- ICU-Caving-Announce - imperial.ac.uk

Trip this weekend (6-8th March) - Drunken Cavers: Cake, Cocktails, Caving @ Bull Pot Farm, Yorkshire
by Jarvist Frost 04 Mar '09

04 Mar '09

Dear Cavers, International Woman's day is this weekend - time for a party! So come to Yorkshire with the Drunken Cavers to hang out in Bullpot farm, make epic trips across the Easegill system, eat cake, mix cocktails & set fire to anything you can lay your hands on: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/FILES/drunken_cavers.jpg A few places left, email now to avoid disappointment & lack of chocolate cake... Best, Jarv P.S. Andy's photos and Youtube vids of our long weekend in Slovenai: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/andyjurd/Slovenia27Feb2Mar09# And here are the sledging videos, where I received much pain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC_4zBaE6uE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4yzjgJQA8 Andy

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Snow in Slovenia | Yorks Cocktail Cave Trip (6-8th March) | Derbyshire Caves (20-22nd March)
by Jarvist Frost 02 Mar '09

02 Mar '09

*Snow in Slovenia* Five of us are just back from a stunning long weekend in Slovenia. Our main target of a Mala Boka through-trip was sunk by 11m of fresh snow on Kanin (obscuring the BC4 entrance) and sufficient sun to block the exit siphon with snow melt. So we went to Poloska instead, a mere 700m deep through trip, which involved a rather exciting ascent to 1290m (with child labour Sherpas to carry our ice gear back down!) under stunning Mediterranean sun and a pure blue sky. Many many photos to come, but here's a quick taster - us on the high Planina shortly before putting on our crampons and making our bid for the entrance... http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/FILES/halfway_to_poloska_jana_carga.jpg Sunday saw sledging in Bohinjska Bistrica (racking up more injuries than the mountaineering / caving) and a relaxing Jacuzzi (again, also racking up more injuries...) Stunning country, stupendous caves everywhere, brilliant local cavers to go undeground with... If this interests you, you will want to know about our summer expedition: ~£150 for 4 weeks of probably the best exploration caving in Europe. This is our beloved Migovec, the mountain whose caves with explore with the JSPDT, under its snowy hat for the winter: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/FILES/snowymig.jpg Brezzvezdna Noč 2009: Sat 25th July --> 23rd August http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/slovenia/slov2009/ *Yorks Cocktail Cave Trip (6-8th March) * Off to Bullpot farm this weekend, the 'party hut' of the Dales. As we don't have to drive to the caves and can instead stumble directly from the hut in Easegill, we have those extra few hours for drinking (tea for me), burning things, playing with the drills and stuffing ourselves silly.* Derbyshire Caves (20-22nd March)* Staying in Castleton, just below the Winnats pass and the caves of the Hope valley. Aim would be to tick off the deepest SRT trip you can do in the UK (Maskhill <-> Oxlow) to prepare for Easter in the Alps & summer in the Julian's. But there's also two brilliant caves for the less experience (Giants and Jackpot), so drag your housemates along...* Tuesday Meet* Should be meeting ~7pm on Tuesday, to return gear from the weekend, pack for the weekend coming and otherwise scheme. RSVP if you're coming so we don't all go home before you turn up... Best, Jarv* *

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CAVING: Yorkshire Trip this weekend (20-22nd) | Meet Tues Evening 7:30pm | Vercors Easter Trip
by Jarvist Frost 16 Feb '09

16 Feb '09

Dear Cavers, Still a couple of spaces in the minibus for the trip *this weekend (20-22nd Feb)* to the Northern Pennine Club in *Yorkshire*. Mutterings have been made of East Kingsdale action, but then again - its always that way! *20-22nd Feb:*<http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/caving/yorkshire/yorkshire-2009-01-20.php>Yorkshire (NPC/Greenclose hut) If you haven't done a rope trip already, you should come along to: * Tree training* - Wednesday Lunchtime ~1pm--> As we have a number of people just recently joined the club, we'll organise a tree-training session in Princes Gardens - Wednesday afternoon ~1pm at stores is the usual time and place. Weather forecast is currently good, but please RSVP so we get the right number of instructors along... --- *Easter Tour *We're off to Grenoble in Southern France to enjoy the delights of the stunning Vercors caving region. Eurostar/TGV to Grenoble, then hire car to the campsite where we'll be staying in a wooden cabin. Dates are pencilled in as *9-15th April*, we've budgeted for a total group of *EIGHT* cavers. We'll start to book train tickets + things sometime this week, so if you haven't voiced your wish to come, *DO IT NOW!* *Meet Tuesday Evening, Union Bar - 7:30pm *Usual weekly meet, all the cheeky chaps 'n' misses will be popping down to stores to grab the warmest furries... Best, Jarv Le Secretary

