Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:31:10 -0500 From: "David A. Riggs" Subject: 2007-11-14 WVUSG Meeting Minutes Minutes from the November 14, 2007 meeting of the WVU Student Grotto. There were a total of 18 people in attendance (at one time or another); the meeting was called to order at 8:05PM by Chairman John Harman. == Upcoming Events == 1. There will be no Grotto meeting next week because of Thanksgiving break. Our next meeting will be November 28. 2. Our last big caving trip of the semester will be the weekend of Dec. 1. There will be a trip into Scott Hollow Cave, one of the largest caves in West Virginia, both in length (over 30 miles!) and passage size [1]. You must have been an NSS member for at least 1 year to enter the cave [2]. There will be an alternate caving trip for those who do not meet the Scott Hollow requirements. We will be camping at Ben Mirabile's Rancho Relaxo (thanks Ben!). 3. Grotto Christmas party will be on Saturday, December 15, at Rich Finley's house (thanks Jill!). This is the day AFTER finals week. You may bring a gift ($10 max value) to participate in the gift exchange if you like. [1] http://www.wildcaving.com/mysticriver.html [2] http://caves.org/info/member.shtml == Business Items == 4. Three Grotto members worked Louisville football game, 9 hours each - THANKS! They earned the Grotto approximately $200. We will not work any more football games this year. John Harman is looking into the possibility of working basketball games next semester. 5. Financial report: Treasurer Jessica Morning reports that, including the money earned at the Louisville game, we have $891. Tom Lilly, you owe $20; Thad Martin, you owe $10! 6. There was no news on the status of the SGA grant. Kyle McMillan has done the paperwork, John Harman said that he will try to present it to the SGA before the semester ends. 7. Dave Riggs sold a 12" SMC rappel rack with hyperbar to the Grotto for $60. John Harman will supply a final 6th bar to make it usable. We now have a complete vertical system. 8. Six people are now belay-certified at climbing wall. We have permission to climb above the bouldering line (to the top of the wall) provided that a belay-certified person is on belay, and that the belay rack is attached to two floor anchors. 9. Gear locker: John Harman is looking into purchasing plastic tubs and combination locks so we can store gear at the Rec Center. This should be in place by next meeting. 10. NSS donations: Dave Riggs will take up personal donations for the NSS at the next meeting, to be donated in the name of the Grotto. 11. Future planning: Rich's Vertical Rodeo will happen early next semester, possibly at his house. We talked about possible trips to Butler Cave in Virginia, camping at Oildrum Falls, camping and rappelling at Cheat View, a hiking/caving trip to High Meadow Cave. == Trip Reports == 12. On Saturday, Kyle McMillan and Tom Lilly helped take Nathan Kile's caving class [3] to Bowden. There were a total of 18 people in their group, and everyone had a great time (some of them even came to our Grotto meeting - welcome!). 13. This weekend in Germany Valley, a record 27 people went into Shovel Eater Cave to survey with the GVKS. Brian Masney did a photo trip and gave us a great slideshow [4]. John Harman and Cullen Hencke instead opted to head into nearby Memorial Day Cave with Bob Griffith and some new "friends" to practice advanced vertical techniques. 14. John Tudek had a busy weekend in Greenbrier County. On Friday, he went to Rockland Indian Spring Cave with Greg Springer's OSU geology club [5] and gave us a slideshow (which he did not make public, see Greg's photos instead [6]). They spent 6 hours in the very-wet cave, and the geology club had a lot of fun, both in the cave and staying at the WVACS fieldhouse. On Saturday, he attended the WV Cave Conservancy's annual banquet [7]. On Sunday, he did a tourist trip to Culverson Creek Cave, which had some huge passage and was *extremely* muddy. 15. Dave Riggs and Abby Hohn did an adopt-a-highway trash pickup in front of Bowden Cave with the Monongahela Grotto on Sunday. Afterwards, everyone visited Harr Cave #2, which is one of the most nicely-decorated caves in Tucker County. [3] http://www.wvu.edu/~physed/kile/ [4] http://flickr.com/photos/masneyb/sets/72157603126591058/ [5] http://www.ohiou.edu/~geoclub/ [6] http://flickr.com/photos/ilikegooglebetter/sets/72157600373070161/ [7] http://www.wvcc.net/newsItem.asp?id=149 The meeting was adjourned at 9:15PM. Meeting minutes were compiled by substitute-secretary Dave Riggs, all errors are solely his fault. - DR -- David A. Riggs