Illinois Caverns Novice Trip
Description
Illinois Caverns is one of those caves you hear about and think to yourself "surely its not that cool, right?". Well you would be wrong. Managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources this cave is actually open to the public, and they let just about anybody in there as long as you have a flashlight and a helmet. What used to be a showcave, this 6 mile long cave is comprised of a single large main passage with a few "out and back" side passages. Sticking to the main passage, its nearly 99% entirely walking, with virtually zero tight spaces required. The side passages offer a fun detour, with them all gradually narrowing down to whatever comfort level the group has. Being a river cave there are a lot of critters found inside the water, with an average depth of around 1.5 feet. There is a well made path for the first half mile or so, from when it was a show cave, making it even more accesible.
Berome Moore Intermediate Trip
Description
Missouri's second longest cave! At just over 26 miles, there is a lot to explore in this cave. We will be following two loops that cover a lot of the cool aspects of the cave, including extinct Jaguar footprints left in the soft clay floor. Featuring a wide variety of cave biota, this cave has booth wet and dry passages. If time permits, additional passages may be explored at the agreement of the entire group. Expect to in the cave for upwards of 8-9 hours.
Vertical Rope Access Workshop
Description
In this workshop we will be covering SRT access techniques, as well as providing multiple stations to rappel down and back up a static line. We will go over the Frog ascending system and how to set it up, as well as how to backup your system and make everything redundant. This workshop is required if you plan on attending the Blackfathom trip.
Blackfathom Advanced Trip
Description:
(this trip was moved from 9/28 -> 12/7)
FISH! BIG FISH! Blackfathom is infamous for its massive cave fish, and the 113' open air pit you rappel down for the entrance. SRT skills are required alongside the gear to get into and back out of this 7 mile long river cave. One of the main attractions are the large fish that get washed in during heavy rains, some nearly reaching three feet long! Seeing multiple large fish deep underground is truly something else. For this trip, there are two main objectives: Make it upstream to the Joker Pit, then continue downstream and explore as far as possible. Wetsuits are REQUIRED. There will be multiple sections of full submersion, and you will get cold. Attending the Vertical Workshop prior to this trip is required if you have never been on a rope before.
Special Gear Requirements:
Roubidoux Intermediate Trip
Description
Ahh...Roubidoux, my first and favorite cave. This cave is some what of an acquired taste. It's a very sporty cave, featuring long sections of low passage that will leave you exhausted. Decently long at ~7900 feet, there are multiple sections in this cave that make all the crawling around well worth it. From two 40 foot deep pits, to the massive entrance, a large 10 foot hanging white formation hovering over the ground and the 100 foot long by 30 foot tall canyon that includes a permanent rope climb up a breakdown pile! The goal is to cover the entire cave, which usually takes around 8 hours and will leave you exhausted, sore and hungry for Mexican food!
Three specific goals I have for this trip are:
- Trash Cleanup: There are two sections left with some trash that needs to be removed
- Explore the 15' pit near the end of the cave
- Explore down the muddy passage south of the Bowels of the Earth
General Caving Gear Requirements
Helmet
Headlamp, Flashlight and Spare Batteries
Synthetic or Wool Clothing