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Caving: Meeting in the Union from Tues 6pm | Trip to Yorks 20-22nd Feb | Easter Tour Vercors ~9-15th April | Treetraining on Wednesday?
by Jarvist Frost 10 Feb '09

10 Feb '09

Dear Cavers, Trip last weekend to Derbyshire was cancelled in view of the snow, and then we found the union shut for our Tuesday meet! So *come along tonight*, from 6pm in the union bar, to say hello + book yourself on a trip. --- * Next trip is:* *20-22nd Feb:*<http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/caving/yorkshire/yorkshire-2009-01-20.php>Yorkshire (NPC/Greenclose hut) Deep pitches, roaring streamways and stunning waterfalls - book soon to avoid disappointment! If it snows, Yorkshire caving looks like this: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/trips/2008-12-05%20-%20y… --- *Easter Tour *We're off to Grenoble in Southern France to enjoy the delights of the stunning Vercors caving region. Eurostar/TGV to Grenoble, then hire car to the campsite where we'll be staying in a wooden cabin. Dates are pencilled in as *9-15th April*, we've budgeted for a total group of *EIGHT* cavers. We'll start to book train tickets + things sometime this week, so if you haven't voiced your wish to come, *DO IT NOW!* --- * Tree training* As we have a number of people just recently joined the club, we'll organise a tree-training session in Princes Gardens - Wednesday afternoon ~1pm at stores is the usual time and place. Weather forecast is currently good, but please RSVP so we get the right number of instructors along... Jarv Le Secret Secretary

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CAVING: Mendip (refresher) Trip this Weekend | TGV Easter Trip to the Vercors 9-15th April | Tuesday meet from 7:30pm
by Imperial College Caving Club 19 Jan '09

19 Jan '09

Dear Cavers, * Mendip trip this weekend (23-25th January)* Staying in the delectable *Belfry* hut (with the child-cooking oven, so expect pies and crumble galore), a *Swildons Short-Round* trip hypothesised for the Saturday, and a 'sporting' visit to the August Streamway in * Longwood* on the Sunday. This is also our designated 'refresher' trip of the Spring calendar, as it doesn't require much ropework. So come along no matter what your experience, and bring a friend! See these photos from last October: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/trips/2008-10-31%20-%20m… *£20* if this is your first trip with the club, £30 otherwise * TGV Easter Trip to the Vercors* (Probably *9-15th April*, over the Easter Weekend) Our Easter tour will be to the Vercors in the South of France, near Grenoble. To be able to carry the vast quantities of rope that we need to successfully descend these Alpine monsters, we're going on the Eurostar with bags-a-bursting. Hire cars from Grenoble train station, to get to our Alpine chalet. The 'raw cost' should be somewhere between £100-200 for the week, before union travel subsidy kicks in (no idea yet how much that will be). The caves out there are absolutely stunning, its the birthday of modern vertical caving, and for a very good reason! The centrepiece of our trip will be an attempt on one of the 600m+ deep monsters, probably taking a few days to rig in succesively and then derig out. There's also a fantastic cave which can only be reached by paddling a boat across a lake, climbing a cliff and then entering the cave, to ascend to +500m inside the mountain on permanently rigged stainless steel traverses above booming rivers! *Tuesday Meet from 7:30pm *Find us in the Union Bar / down stores from 7:30pm on Tuesday. Come to chat, grab the nicest fury before the weekend trip, and to scheme for the future! Jarv Your incompetent secretary -- Imperial College Caving Club http://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving ic.caving [AT] gmail.com

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Caving into 2009 | Winter tour photos | Spring Term Calendar | Easter Tour | Summer Expo
by Jarvist Frost 12 Jan '09

