About SFBC

 

 

Who We Are  |  Mailing List  |  Corporate Information  |  Meetings  |  Pre-meeting Dinner
Post-meeting Socializing  |  Executive Meetings  |  Vertical Practices

 

Who We Are

The San Francisco Bay Chapter (SFBC) is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society known as a grotto. Grottos are local groups of cavers who like to get together monthly and chat about caves and caving, watch videos and presentations about caving, and of course go on trips to caves. Besides organizing trips, the SFBC is also very involved in local cave conservation, speleology (the study of caves), geology, cave surveying, and cave photography. We are also involved in cave rescue training (including self-rescue). If you are interested in caves, feel free to drop by one of our meetings and introduce yourself! New members are always welcome!

Mailing List

Members can subscribe and post messages to the San Francisco Bay Chapter Mailing List.

New cavers are encouraged to also join the new caver group where more publicly available trips are announced and members foster active discussions on getting into the world of caving.

Corporate Information

The SFBC is a corporation organized and operated exclusively for scientific and educational purposes, as outlined in its articles of incorporation, within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As such, it does not have a constitution, but rather conducts its business following the guidelines presented in the SFBC bylaws. SFBC also has an anti-harassment policy.

Meetings

Chapter meetings are held on the FOURTH Tuesday of each month, currently held Virtually via Zoom due to ongoing COVID restrictions (join our mailing list for details) at the San Carlos Public Library at 7:30 PM SHARP. (Note that some months have five (5) Tuesdays) There is no monthly meeting in December, due to the grotto Holiday Party. For information on the next meeting date, visit our grotto calendar.

The San Carlos Library is located at:

610 Elm Street
San Carlos, California.

https://goo.gl/maps/yAutu1WNQ5L2

 

If coming from US 101:

  • Take the Holly St exit and proceed WEST on Holly St
  • Turn LEFT on El Camino Real followed by the first RIGHT onto San Carlos Avenue
  • Turn LEFT on Elm St (3rd street from El Camino)
  • The Library is on the right at the corner with Cherry St and has a small parking lot just before the intersection
  • Park on the street or in the lot

If coming from US 280:

  • Take the Edgewood Road exit and proceed EAST on Edgewood Road
  • Turn LEFT on Alameda de las Pulgas
  • Turn RIGHT on San Carlos Avenue
  • Turn RIGHT on Elm St
  • The Library is on the right at the corner with Cherry St and has a small parking lot just before the intersection
  • Park on the street or in the lot

If you are going to be giving a presentation at one of our meetings, please read the Guidelines for Presenters!

Pre-Meeting Dinner

There will be a business meeting and pre-meeting dinner at 6:30 where you can find some Grotto members at Broiler Express (once we start in-person meetings again… not quite yet):
 
895 Laurel St
San Carlos, CA 94070
 
 

Post-Meeting Socializing

After the meeting, some cavers head over to St. James Gate for some refreshments and conversation. Feel free to join us!

St. James Gate Pub & Restaurant is close to the San Carlos Library and offers a reasonable selection of refreshments. At the meeting folks can choose to which bistro they care to retire to following the meeting.

St. James Gate Pub & Restaurant is located at:

1410 Old County Rd
Belmont, CA 94002
 St. James Gate Pub & Restaurant

Executive Committee Meeting

Meet the Executive Committee:

(they/them) First started caving with the MIT Caving Club, serving as treasurer and then president for the organization. Since graduating, they moved to the Bay Area and joined SFBC, soon thereafter becoming Vice Chair, now Chair. They love teaching new people about caves and vertical techniques.

(they/them) As a wee newt, Sean was unwillingly exposed to the wonders of show caves on a school trip to the Cango Caves in South Africa. It wasn’t until a friend showed them Boomslang Cave in the mountains above Kalk Bay that Sean discovered the wonders of crawling around without a tour guide. Sean got into proper caving with, like, helmets and stuff in Dublin, Ireland, and in 2018 found themself in San Francisco where they’ve been steadily building their caving prowess ever since, most recently as vice chair of SFBC.

(she/her) Anastasiya is our resident notetaker. She likes caves, and the questions they conjure. She has a fantastic time unravelling mysteries like how to rope friends into cave science & conservation. Rather than recoiling at the Gordian knots of speleology, she finds herself fiddling in good company at SFBC.

(she/her) Sonia was introduced to caving in the UK, but really began caving in the Virginias. She moved to the Bay Area and quickly became involved with the grotto as a trip leader and treasurer. Sonia enjoys expedition caving in China, Mexico, the Marbles, and Carlsbad Caverns.

(he/him) Born and raised in Georgia (the G in TAG), and started caving around 14. While caving with ORGT (Georgia Tech) and DCG, started taking photos in caves with his first digital camera around 1999. Joined SFBC after moving to the bay area around 2007, and has enjoyed caving in several countries, yet always returns to TAG.

Executive Committee meetings are also currently Virtual, via Google Meet. IF you would like to attend, simply email execs@sfbaycaving.org or our mailing list requesting the link. Once we are back in-person, they are sometimes held at the pre-meeting dinner at 6:30 where you can also find other Grotto members, at Broiler Express:

895 Laurel St
San Carlos, CA 94070
 https://www.yelp.com/biz/broiler-express-san-carlos

 

Vertical Practice

A monthly Vertical Practice/Potluck is usually held on the 1st Tuesday of each month at rotating locations in San Francisco and Los Gatos. Call or email beforehand to confirm the location and time. Everyone is invited to come to practice his/her vertical skills and/or socialize. Due to COVID, we have not been hosting the potluck portion of Vertical Practices just yet. We hope to resume this soon! Please bring your own main course and something to share with others. Other (sometimes advanced) Vertical Practices are planned, which will be announced. Check the calendar and watch the email list for the most up to date information.