4 ms·
Fun read. As far as I can tell, deep cave systems are the last places on earth that are 1. truly unknown and uncharted and 2. explorable by certain people wit
by majos 8y ago
Fun read. As far as I can tell, deep cave systems are the last places on earth that are
1. truly unknown and uncharted and
2. explorable by certain people with certain skills and attitudes, without huge funding demands (by comparison, the deep sea is even more poorly understood, but deep sea exploration is not something you can do without massive institutional support).
In fact a look through this caving expedition team [1] suggests that many cavers doing valuable new work are hobbyists with pretty unrelated day jobs.
[1] http://www.usdct.org/cheve_personnel_2017.php http://www.usdct.org/cheve_personnel_2017.php
- planteen 8y ago> explorable by certain people with certain skills and attitudes, without huge funding demands Absolutely true. I'm friends with several people on that list. Everyone I know has a "normal" job. Caving is quite inexpensive. I've gone on a couple of expedition exploration trips to Peru. You need some caving gear (helmet, lights, vertical gear, cave suit) which could all be had for probably around $1000. The expedition will need a couple hammer drills. One-time use gear isn't bad - some bolts and rope. Other than that, you are looking at a plane ticket, bus ride, food, and a mule skinner. The hardest part is getting the time off of work for a month. :-) There are plenty of opportunities that don't involve international travel as well. I go up a couple weekends a year to caves in South Dakota and get to "virgin passage". If you are interested in caving in the US, visit a local grotto (branch of the National Speleological Society). http://caves.org http://caves.org
- Mister_X 8y agoFor hard core Cavers, caving isn't a "hobby", far from it, it's a PASSION!