12 Jan '09

Happy 2009 seasoned rope scallywags & would be prussic meisters, Our Winter tour to Yorkshire was a densely packed week of some of the best caving on offer in the UK. We had deep rope trips, novel exploration by the boys with the Bosch GBH aid climbing their way up a 10m chimney above a 35m pitch (alas, the chimney led not to Santa, but to a choked bedding plane), epic expeds through the might of the Easegill system, decadent consumption of roast dinners and the usual caving hut shenanigans. A few photos, http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/tours/2008%20-%20yorkshi… ---- * Spring Term Calendar:* *23-25th Jan:*<http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/caving/mendips/mendip-2009-01-23.php>Mendips (BEC/Belfry) Short Round with Tet. *6-8th Feb:*<http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/caving/derbyshire/derbyshire-2009-02-06.php>Derbyshire (Orpheus) *20-22nd Feb:*<http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/caving/yorkshire/yorkshire-2009-01-20.php>Yorks (NPC) *6-8th March:* Daren? / Yorks ? TBC *20-22nd March:* Yorks ? / Wales ? TBC Last two dates have minibuses booked, but location, hut + cave not decided. Perhaps an underground camp in Daren on one of them (saves on the hut fees...)? The usual Shrove Tuesday pancake competition will hopefully be organised for somewhere. The first trip (in two weeks!) is particularly suited to you if you're one of the hundreds of lurking freshers who want to dip their toe into the glory of the underground, and similarly for 2nd and 3rd years who have drifted away but want to get back to the dark arts. *Signup via email, or @ the usual weekly meets in the Union bar / stores from 7:30pm ish. * ---- *Easter Tour:* Nothing's organised yet (as ever), but we'll certainly be going somewhere. Most likely is either a return to Croatia (hopefully with less snow and landmines this time): http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/wiki.php?n=Main.Croatia2008Writeup Or alternatively, a TGV powered (take as much rope as we want!) trip to the Vercors, south France. ---- *Summer Expedition:* Dates are: *Sat 25th July 2009 --> 23rd August (4 weeks) *Main aim of this expo is the connection of Sysmig with Vrtnarija, creating the 2nd longest cave in Slovenia. To facilitate the large number of hours required pushing in the extremities of Captain Kangaroo, we will be underground camping. Read the short prospectus from 2 years ago to get a general sense of what its like to camp in the national park, drinking a fine cocktail of rain water / snow melt interspersed with the local fire water, and standing on the shores of the unknown: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/caving/slovenia/slov2007/Migovec_2007_student_pro… Costs are low as we camp for free in the national park and eat dried food from Asda. There's also some limited outside funding available to help for freshers to buy the necessary Expo grade lighting rigs + etc. Still a long time away, but best to organise before the exam season sets in. Much more info available on an entire section of our website: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/slovenia/intro/slov_intro.php Or start with the photos: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/slovenia/2008/dirindex.h… Your smiling secretary, Jarv

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Weekend Photos (Snow!) | Christmas Tour Organisation
by Jarvist Frost 08 Dec '08

08 Dec '08

Dear Cavers, Amazing set of trips to the Dales this weekend just gone. Heavy snow earlier in the week was still there, we sledged down from the caves on our slippery Meander oversuits. Getting changed outside actually felt quite warm (totally still), except for the way our harnesses froze stiff! Here's some photos: <http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/trips/2008-12-05%20-%20y…> http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/photo_archive/trips/2008-12-05%20-%20y… ---- * Christmas Tour (**20-24th/28th December)* We have a minibus for Saturday afternoon (to give everyone a chance to recover from the end of year parties), and will then zoom up to the Dales to the NPC (central heating, large kitchen, 2 showers, drying room, new bunks upstairs etc.). >From here we'll have the opportunity of doing the longer, better, harder, caving trips available in some of the most picture-esque region of the country. On the 24th we'll drop off any students who want to go home at a suitable train station (Clapham, Lancaster, Skipton are good ones), and then move ourselves to BPF in the middle of the massive Easegill system. Conversely, if anyone would prefer to come up to Yorks on the 26th/27th you can get a good long weekend of caving in and then come back to London in the bus. Christmas day will see a big roast dinner at the Farm, but only after an Epic traverse trip to build a suitable appetite. For the 25th-28th we'll concentrate on Easegill & Leck fell (the Western most caves in the Dales) before revving the minibus back down the M6 to regain London in time for a midnight snack on the Sunday. Cost should be as Low as possible, we have a small amount of travel subsidy and shouldn't burn too much fuel once we're up North. And if you've never spent a Christmas away from the family, I'd definitely recommend it just as an experience & to escape that long dark Christmas TV tea-time of the soul with some good honest caving. Read about prior year's excitements & add your own trips to the 'hit list' on the website: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/yorkshire/yorkshire-2008-winter-tour.p… Make your interest know or find your seat taken by an enormous tacklesac full of rope - you will not regret it, its a real 'caving event of the year' kind of thing! Jarv

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Caving: Tuesday: Votla Gora 2008 talk with the Explo Soc | Last Trip of Term: 5-7th Dec (This Weekend) | Winter Tour (20th Dec -->)
by Jarvist Frost 01 Dec '08

