl1tch.com/gallery/Karst_2006 - DR -- David A. Riggs