Scouts and Scouting, PT 1

HERE IS PART ONE AGAIN!!

NOTE: This is Part 1 of a 2 part post.

Caves and Scouts_or_Caving and Scouting
by: Tray Murphy

Some time ago, I was asked to write the definitive work on the ever
popular subject of Scouts going caving. This short (?) treatise will
be posted to four places: alt.caving, rec.scouting, Cavers' Digest,
and SCOUTS-L digest. I suggest you extract it to a text file, and read
it off-line, then maybe make a few copies and pass it around. Maybe
this will help to lessen the friction between the two groups (Scouters
and cavers) that I'm hearing about on both fronts. This will be in two
major sections, one for Scouts and their leaders, the other for
cavers. First, a little background, and some common elements.

I started caving 23 years ago at 14 years old. The cavers of ESSO
Grotto took me under their wing, and taught me how to cave without
getting hurt, and to minimize my impact on any cave I visited,
"sacrificial" or not. In other words, cavers taught me how to preserve
caves, and do it safely. At 18, I joined a Boy Scout troop that my
brothers belonged to, mostly to take the older Scouts caving, and
teach them climbing, and ropework. I've been involved with both groups
on a local, regional, and national level ever since. I regularly take
Scout troops caving, and so far, have a perfect safety record. Some of
these Scouts have become accomplished cavers, others have never been
underground again. The next few paragraphs should help to explain how
we do it safely, and why I do it the way I do. Unless otherwise
cited, the opinions herein are mine, amassed over the previous 20+
years of Scouting and caving.

Caving has been found to be the third fastest growing "adventure"
sport in the country. That means the pressure on cavers to introduce
people to the underground environment will only continue to grow. This
is a fact of life, owing greatly to the exposure caving has received
in recent years in the news media (Lechuguilla's discovery, rescues of
both cavers and non-cavers, articles in magazines such as Boy's Life -
featuring the caving Brown family, Outside and National Geographic -
featuring Bill Stone during his Huatla expeditions, etc.). All we as
cavers can hope to do is educate, alleviate (more later), and find
cave trip leaders that know how to take groups caving safely and
responsibly. What cavers are trying to avoid is finding 25 Scouts with
little or no equipment, several hours back in a cave with high
exposures, and other dangers, mindlessly stomping through a cave
tramping down everything in sight, while daintily plucking bats from
the walls; this is an accident waiting to happen not to mention
against the law. What Scout leaders are trying to do is find ever more
challenging, educational, and exciting things to inject into their
program, since they compete with so many other activities for the
boy's attention.

Cave resources are limited, and threatened on many fronts, all across
the country. Laws have been enacted to help protect the natural
resource of caves, and we all need to do everything possible to
protect both the cave and its environment, and the health and safety
of the people who explore them.

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For the Scouters:
First, read the Guide to Safe Scouting. It is available from your
local Scout Service Center. It is the bible that you should follow
when planning trips and activities for your Scouts. It has a specific
section on caving, climbing, and rappelling. It says:

"These minimum safety _requirements_ apply (emphasis mine):
_1. Cave exploring, other than simple novice activities, should be
limited to Scouts and Explorers fourteen years of age or older._
(Emphasis BSA's, indicating mandatory standards). 2. Group leaders
qualify through training and experience in cave exploring and through
knowing established practices of safety, conservation, and cave
courtesy (meaning land owner relations, etc. - my addition).* 3.
Leader and group must understand and agree to follow the basic
practices and policies of caving approved by the National
Speleological Society and the Boy Scouts of America. References:
Venture activity pamphlet, Caving, No. 33458, and detailed information
prepared by the National Speleological Society available from the
Council Services Division at the National Office." *My asterisk, too -
just because a father says he went caving 20 years ago with his frat
buddies (or even a grotto), don't assume he knows about modern, safe
caving. A lot has changed in the last few years concerning safety,
equipment, techniques, conservation, and landowner relations.)

Pretty clear. Yet, a lot of the SM's I see writing, and calling, seem
to think the rules don't apply to them. The 14 year old age limit is
there for a reason. There has to be a carrot-and-stick approach to
keeping boys interested. If they've done everything by the time
they're 14, there's not much left. That's why it is a Venture Scout
pamphlet, and not a merit badge! Also, it's very clear in Scouting
literature that not every activity is for every boy. Project COPE
limits its participants, as does Philmont and the other high adventure
bases, even National Jamborees have age limits. This age limit also
helps with another problem. The literature cited as references talks
about it: group size. Cavers try to limit the size of any group to 12
or less, except under some exceptional circumstances. This includes
caving trip leaders, and the 2-deep leadership (that means 2
_registered_ adults) required by the BSA. That only leaves about 8
youth spaces. The size limit helps to control the group, its
whereabouts, and its activities. Small groups are more easily
supervised, and are generally better behaved. Realize that an injury
to a Scout only an hour from the entrance of a cave could take 15 or
more hours to effect a rescue. Only one Scout has to get out of line
for someone to get hurt. Also, limiting group size helps the group in
moving through the cave smoothly. Except for show cave trails, few
caves have hiking grade footing throughout. Tight spots, or a tricky
crawl or climb can slow the group to a snail's pace. Too many people
means the ones in back get cold and antsy while waiting, and the ones
in front tend not to wait for them, creating a situation where the
group is split up - obviously a dangerous situation. If you have too
many 14 and ups, find another way to cull out some - use attendance,
rank, dues status, or other method to weed out those who only show up
for the "fun stuff". Limiting the group size also lessens the impact
on the cave. Studies have shown that very small air temperature
changes in the cave, caused by body heat, can adversely affect bats
living there, especially if they are hibernating. Lint, trash, and
other human debris is left in caves, no matter how small the group,
but smaller groups tend to police the cave better, leaving it in
better shape than a convoy of people on a stampede. Also, consider the
older Scouts, too. In the last stampede I witnessed, the older Scouts
were clearly tired of having to push the younger, smaller Scouts
along. The younger ones were exhausted, cold, and in way over their
heads. The older ones resented having to push them every step of the
way. As a result, the group saw little more than the entrance room and
a couple of dead passages, while my crew visited the prettiest
sections of the cave, only 45 minutes beyond where the other group was
stalled.

