Introductions

In attendance (in person or online): Louis, Ken, Ashwin, Emily, Taylor T., April, Taylor O., Stephan, Peter, Robert

Business

• It’s time to pay your yearly dues again! Dues are a mere $15 per person or $22 per family (people living under the same roof). Pay in person by throwing your money at an officer or pay online via PayPal.
• Look for a Treasurer’s report in your email soon.
• Last year the NSS revamped its website, and now some things may not be where one expects to find them. There are some new pages, though, so head over to caves.org to look around. Also, the next time you’re on YouTube, be sure to check out the NSS’s Virtual Topics in Cave Rescue playlist and the NCRC’s videos.

Trip Reports

• Stephan joined Peter et al at Lost World Caverns where Stephan enjoyed rappelling and climbing rope in a cave for the first time. They had intended to visit Organ Cave afterwards but found it still permanently closed. What they did find was a small museum that contained, among other things, a list of saltpeter caves. The group then visited Bone Cave, which was dry and dusty enough that they were happy to wear masks. Peter had forgotten about the nice walking passages – and about the crawling passages in between. They did the Devil’s Pinch into Norman Cave, then turned around and came back. The first bat that they encountered in Bone had obvious signs of WNS. There were dozens of bats, many flying around, farther inside. When they arrived at Bone, there was a beam of sunlight reaching about 200 ft inside.
• Stephan went into a frozen glacier cave in Iceland. It was absolutely awesome and beautiful and he recommends it to anyone who visits Iceland between November and March.
• Ken and Emily were joined by Laura of Virginia on a bat count at Hancock Cave. They saw only six bats, but that’s not disappointing when they’ve been there and seen zero. In addition to the usual bat count route, Ken led them into the Vertical Maze which was both vertical and mazy. Escaping from the cave proved more harrowing, or at least more muddy, than usual given that it had been raining into the entrance all afternoon.
• April dragged her coworkers to Great Canyon Cave in Kosovo. Yep, Kosovo! It had been raining so the waterfall near the back of the cave was really gushing. Her coworkers had not believed that it was possible to get muddier than they had on their previous cave outing and had perhaps unwisely brought along a nice camera and camera bag.
• Peter went caving in TAG, but he’s unwilling to share any more at this time.

Upcoming Events

• JAN 28 – sport trip to Low Moor Cave
• APR 22 – Earth Day Restoration (sinkholes) near Covington, VA
• APR 21-23 – Orientation to Cave Rescue in Elkins, WV
• MAY 12-20 – weeklong rescue training in Mentone, AL
• JUN 26-30 – NSS Convention in Elkins, WV

Elections

We held elections. The 2023 officers are:

CHAIR – Ken W
VICE-CHAIR – Stephan F
SECRETARY – Emily G
TREASURER – Mike B
WEBMASTER – Taylor T