From: "ashohn" Date: Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:21:16 -0000 Subject: [wvusg] Meeting Minutes Meeting Minutes for Mar. 4, 2009: Meeting was called to order at 8:02 Old Business - Financial Report: The Grotto has $557.58 in the bank and $15.16 in petty cash. Terra Incognito: John Harman turned in his article on Germany Valley on time. The editor is still waiting on stuff from Gayle Suppa, Kyle Mcmillan, John Tudek, Brian Masney, and Dave Riggs. Please get everything in to the editor by the end of next week, since she's planning on getting most off the work done over spring break. Upcoming trips: - This weekend, Kyle Mcmillan, Abby Hohn, Dan Brooks, and possibly a few others are going down to Greenbrier Co. We will be visiting Norman Cave on Saturday. Please contact Kyle Mcmillan if you're interested in going. We will be leaving around 3 tomorrow afternoon. - John Harman is still waiting to confirm a date to go Shoveleater Cave with Bob and Mary.The trip will be in early April and requires advanced vertical skills. - On Mar 14, the Mon Grotto is going to Sharp's cave and the WVUSG is invited. They will be meeting at the Ski Barn (at Snowshoe, not Canaan) at 10:30 AM. - Next week, if it's warm, a few people might be going out to repel Army Rock New Business - WNS was reported in Clover Hollow, a high traffic cave in Giles Co, VA. It has not yet been positively identified as WNS, but many of the bats exhibited the usual signs of the disease. Trip Reports - Gayle Suppa, Abby Hohn, Kyle Mcmillan, and Dan Brooks went to Bowden last Saturday. They went through the Agony, which is a miserable crawl about 100 yards long, and reached the MG section. They found some fun sculpture and formations, as well as the maze section. After they came back out through the Agony, they went on a little tourist trip back to the Shower Room, because Abby had never been to Bowden before. Kyle Mcmillan, Dan Brooks went to Sharps Cave on Sunday with Jamie Smith and Brian from the Nittany Grotto. None of them had been there before, so they were surprised by all of the cave sculptures they found. Dave Riggs, John Harman, Brian Masney, John Powell, and Johnny Williams went to Shoveleater on Saturday to carry in gear for an upcoming camp trip and do a bolt climb near the Pristine. Brian and Dave took turns belaying, while John took a convoluted route up the wall to avoid damaging all of the nice formations. The two leads they wanted to check out didn't go anywhere. Dave cleaned the route. After that, they went to bounce Skyline Drop, which is a very technical drop of 160'. It involves a traverse, a rebelay, a redirect, and yet another rebelay. After that, they exited the cave and John and Johnny fixed a really nice dinner. *The meeting took a more serious turn as Dave Riggs proceeded to talk about his experience this weekend in SEC and caving safety. He talked about how feeling sick and tired caused him to overlook details and forget important habits. Such oversites could have resulted in him taking a plunge to the bottom of the pit. He reminded everyone to always check themselves over before doing vertical work and not to do anything they are not feeling up to. Everyone agreed that it is better to call a trip than to see a fellow caver get hurt.