Now, what about that "simple novice activities". Lots of discussion
with leaders and cavers seems to come to this conclusion: Simple
novice activities are: no exposure (danger of falling) over the height
of the shortest participant, and that exposure must be spottable. The
trip should be no more than 2-3 hours long (not enough to challenge a
gung-ho patrol of 14-year-olds, plenty enough for a bunch of 11 and
12's). Our troop sends younger Scouts to commercial show caves for
their trail tours, and since we only schedule caving trips about every
two years, after a 12 year old goes to a commercial cave, he's
generally eligible to go on the sport trip next time. Young Scouts
simply don't have the maturity to handle many of the challenges, both
physical and mental, that go along with sport caving if you intend to
go much beyond an entrance room. Our grotto leads "kids" trips with a
1 caver to no more than 2 kids ratio for the families in our grotto,
but we still stay within simple novice activities. This approach would
not work well with Scouts because only three or four Scouts could go
with a 1:2 ratio of cavers to novices.

Another question: Why won't cavers talk to me about taking my troop
caving? Well, it will be a lot easier if you read the above references
first, and plan to let them know that you will abide by their rules
for going underground. Remember, you're the one asking someone else to
do _you_ a favor, and possibly expose him- or herself to liability by
taking _your_ Scouts caving. No one has a "right" to go caving. Many
cavers are not willing to leave themselves hanging out like that. If
they have insurance, they're a target. If someone gets hurt, they have
to prove they weren't negligent, and if some judge or jury doesn't
understand the what the case is all about, they could lose everything
they own. Sound like fun? The BSA will not help them if they are not
registered Scouters, so most cavers are on their own with liability
coverage, and most probably have no more than their homeowner's
blanket policy, if that. Another reason is that so many Scoutmasters
seem to think that they know all about taking boys on adventure
activities, even if they've never done it themselves. Books and
literature are no substitute for experience when it comes to adventure
programming. You should no more take a group to the top of Denali
without years of experience than you should insist that someone else
take your crew underground. Realize that some cavers may not feel
qualified to lead a novice group underground. I've seen some excellent
underground group leaders, and some abysmal ones. Trust the caver if
he/she says they can't do (or won't) and offers no further
explanation. I don't like to admit when I can't do something, either.
Probably the biggest reason that cavers don't respond well to requests
to go caving is that they get so many. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts,
college (and high school) outdoor clubs, parks and recreation groups,
the list goes on. So, many grottos have said no more outside group
trips. They're just inundated. If you're the fifth call that night, I
think I'd be a little short, too. And finally, there's the question of
equipment. Cavers _have_ to be properly prepared to be safe in the
underground. Remember how long it takes to get an injured person out?
Where's the food and water? How about warmth and light? A lot of
cavers live on a shoestring caving budget, and cannot afford to outfit
12 other people with helmets with chinstraps and a light source, spare
lighting for each, and all the other things you need to be safe and
comfortable underground. Construction hardhats with string under the
chin will not cut it. $5 headlamps are OK only for the simple novice
activities. Packs need to be bigger than a wallet, and hold all the
correct stuff. It's mighty expensive if you're trying to equip a whole
crew.

If you do approach a caver, try to do it in person. If you are looking
for an educational experience, that just happens to be exciting,
that's a much better approach than "we wanna risk our lives exploring
the underground!!!!" attitude we as cavers see so often. The NSS Home
Page can help you find a grotto and contact near you. Go to a grotto
meeting. Meet some of the cavers. Maybe go caving with them, if you
can. Stress that you want to teach your Scouts something about caves
and caving, rather than coming off as a thrill seeker, and maybe
they'll talk to you. In any case, they're going to talk to you about
it on their terms. So accept that, and go from there. Cavers aren't
necessarily standoff-ish or cold. They just don't get approached in
the right way (I know from first hand experience!). Don't ask to camp
underground in a cave. Your Scouts can get the full caving experience
without spending a night underground. Few cavers will accept such a
request anyway. Little camping is ever done underground, except for
expedition style cave exploration where there is no choice. The reason
is cave conservation: how do you manage human wastes, trash, and body
heat warming the cave? What about drinking water? Lots of reasons to
camp in campgrounds and cave in caves.

Now what happens, if no one will take you caving? Well, you can keep
looking, perhaps contacting a another grotto, or another caver. Or you
can limit your trip to a commercial show cave. Some of these caverns
offer "wild" trips, typically for a fee. They are usually geared for a
lowest common denominator, and can be little more than exploring unlit
commercial trail, or they can venture out into undeveloped areas of
the cave, adding in something more than simple walking. A last resort
can be cave-for-pay operations. With cave for pay, it's a toss-up as
to what you get. Few "operators" carry liability insurance, and as
"commercial outfitters", they certainly should. Checking credentials
can be extremely hard. There is _no_ organization which "certifies"
cave trip leaders. With a profit motive, they are more likely to cut
corners with equipment and safety. They may or may not have permission
to be in a cave. Not many landowners are happy to have cave-for-pay
operations going on in their caves, and the discovery of trespassers
can be embarrassing and expensive for the operator and his charges.
And, you not likely to get any education in caving techniques. They
also seldom limit group sizes ($$$$$), and a huge group in a cave just
isn't going to have any fun.

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