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Re: 2013 NCRC National Seminar - Schoharie NY

PostPosted: Dec 20, 2012 8:39 pm
by Carl Amundson
Just signed up for the 2013 NCRC Weeklong.
It should be a lot of fun. :big grin:

Re: 2013 NCRC National Seminar - Schoharie NY

PostPosted: Dec 20, 2012 11:44 pm
by Stridergdm
junkman wrote:Just signed up for the 2013 NCRC Weeklong.
It should be a lot of fun. :big grin:



Glad to see that!

See you there!

Re: 2013 NCRC National Seminar - Schoharie NY

PostPosted: Jan 16, 2013 12:44 pm
by Patrick Wilson
I hope this is held close to TAG again in the coming years sooner than later. I'll be on board!

Re: 2013 NCRC National Seminar - Schoharie NY

PostPosted: Jan 16, 2013 2:06 pm
by Stridergdm
Patrick Wilson wrote:I hope this is held close to TAG again in the coming years sooner than later. I'll be on board!


Well it's been at TAG 3 out of the last 5 years I believe.

I would highly recommend if you can, make it up this way anyway. You'll experience some different caves and still a great class.

In 2014 it's in Colorado (I'll be going, just to get some alpine caving experience in!)

2015, I don't know about.

In the future, if things go as designed (which never happens :-) it should be in TAG every 4 years or so.

Re: 2013 NCRC National Seminar - Schoharie NY

PostPosted: Jan 19, 2013 10:40 am
by Patrick Wilson
Stridergdm wrote:
Patrick Wilson wrote:I hope this is held close to TAG again in the coming years sooner than later. I'll be on board!


Well it's been at TAG 3 out of the last 5 years I believe.

I would highly recommend if you can, make it up this way anyway. You'll experience some different caves and still a great class.

In 2014 it's in Colorado (I'll be going, just to get some alpine caving experience in!)

2015, I don't know about.

In the future, if things go as designed (which never happens :-) it should be in TAG every 4 years or so.


Yeah, unfortunately I wasn't quite ready to take it on in recent years. NY is just too far for me at this time. The next time it's closer, I'm there.

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #10

PostPosted: Feb 6, 2013 12:36 am
by Stridergdm
In the great tradition of David Letterman:

Live, from the home office in Quaker Street, NY

The Top 10 Reasons you should come to 2013 Week-Long in Schoharie NY

10) Cave in a part of country and add NY to your "have caved in State" bucket list.

:bananabat:

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #9

PostPosted: Feb 6, 2013 8:43 pm
by Stridergdm
Our cave maps can fit on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper. At 1:1 scale.

:woohoo:

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #8

PostPosted: Feb 7, 2013 8:41 pm
by Stridergdm
8) Weather in NY is beautiful in July.

Honestly. It's great that time of year. Not too hot, not to cold.

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #7

PostPosted: Feb 11, 2013 7:38 am
by Stridergdm
After a weekend hiatus:

7) Easy access to multiple airports, Interstates and Amtrak. So travel is cheap.

Seriously. We have Southwest at Albany.
Jet Blue at Newburgh and Syracuse.
And of course most other major airlines at nearby airports.

And if you've never taken Amtrak from NYC up along the Hudson, you're in for a treat. (Of course I've only taken this trip a few hundred times, so I may be a bit biased!)

And of course we're near major highways so you can drive, bike, etc.

Seriously, travel should be relatively inexpensive.

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #6

PostPosted: Feb 12, 2013 8:17 am
by Stridergdm
6) Learn from some great instructors.

This is one I can't emphasize enough. The folks you learn from are literally among the best in the nation at this.

But I want to add, besides what you'll learn in the classroom or the field, you'll learn a lot from the one-on-one discussions you'll end up having over dinner with various instructors.

I should point out too that none of the instructors get paid to teach. This is all strictly volunteer time. And in fact, in theory, if the budget comes up short, instructors might be asked to kick in some money to help cover their expenses. So not only are they not getting paid, there's the chance they might have to PAY for the privilege of teaching. This shows dedication.

If they can make it, why can't you?

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #5

PostPosted: Feb 13, 2013 8:01 am
by Stridergdm
5) Meet a lot of great people from around the country.

This is one of the reasons I love to go to Week-long. I've met folks from almost every state, plus Puerto Rico and a couple of additional countries. I've driven to a week-long in New Mexico from New York. So folks definitely are willing to travel quite a bit to get here.

Where will you be coming from?

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #4

PostPosted: Feb 14, 2013 6:30 pm
by Stridergdm
4) You don't know what a Stiphon is.

Note Stiphons are an advanced item only taught in Level 2.

:woohoo:

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #3

PostPosted: Feb 15, 2013 7:36 am
by Stridergdm
#3 You want to see the views of the Catskills while tied into a Ferno litter while hanging over the side of a cliff.

And remember, those folks holding the line that's hold you up are your friends. Right?


(that's about right for the color I think.)

Top 10 Reasons to come to 2013 Week-long #2

PostPosted: Feb 18, 2013 8:57 am
by Stridergdm
2) You've got nothing better to do for a week than go caving and play on rope.

Ok, truth is not all week is spent in the cave or on rope (though that could be fun too!)

But the recent upgrades and changes to the curriculum do put more emphasis on field and cave exercises and less emphasis on sitting your butt in a chair.

This is especially true of the Team Operations and Field Exercises (TOFE) class. This is open to folks who have passed Level II or Level III in the past couple of years.

Also this year we plan on offering a "Level II-Medical" class that will refresh Level II skills and includes a 2 day Wilderness First Aid course and a 1/2 day Psychological First Aid class. In addition, this will renew your eligibility for Level 3. (You must have taken the standard Level 2 course previously.)

Re: 2013 NCRC National Seminar - Schoharie NY

PostPosted: Feb 19, 2013 8:21 pm
by Stridergdm
1) You might learn some skills that save your life or someone else's life someday.

While it's fun to make a top 10 list about weeklong and it's fun to attend a weeklong, quite seriously, you will learn skills that may save your life or someone else's life.

Part of the reason I went to my first OCR and later weeklong was because I realized it would be hypocritical of me to go caving and expect someone else to be willing to go into a cave to rescue me if I was in trouble if I wasn't willing to go in to rescue them.

Ours is a small world and in most places the only rescue teams are your fellow cavers. Wouldn't you want them trained so they know what to do? I bet they'd hope for the same from you.