The first trip of the year proved to be a stunning success, 9 freshers down two different caves, enjoying the varied environments possible underground.
Saturday night ended in a super-duper game of Presidents & Arseholes in the pub.

Dave Loeffler's report of Hidden Earth (BCRA) 2006 in Leek.

While most people in the caving club did something sensible this summer, such as caving, or caravan'ing in Hull, Tetley & Jarv decided to go for a jaunt around the Atlantic in a stupidly small 26 foot sailboat. And after having survived the crossings, fought with the dolphins & endured each other's fine company in a telephone-box sized living space, what did they do at the paradise islands they visited?

Why, they went underground of course!

This summer a few of us went to Austria to do some expedition caving and gawp at the locals wearing traditional Dimdl and Lederhosen. On another level to caving in Britain: longer, deeper and harder, but all possible with just a year of caving experience.

A brand new cave was found and explored to 150 metres deep, twice the height of Queens Tower, and is still going strong, with a 50 metre pitch at the end waiting to be dropped...

We've just finished the final draft for our 1994-2005 report on our summer expeditions to Western Slovenia. With One-Hundred and Ninety-Nine pages covering over a decade - its a story of nearly a man-century of effort by IC cavers and Slovenian cohorts overcoming challenges to find and explore caves deeper than the tallest buildings in the world..

Join this club, learn a crack collection of skills during the weekend trips and then you too could be joining us in summer 2007 to explore these "caverns measureless to man".

This is the last edit before producing a bound-copy sometime in late 2006. And corrections, improvements, cartoons & etc. gratefully received.

Our last minibus-full trip of the year was an absolutely lovely jaunt down to Devon. Caves were short but great muddy fun, ideal BBQ weather and a pleasent campsite up on a hill above a beautiful abbey. Also truly the Mecca of cream teas.
Why can't it always be June?

A long weekend up at the NPC hut in the Yorkshire Dales. The two freshers were introduced to SRT on a tree on Saturday and were doing a 100m+ cave on the Sunday, now that's rapid improvement!

An Easegill exchange, a trip to West Kingsdale and a stop in the inglesport cafe, what more could you want from a weekend? A slowly accumulating pile of trip reports and a few choice photos.

A brief interruption to drudgery of Easter revision, with a day-trip to some subterranean WWII fortifications in Kent. Amazing preservation & complexity, these catacombs stretched from the eroding cliff face, to blocked-off stone staircases that would appear to end up just below the wine-cellars of some rather well-to-do houses. Cream tea enjoyed on the cliff-top, fossils hunted on the flint beach, and a rather pleasant time had by all. A few photos, more to come.

Summary: Your new, bonny-eyed, 2006/2007 committee are:
President: Sandeep Mavadia
Treasurer: David Loefler
Secretary: Daniel Greenwald

For Evans' Sake Award (Creative Use of a Bodily Fluid): Rik Venn for his horrific Washing-up-glove hi jinx down Maskhill mine.
Herman Hertz Award (Close Shave Caving Experience): David Wilson for the lucky escape that was 'Coach Crash' Dig, Area K, Tolminski Migovec, Slovenia.

With the threat of finals looming, and the realisation of just how much time helping to run this club has taken over the last two years, I am pretty much standing down this week. So long, and thanks for all the mud! Jarv

Lovely little run up to Derbyshire, a good 4 trips run in the Castleton area, Orpheus hut & people were as lovely as ever.

Trip Tag-line: 'Rattle Rattle Rattle' goes the boulder choke of doom