Ropes For Caving

Ropes For Caving
By:  Cave Spelunking

Caving ropes don't live an easy life.  They are punished relentlessly by being stretched, knotted, squeezed in metal devices, soaked in water, dragged through the mud, and hauled over rough rocks.  And still the cavers will entrust their very existence to a rope that's been seriously abused.  When a caver is hanging above an abyss and a single rope is all that stands between him and certain death, he will certainly question the condition of the rope.  It's really a good idea to question the condition of the rope before being in that precarious position.

It starts with choosing the right rope to begin with.  You want a 10-10.5mm diameter, low-stretch nylon rope designed for SRT ( Single Rope Technique ).  There are big advantages to this rope.  It's strong enough to provide for a reasonable safety, yet it is lightweight and won't exhaust cavers who are carrying it.  Not only that but this kind of rope can also be used for traverse lines, hand lines, lifelining ladder climbs, and more.
Yes, this is the most expensive caving rope, but saving a few dollars on your caving rope really isn't the place to start cutting corners.  After all, your life is going to depend upon that rope on each pitch.

Eleven-mm ropes should be used for intensive use by caving clubs or by cave rescue teams.   The principle is that the more use and the greater weight the rope will have to hold, the bigger the rope should be.  While a 9mm rope might be just fine for short drops and light weights, and it is certainly lighter and easier to carry, you wouldn't want to have to depend on a 9mm, overly used, and worn rope if a life hung in the balance...


Rock On & Keep Spelunking...
Cave Spelunking.

Cave Spelunking - Cave Weather

Cave Weather
By:  Cave Spelunking  

You probably wouldn't think of a cave as having "weather."  It obviously isn't going to rain inside a cave, is it?  Seasonal changes aren't going to affect the temperature, are they?  Caves don't have seasonal changes like the sunlit world that we live in, do they?  Not exactly, but that doesn't mean that caves don't have weather. Caves do have weather.

Weather changes don't occur nearly as quickly in the dark, dank underground world of a cave, but changes do occur.  The cycles are slower — a lot slower than they are up here on the surface of the earth.

All caves don't have identical weather patterns.  As a matter of fact, each cave has its own completely unique weather patterns.

The temperature inside a cave can vary slightly according to the movement of air near the mouth of the cave.  The temperature of the water entering the cave can also affect the air temperature in the cave.  The location of the cave (whether it is in a mountainous region or in a valley) also affects the air temperature inside the cave.
There is even a wind chill factor deep underground in a cave.  The difference in the temperature between the entrance temperature and the temperature of the inner passageways causes a kind of "chimney effect" and creates wind.

This chimney effect can also cause "rain" inside a cave.  It won't be rain as we know it here on the surface, of course, but there will still be water falling in drops when the chimney effect changes the dew point inside the cave.
Changes in the barometric pressure can also affect the weather in a cave.  Air movement, humidity levels, and dew points are all affected by barometric pressure, and an experienced spelunker can discern weather changes on the surface even if he's hundreds of feet below the surface.

Rock On & Keep Spelunking...
Cave Spelunking.

The Old Woman In The Cave

The Old Woman In The Cave
By:  Cave Spelunking


According to Sioux legend, as told by Chief Lost Feather, there is a secret and mysterious cave that is located on the West Mountain (near Hot Springs, Arkansas).  There's an old woman and a dog that have been living in this cave for many generations.

The old woman never grows any older.  The dog never ages, either.  They both stay exactly the same, and they have since anybody can remember.

The old woman spends her days weaving a rug.  She is using pine needles that she has collected in the nearby pine forest.  The old woman has been weaving now for many centuries, and yet the rug never gets any bigger. The dog watches his mistress weave through narrow slits in his eyes as he appears to just nap in the corner.

Occasionally the old woman puts the rug down and leaves it while she goes to stir the pot of soup that she has cooking on a fire at the mouth of the cave.  The soup has probably been cooking for several centuries, as well.  The minute the old woman leaves, the dog rises slowly and sneaks over to the rug.  He grabs the rug and shakes it as hard as he can until part of the rug unravels.

The old woman returns after stirring the pot of soup. She picks up the rug and patiently begins to restore the damage.  But, the soup must be stirred.  So,she must put the rug down again and again to go and stir the soup.  Each time the old woman leaves, the dog unravels part of the rug.

So, through the centuries, the old woman and the dog have continued the cycle of weaving, unraveling, and reweaving.  The rug never gets any bigger.

This is, of course, a good thing according to Chief Lost Feather — because should the rug ever be completed, the world, as we know it, would end...

Rock On & Keep Spelunking...
Cave Spelunking.

Looking For Life On Mars In A Cave

Looking For Life On Mars In A Cave
By: Cave Spelunking

You probably aren't ever going to see the inside of Lechuguilla Cave. A special permit is needed to enter the cave, and those special permits are given only to researchers. Lechuguilla Cave is located inside the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, but it is not open to visitors and the entrance to the cave is well hidden and well guarded.

If you could go, you'd have to rappel down a 90-foot rock face to a ledge and then squeeze down a narrow crevice into a small chamber. Inside this chamber is a 30-foot metal culvert. The culvert was installed after the wonders of the cave were discovered more than a decade ago. There's a airtight, sealed hatch to keep out surface contamination. Behind the culvert is the deepest cave in the United States. It's also where scientists and researchers are looking for life on Mars and the cure for cancer.

Lechuguilla Cave was not formed by water like most caves. This cave was formed from below, rather than from above. No bats or other animals live in the cave, so nothing is brought into it from the outside world.

Some amazing things have already been discovered. One such thing, for example, is bacteria that oxidizes minerals. Scientists say that the evidence "strongly suggests" that organisms derive energy from the rocks, and it also strongly suggests that similar life might well exist on Mars.

Mars and Earth were at one time very similar about four billion years ago. The atmosphere on Mars changed, and life on the surface of the planet (if there was life) was killed. But what about underground? The research being done in Lechuguilla Cave might prove that life can and even does still exist on Mars — underground, in caves!


Rock On & Keep Spelunking...
Cave Spelunking.

Life Underground

Life Underground
By: Cave Spelunking

Caves are dark. When you go into a cave, in the entrance zone there will be plenty of light. As you proceed into the cave, there is less light. The area is called the twilight zone. It's the area where sunlight and total darkness meet. There is still some light, but not very much. When you reach the dark zone, you have really arrived in the cave.

You couldn't live in the dark zone of a cave. Your body is not adapted to living in total darkness. You need sunlight. Even if you could adapt to living in total darkness, you'd starve to death because there are no green plants in caves. Green plants require sunlight in order to live, and there is no sunlight in the dark zone of caves. Food sources would be limited, to say the least. The lack of light would cause you to lose your sense of time.

The creatures that do live deep in the dark zone of caves have evolved over millions of years and are totally suited to live in complete darkness. The creatures that live deep in the dark zones of caves are albinos; that is, they have no skin pigment or color. The total darkness of caves makes coloring as camouflage useless. Sight isn't possible in total darkness, so all of the creatures that live deep in caves are blind.

The creatures that live out their entire lives in total darkness have developed extra sensory organs to compensate for the loss of sight and lower metabolic rates to compensate for a low food supply.

Cave biology is called biospeleology. S cientists who study cave biology care called biospeleologists. Cave organisms provide direct evidence of evolutionary changes. Evolution is, after all, the adjustment of life to a changed environment.


Rock On & Keep Spelunking...
Cave Spelunking.