Caving

"Caver" redirects here. For other uses, see  Caver (disambiguation).

"Potholing" redirects here. Potholing may also refer to the digging of small deep holes to look for buried
public utilities: see vacuum excavation.

Caving in a muddy section of Black Chasm Cave in California.

Caving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United
Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild (generally non-commercial) cave systems. In
contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment. [1]

The challenges involved in the activity depend on the cave being visited, but often include the negotiation
of pitches, squeezes, and water (although actual cave diving is a separate sub-specialty undertaken only by
very few cavers). Climbingor crawling is often necessary, and ropes are used extensively for safe
negotiation of particularly steep or slippery passages.

Caves have been explored out of necessity (for shelter from the elements or from enemies), out of curiosity
or for mystical reasons for thousands of years. However, only in the last century or two has the activity
developed into a sophisticated, athletic pastime. In recent decades, caving has changed considerably due
to the availability of modern protective wear and equipment. It has recently come to be known as an
"extreme sport" by some (though not commonly considered as such by its practitioners, who may dislike the
term for its perceived connotation of disregard for safety).
Many of the skills involved in caving can also be put to use in mine exploration and urban exploration.

Caving is often undertaken for the enjoyment of the outdoor activity or for physical exercise, as well as
original exploration, similar to mountaineering or diving. Physical or biological science is also an
important goal for some cavers. Virgin cave systems comprise some of the last unexplored regions
on Earth and much effort is put into trying to locate and enter them. In well-explored regions (such as
most developed nations), the most accessible caves have already been explored, and gaining access
to new caves often requires digging or diving.
History

Caving was pioneered by Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859–1938) who first achieved the descent and
exploration of the Gouffre de Padirac, France as early as 1889 and the first complete descent of a 110
metre wet vertical shaft at Gaping Gill, in Yorkshire, England in 1895. He developed his own
techniques based on ropes and metallic ladders. Martel visited Kentuckyand notably Mammoth Cave
National Park in October 1912. Famous US caver Floyd Collins made in the 1920s important
explorations in that area. In the 1930s, as caving became increasingly popular, small exploration
teams both in the Alps and in the karstic high plateaus of southwest France (Causses and Pyrenees)
transformed cave exploration in both a scientific and recreational activity. Robert de Joly, Guy de
Lavaur and Norbert Casteret were prominent figures of that time. They surveyed mostly caves in
Southwest France. During WWII, an alpine team composed of Pierre Chevalier, Fernand Petzl,
Charles Petit-Didier and others explored the Dent de Crolles cave system near Grenoble, France
which became the deepest explored cave in the world (-658m) at that time. The lack of available
equipment during the war forced Pierre Chevalier and the rest of the team to develop their own
equipment, leading to technical innovation. The scaling-pole (1940), nylon ropes (1942), use of
explosives in caves (1947) and mechanical rope-ascenders (Henri Brenot's "monkeys", first used by
Chevalier and Brenot in a cave in 1934) can be directly associated to the exploration of the Dent de
Crolles cave system.

In 1941, American cavers organized themselves into the National Speleological Society (NSS) to

advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States.
American caver Bill Cuddington, known as "Vertical Bill", developed the single rope technique (SRT) in
the late 1950s. In 1958, two Swiss alpinists, Juesi and Marti teamed together, creating the first rope
ascender known as the Jumar. In 1968 Bruno Dressler asked Petzl, who worked as a metals
machinist, to build a rope-ascending tool, today known as the Petzl Croll, that he had developed by
adapting the Jumar to the specificity of Pit caving. Pursuing these developments, Fernand
Petzl started in the 1970s a small caving equipment manufacturing company Petzl, which is today a
world leader in equipment for both caving, mountaineering and at-height safety in civil engineering.
The development of the rappel rack and the evolution of mechanical ascension systems, notably
helped extend the practice and safety of pit exploration to a larger venue of established cavers.

