Caving in: Oman | California | Saudi Arabia
Caving |
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The site that this picture was stolen from is
no longer on the web :-( |
General Information
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What do people see in caves, anyway? |
Self_rescue egroup
Cindy Heazlet has started a caving self-rescue listserv which is archived at http://www.egroups.com/list/self_rescue/. You have to be a list member to consult the archive. Subscribe at self_rescue-subscribe@egroups.com.
Here's Cindy's list of recommended readings, posted on http://www.netcom.com/~cheazlit/self_rescue/
- Harness Hang Pathology, by John Green, at http://pw1.netcom.com/~cheazlit/self_rescue/harnhang.html
- Compartment Syndrome, by David C. Krupp, at http://www.siumed.edu/lib/ref/StudentPages/Brown/webpage.htm
- Hypothermia -Physiology, Signs, Symptoms and Treatment- Considerations, by the Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia, at http://sarbc.org/hypo1.html
- Oxford University Expedition Rescue Guide at http://www.mcs.le.ac.uk/~glowe/Caving/rescue/rescue.html
- An "impressive and terrifying" article on Harness Pathology at http://freecenter.digiweb.com/education/cheazlit/harnesspath.html
- SKED web site for their Oregon Spine Splint: http://www.skedco.com/sk300.htm
On the same topic, the 'rescue guide', (largely copied from Oxford UCC) is at http://www.chaos.org.uk/cucc/expo/handbook/rescue.htm
Ropework
- Learn the ropes (knots animated)
- Cindy Heazlit carries a piece of webbing, which she can tie into an etrier via a frost knot as needed: http://brmrg.med.virginia.edu/knots/FTL/frost.html
Caving in Oman
- Caving in Oman
- Majlis Al Jin, Oman, November 1994 (26K)
- Hoti Cave, through trips, December 1997 and again December 2000 - NOTE about Hoti, May 2002 - when I visited there I found a sign indicating the lower entrance to the cave was 'closed until further notice' and was informed by a gov't worker assigned to watch the site that the Oman gov't planned to make the resurgence area a show cave, including having a 'train' carry visitors up to the resurgence itself. The gov't has no objection to cavers entering at the upper entrance by Hoti village, but they will have to climb back out the same way. Through trips are no longer permitted.
- Arch Cave, Selma Plateau, May 1998
- Kaf Tahri, through trip from Arch Cave out its exit in the mountainside, Nov 1988 (pics up eventually, maybe)
- Jebel Kaw, reconnoiter and survey near Ibri, Jan 1999 (pics up now)
Caving in Saudi
- John Pint’s remarkable site with lots of pics: http://www.saudicaves.com
- A couple of Saudi cavers report from in sitio: http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/3508/ksa_cavers/molsen.htm
Caving in California
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Bobbi and I were out hiking in Castle Rock park near San Jose when we came across a group of people ascending "Goat Rock". I stopped to chat, left a card, and got e-mail next day telling me where they met each month. So I attended a series of meetings, a month apart, where people told about discovering caves locally, and gave slide presentations describing expeditions that were elaborate and challenging. And it became obvious there are some interesting opportunities in California to get claustrophobic. Nothing to equal Majlis Al Jin in Oman, but ample opportunity to get cold, damp, and muddy. A list of personal accounts appears at right. |
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Other urls:
- San Antonio, Texas: http://www.caves.org/grotto/bexar
- Western Region Representative for LEARN (the Lechuguilla Exploration and Research Network) web pages are at http://www.redshift.com/~mrosbrook/learn/frames.htm
- SpeleoDigest at http://www.caves.org/pub/SpeleoDigest/ is supposed to have one of my articles in the 1998 issue which will be out in July 1999
- Visit a cave rescue team: http://www.hoehlenrettung.de (site 'temporarily overloaded' July 2002)
- An obviously interesting web address: http://www.petzl.com - Some very good explanations of rope mechanics here
*Footnote: Glenn joined in too
On a misty cold Saturday, February 1, 1997, there was a session with the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the National Speleological Society in nearby Castle Rock Park put on by Cindy Heazlit on vertical rope techniques. Glenn went to learn how to rap (rappel, or ab, abseil). He not only went down a short practice pitch a number of times, but he made an ascent using what the Americans call the frog system, a chest ascender lifted by squatting and standing in a sling attached to an ascender pushed constantly overhead. Vance worked on honing his technique, and learned a number of basics about rigging and tuning his gear that his mates in Oman neglected to tell him before, during or after those harrowing fixes they almost got him into. Or maybe it's just a case of "when the student is ready, the teacher appears."
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(C)opyright 2002 Vance Stevens