01 Dec '08

Dear Cavers & cavers-to-be, *Tuesday* (2nd Dec) *6:30pm*: *Votla Gora 2008* talk with the Explo Soc by James Kirkpatrick Room: *Civil Engineering Building (Skempton) Room 207* James is a very entertaining speaker, and will spend some time introducing the audience to the nature of alpine exploration caving, and then going into the specifics of Imperial College Caving Club's summer 2008 Expedition to the Julian Alps in Western Slovenia. Come for some stunning photos, an introduction (As its Exploration Soc: £1 for non-members, free for Exploration members, £2 to join the club for a free lecture ) * Last Trip of Term: 5-7th Dec (This Weekend): * Just a couple of spaces left, all those people who couldn't fit on the prior trips or who couldn't make the dates, this is your last chance for a weekend trip till 2009... Destination: *Bullpot Farm*, and the *70km+ Easegill system*! This is our first trip to Bullpot and is a remarkably well situated hut, being a few hundred meters across the fell from Lancaster & Cow Pot. The locals are always entertaining, and there's a couple of other university clubs up to fight for space with in the kitchen & fiddle with in the squeeze machines... *Winter Tour: (20th Dec--> 28th ish) *Wahey! Well, we've got a lovely little Tour coming up which gives you a chance to really get in the skills and the long Yorkshire trips. We'll be driving up to Yorks ideally on the afternoon of Saturday 20th Dec, staying at the NPC and doing 4 days of hard action in the Three Peaks region, dropping off anyone who needs to go home for Crimbo at a suitable train station (Clapham / Skipton / Settle / etc.), then swapping over to Bullpot farm for festive fun, a great big fat roast dinner & Christmas Caving. Van is slated to return to London on Sunday 28th. And if you need a rescue on the 25th... Well, at least Yorkshiremen appreciate the escape from their families during the long dark Christmas tea time of the soul: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/caving/yorkshire/yorkshire-2006-winter-tour.p… Come on Tues / the weekend / next Tues to pay your deposit & voice an interest - we've only booked a 9 seater minibus so we have space for all the Christmas crackers, otherwise you'll have to slum it on the train! Jarv

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Caving: Winter Tour (20th Dec --> )
by Jarvist Frost 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

Dear Cavers & Cavers-to-be, Next *Weekend trip is Nov 21-23rd *to *Lost Johns*', Yorkshire. Possibly the best beginners SRT (rope) trip out there, with a beautiful streamway, roaring waterfalls and a stunning 35m pitch (Valhalla) after a long free hanging tension traverse. As ever, accommodation at a palatial caving hut, log fires, big fat meal, hot showers, warm bunk room. Just a couple of places left. Come to the *Tuesday Meeting* (7:30pm ish onwards, down stores / a Union bar) to book a place & pack your gear for a lightning departure from London on the Friday. *Winter Tour* (~20th Dec --> ) Its time to start thinking about what to do over Christmas! The caving club will be up in Yorkshire from approx. *20th* December. If you must go home to do the whole family thing, we can arrange something / drop you off at a train station on the 24th. Alternatively, you can stay up North and enjoy a Christmas feast in the hut & some beautifully empty caves! We need to start collecting names now, and organising transport... email with who you are, age + whether can drive, and whether you have access to a car! Jarv

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Trip Fees
by Ben Banfield 14 Nov '08

14 Nov '08

Afternoon all, Autumn term has got off to a great start, lots of new people caving, some great trips. Another two trips lined up for the rest of the term. Below is the debtors list for this year. I talked to some people on Tuesday, so this list is greatly reduced from then and I thank those who paid up. Some have made arrangements with me and I've noted those down. Debts for 0809: Dan G (W1 + Y1) = £10 + £35 = £45 William French (Y1) = £35 Veronique Mahue ( M1) = £30 Sam Perera (M1) = £20 Nick (W1) = £20 Mo (M1) = £20 Jarvist (W1, M1 + Y1 - Changing Room & 2x Trespass & Mendips Hut Fees) = £30 + £30 + £35 - £4 - £9 - £5 - £68 = £9 Kat Miller (W1) = £5 (£184) Have talked to and will be making arrangements to pay shortly: Gergely (£35) & Rik (£35) Total Owing to Club 0809 = £254 Total Club owes = £5 trespass to Jana & £2 trespass to James KP Of course there are some left overs from last year. Debts for 0708: Dan: £20 (W1), £30 (Y1), £30 (D1), £150 (WT) - £230 Goaty: £5 (D1), £10 (D1) - £15 Hannah Heyemann £10 (Y1) - £10 Shed: £5 (D1) - £5 Total Owing to Club 0708 = £270 Total Owing to Club = £524 I will be around on Tuesday evening when we have our regular pub meets and kit sort out. Its best for both the club and yourselves that you don't let these build up :) Hope to see many of you on the next trip. Ben Banfield ICCC Treasurer

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