Practice and equipment

Hard hats are worn to protect the head from bumps and falling rocks. The caver's primary light source
is usually mounted on the helmet in order to keep the hands free. Electric lights are most common,
with halogen lamps being standard and white LEDs as the new competing technology. Many cavers
carry two or more sources of light - one as primary and the others as backup in case the first fails.
More often than not, a second light will be mounted to the helmet for quick transition if the primary
fails. Carbide lampssystems are an older form of illumination, inspired by miner's equipment, and are
still used by some cavers.[2]
The type of clothes worn underground varies according to the environment of the cave being explored,
and the local culture. In cold caves, the caver may wear a warm base layer that retains its insulating
properties when wet, such as a fleece ("furry") suit and/or polypropylene underwear, and an oversuit of
hard-wearing (e.g., cordura) and/or waterproof (e.g., PVC) material. Lighter clothing may be worn in
warm caves, particularly if the cave is dry, and in tropical caves thin polypropylene clothing is used, to
provide some abrasion protection whilst remaining as cool as possible. Wetsuits may be worn if the
cave is particularly wet or involves stream passages. On the feet boots are worn - hiking-style boots in
drier caves, or rubber boots (such as wellies) often with neoprene socks ("wetsocks") in wetter
caves. Knee-pads (and sometimes elbow-pads) are popular for protecting joints during crawls.
Depending on the nature of the cave, gloves are sometimes worn to protect the hands against
abrasion and/or cold. In pristine areas and for restoration, clean oversuits and powder-free, non-
latex surgical gloves are used to protect the cave itself from contaminants.

Ropes are used for descending or ascending pitches ("Single Rope Technique") or for
protection. Knots commonly used in caving are the figure-of-eight- (or figure-of-nine-)
loop, bowline,alpine butterfly, and Italian hitch. Ropes are usually rigged using bolts, slings,
and carabiners. In some cases cavers may choose to bring and use a flexible metal ladder.

In addition to the equipment already described, cavers frequently carry packs containing first-aid kits,
emergency equipment, and food. Containers for securely transporting urine are also commonly
carried. On longer trips, containers for securely transporting feces out of the cave are carried.

During very long trips, it may be necessary to camp in the cave. This necessitates the caver carrying
sleeping and cooking equipment.

Safety
Caves can be dangerous places; hypothermia, falling, flooding, and physical exhaustion are the main
risks. Rescuing people from underground is difficult and time-consuming, and requires special skills,
training, and equipment. Full-scale cave rescues often involve the efforts of dozens of rescue workers
(often other long-time cavers who have participated in specialised courses, as normal rescue staff are
not sufficiently experienced in cave environments), who may themselves be put in jeopardy in effecting
the rescue. This said, caving is not necessarily a high-risk sport (especially if it does not involve
difficult climbs or diving). As in all physical sports, knowing one's limitations is key.

The risks are minimised by a number of techniques:

 Checking that there is no danger of flooding during the expedition. Rainwater funneled
underground can flood a cave very quickly, trapping people in cut-off passages
and drowning them. After falling, this is the most likely fatal accident in caving. [citation needed]
 Using teams of several, preferably at least of four cavers. If an injury occurs, one caver stays
with the injured person while the other two go out for help, providing assistance to each other on
their way out.
 Notifying people outside the cave as to the intended return time. After an appropriate delay
without a return, these will then organise a search party (usually made up by other cavers trained
in cave rescues, as even professional emergency personnel are unlikely to have the skills to effect
a rescue in difficult conditions).
 Use of helmet-mounted lights (hands-free) with extra batteries. American cavers recommend
a minimum of three independent sources of light per person, but two lights is common practice
amongst European cavers.[citation needed]
 Sturdy clothing and footwear, as well as a helmet, are necessary to reduce the impact of
abrasions, falls, and falling objects. Synthetic fibers and woolens, which dry quickly, shed water,
and are warm when wet, are vastly preferred to cotton materials, which retain water and increase
the risk of hypothermia. It is also helpful to have several layers of clothing, which can be shed (and
stored in the pack) or added as needed. In watery cave passages, polypropylene thermal
underwear or wetsuits may be required to avoid hypothermia.
 Cave passages look different from different directions. In long or complex caves, even
experienced cavers can become lost. To reduce the risk of becoming lost, it is necessary to
memorise the appearance of key navigational points in the cave as they are passed by the
exploring party. Each member of a cave party shares responsibility for being able to remember the
route out of the cave. In some caves it may be acceptable to mark a small number of key junctions
with small stacks or "cairns" of rocks, or to leave a non-permanent mark such as high-
visibility flagging tape tied to a projection.
 Vertical caving using ladders or SRT (Single Rope Technique) to avoid the need for climbing
passages that are too difficult. SRT however is a complex skill and requires proper training before
use underground and needs well-maintained equipment. Some drops that are abseiled down may
be as deep as several hundred meters (for example Harwood Hole).

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