Welcome to the SF Bay Chapter of the National Speleological Society (NSS)! If you’re reading this you’re interested in caves, caving, and meeting other cavers.
Caving is the art of traveling underground, through spaces often not meant for human travel, finding new caves, exploring, conserving, and mapping them. Cavers (not “spelunkers”) are the people who travel in these location and they can be anyone: scientists, explorers, artists, climbers, hobbyists, travelers, people who simply appreciate the underground world. The NSS is the United States’ national organization dedicated to the exploration and conservation of caves, which you can also join. They facilitate several events across the US throughout the year, including the yearly convention. SFBC is “chapter” of the NSS, commonly known as a grotto or caving club.
As NSS Board of Cindy Wu says in her introductory article, So you want to cave?, the best way to figure out if you like caving is to go caving with other cavers, see if you like it, and then go again. But, it can be hard to go caving for the first time! SFBC hosts monthly meetings on the 4th Tuesday, as well as vertical practices and beginner trips. Add our calendar to get updates on trips, and join the grotto to access the email list! Or, simply join the new-cavers list and see if you like it.
As a community, we strive to follow the NSS motto:
“Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.”
SFBC conservation guidelines and the NSS guide to responsible caving, linked below, go into far more detail on caving standards. Because caving can often involve traveling in passages that would be damaged by heavy visitation, locations are treated with some sensitivity in the US. Thus, you might often find it hard to know exactly where the cave is when signing up for a beginner trip. That is relatively typical – the trip leader may share more information about access and what is allowed with photos at the start of the trip.
Generally speaking, there are two types of cave trips: vertical and horizontal. For your very first cave, horizontal caves are more accessible. Check out the SFBC horizontal caving gear recommendations [TODO] to know what to bring.
If you have a climbing or ropework background, it may be possible to begin vertical caving relatively quickly. Typically, at least 2 or 3 SRT practices would be needed to begin learning the skills, and there is more gear needed to access vertical caves. A “beginner vertical trip” is not necessarily a “beginner caving trip” – note this when a trip is announced. Check out the SFBC vertical caving gear recommendations for these trips.
Hope to see you in a cave soon!
Resources:
So you want to cave?
NSS Board of Governor’s representative and sometimes California caver Cindy Wu offers advice for newbies.
Cave Safety
A Guide to Responsible Caving published by the National Speleological Society, 5th edition, 2016
General Conservation
SFBC Conservation Guidelines
How to get started
Caver on YouTube offers advice on how to get started in caving.
CavePics Homepage
Gems of the Golden State : The 15 best caves to visit in California is richly illustrated with nearly seventy top quality photographs by life SFBC members, Peter and Ann Bosted, who have been photographing California’s finest caves for over two decades.