Getting Started in Caving: 6 Things to Do Now
Uprooting your life and moving to a strange place you’ve never been is always a challenge. To me, it’s become a pretty normal part of life, but it doesn’t ever get easier. One upside, however, is the opportunity to meet new people, some of whom are into the same activities you are into. Some of them may even be into the hobbies that you’ve always wanted to start; and if you’re nice about it, they might give you the opportunity to join in.
For me, the most recent example of this was when I moved to Southeastern New Mexico. This area has been referred to by some as “The Yosemite Valley of Caving” – that is, what Yosemite Valley is to rock climbing, the Pecos Valley is to caving. This is one of the premier caving destinations in the world – one of the three existing cave-specific National Parks is even located here. Cave exploration has always been an interest of mine, but not knowing many people interested in it made it difficult for me to actually go indulge that curiosity, especially because caving is a sport that cannot be safely done alone. So, when I moved here and met lots of people who were experienced cavers, I fell right in with them.
One of the author's first caving experiences; Hall of the White Giant in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Caving is one of the most extreme outdoor sports that there is. Caves are some of the least forgiving and least hospitable places on Earth. Finding experienced people to help you get started in caving is not just a nice help – it’s a requirement.
I am not a highly experienced caver by any stretch. At the time of this writing, I have spent just over 35 hours in caves, not including time spent on improved trails in show caves. I am still very much a beginner in this world. However, I have at least gotten to a point where I’m caving regularly, and have gotten over the barriers of entry. So, today, I thought I would share some of what I’ve learned about breaking into the caving community. Here are six major things you can do to get started.
1) Find a grotto: While this writing project generally centers around being self-taught, caving is a glaring exception. You cannot go caving alone safely. There is a “Rule of Threes” that needs to be followed at all times – three people at minimum, three sources of light, etc. You need to find people more experienced than you to quite literally teach you the ropes. The easiest way to meet cavers is to find a local grotto – and you almost certainly have one. The National Speleological Society has a page that will allow you to look up grottos by state, which should make things very easy. Generally, grottos meet semi-regularly – the one I’ve gotten involved in meets on the third Thursday of every month.
2) Do not flake: I get it, cancelling plans when you’re tired from work or other personal life commitments is logical and is always a feeling of relief. The thing is, when you’ve met an experienced caver who is willing to take you into a cave for the first time, that person has likely been in this cave so many times that the trip isn’t really for them. They’re taking time out of their busy schedule to take you into these amazing places, and they are expecting you to show up when you make a commitment to a trip. If you don’t, it’s a bad look, it’s frustrating for your mentors, and it makes people less likely to trust you in the future. When you commit to going on a caving trip, always show up. Trust me, you’ll feel better once you get into the cave.
3) Train and practice: There are some caving skills you can develop even when you aren’t inside a cave. This is a physically demanding hobby – you will run into situations in caves that push you to your absolute physical limit. You should go to the gym at least semi-frequently, even if all you can manage is once or twice a week. Furthermore, there are also technical skills that need to be honed if you want to advance further in the hobby. Buy a length of rope and start practicing your knots. Find technical trainings for things like single-rope technique (SRT) hosted by people from your grotto. Learning to ascend, change over, and rappel using various descent-control devices like bobbins or racks is an extremely important skill that you don’t need to be in a cave to learn – and in fact is probably better to learn in a more controlled environment. If you can find a place to hang a rope and practice ascending and descending, it will pay you great dividends when you get into your first vertical caves.
4) Read: The best thing you can do to increase your knowledge of caves is to read about them. You don’t have to go out and get a geology degree, but taking just a bit of your time to read about caves and caving can make you a more informed and well-rounded caver, and can help you appreciate the things you see while you are in them. The National Speleological Society (NSS) has some great online educational resources, as does the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI). The National Park Service has a webpage dedicated to Caves and Karst as well, and there are several national parks that are either entirely centered around caves (e.g. Wind Cave) or heavily feature caves (e.g. Great Basin), and both the parks themselves and their respective websites have lots of great information.
5) Expand your horizons: Start networking! Meeting cavers from other parts of the country can really increase the number of opportunities you get to go into caves. This can be especially important if you don’t live in an area where there are a lot of caving opportunities, or where there isn’t a grotto. Especially once you’ve already gotten some experience caving, if you plan on visiting somewhere far from home, try to find cavers in that area (NSS can be a big help here again) and see if you can work a cave trip into your agenda!
6) Keep a caving resume: I keep an Excel spreadsheet of every cave I’ve been in, the route I took within it (if the cave has multiple defined routes), and how long I spent in the cave, along with the name of a person who can verify I was there. In fact, I am working on finding a way to make it an interactive page on this website. This comes in handy because of something I didn’t anticipate when I got into this hobby: there aren’t really any official certification processes. Most things are completely informal. So, if anyone ever asks for proof of your caving experience, you’ll have receipts if you just start keeping track.
Beautiful formations within Spider Cave in Southeast New Mexico.
Honestly, once you’ve gone through these steps, you’re likely to find that the caving community is really open and full of fantastic people who are willing to help you learn. This contrasts with a lot of the communities surrounding other outdoor hobbies which can often be very insular and difficult to find community in (looking at you, fly fishing). Of course, there are gatekeepers in every hobby, but by and large, folks in this world tend to be very helpful and willing to share knowledge, and if you just show yourself to be enthusiastic, physically capable, and reliable, they will invest their time and effort in you. Maybe, if you keep at it, you’ll start to get opportunities in tougher, more technical, and more beautiful caves. That’s certainly my goal.
