Cavechat.org

Hi,

A friend and myself are looking to hire a guide for a long weekend trip coming up. We're looking for a guide to suggest a cave they are familiar with. We're both 30, in good shape, small build, and looking for something adventurous (rappelling?) despite having not caved/spelunked prior.

We're travelling from Toronto and willing to drive a considerable distance. Up until now we've considered anywhere between Northern Ontario, Quebec, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Please contact me if this is something you're interested in.

Thanks in advance!
josh & sumit

Have you rappelled before? More importantly, have you ever ascended a rope?

Who needs to hire a guide when there's a beginner-friendly caving group right in the Toronto area?

http://www.trigger.net/~tcg/index.htm

I know some of them regularly travel to areas further south so the possibility of seeing even bigger caves than what Ontario has to offer is definitely there.

Thanks for the responses :) I've rappelled while rock climbing indoors several times but not in real settings. And no, haven't ascended. Interested to learn tho :)

Luke, thanks for the link. I'd had that recommended by another person as well and have emailed several of the contacts on there. They're heading to Moira on the same weekend and are able to bring beginners but its mentioned that you should have 2 prior caving experiences.

At the moment I'm looking at organized tours in Kentucky (Mammoth Caves).
Fingers crossed & thanks again.

How did you go with caving? My girlfriend and I will be area soon and thinking of doing the same

I went with a friend to Mammoth in August for the Wild Cave Tours and it was really great! Yes, going with a private guide to some nitty-gritty locations would be more adventurous but the reviews on trip advisor were pretty good. As a physically fit 29 year old I expected it to be a lot more of a walk through the park. If you've got a background in spelunking than you might be expecting more but thats not to discredit what Mammoth has to offer.

Only thing i would have liked to have included is some rappelling and muddy situations. That said, there were times when you couldn't rotate your helmet to change the way you were looking bc the squeeze was too tight (which i personally really enjoyed).

Bring a disposable camera if thats your thing. The tour says you can't but you can and i wish i had one.

There is an active caving club in Toronto. I cave with them when I was out that way last year. I PM'd you the contact info for the people who took me. There are quite a few small caves (not fancy, definitly not like Mammoth) nearby - Rockwood, Pierre, Rattlesnake 1 & 2...I know one of the Rattlesnakes was closed by the Ontario peeps as it has bats and I'm not sure the current status. Anyway, cute small caves, no pretties really but good if you just wanna get underground and muddy. They do regular trips out to larger systems in Ontario, so for those you could easily get rides with other Toronto cave club members. Here is their website http://www.trigger.net/~tcg/ Members of that club also actively cave in West Virginia. It's a pretty active group.

Like I said, I PM'd you the emails for my contacts there, but the website should help as well. They do pretty regular vertical training I do believe too, off Rattlesnake Point I think.