Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Caving, the MIT way”.
[, MUSIC PLAYING ], JOSHUA NOGUERA, Rappel down a rope just like in video games or spy movies., EUGENIYA ARTEMOVA, It’s almost like you’re floating in mid-air. ANHAD SAWHNEY Descending into the cave, was a pretty magical, moment. RHIN! There’S this whole wall full of spiders., [, MUSIC, PLAYING ], JOSHUA NOGUERA. The caving club is a student organization that focuses on exploring all types of cool caves in the Northeastern area. EUGENIYA ARTEMOVA.
It’S a really fun activity to do that doesn’t have p-sets or the stress of schoolwork, but it’s really fun.. You get to do it with friends. And you’re thinking about vastly different things. JOSHUA NOGUERA.
I really enjoy the Caving Club because it’s a way for me to escape from academics and challenge myself physically and technically in a new skill. RHIN. It would be terrifying to do it alone, but I guess having the Caving Club and having all the practices is important to go into a cave.. You want to make sure everyone you’re with you trust., ANHAD SAWHNEY, So all of the skills that we learn in the staircase practices..
We actually will eventually go out and use them in the real world. JOSHUA NOGUERA. At one of these beginner to repel sessions.
We show you how to get all geared up, how to put on the proper caving club, gear., EUGENIYA, ARTEMOVA And then we’ll go through and we’ll start with the basics.. So just how to go down on a rope and how to go up on a rope. So they can start moving., ANHAD SAWHNEY.
So all the gear that we use in Caving Club is caving gear. And this can be taken into a vertical cave. Where you have to rig ropes and repel down into the cave. EUGENIYA ARTEMOVA, Then we move to more difficult things, such as how to switch from going up to going down. And even more advanced sessions. We can get to more complex things that might come in useful in a cave.
RHIN, Mainly two different types of caves that we go to horizontal caves and vertical caves. Vertical caves require the entrance is a long drop into it, and so that’s why we need to Use the ropes to safely descend and enter the cave and to leave the cave. ANHAD SAWHNEY, So we went to a cave in January..
It was called Pompey’s Cave in New York.. This is one of the only caves you can visit in the winter, because there are no bats that are hibernating in there. RHIN.
There is this little hole and we were trying to wiggle ourselves and our cave packs into it., And there is a light shining down from the top and that’s the only source of natural light.. Everything else is pitch black. ANHAD SAWHNEY. So when we got down into the cave, we saw that there was an underground river that flowed through the whole thing., And so we started exploring following the path that the river took., So we had to grab onto the rocks on the side, try and keep ourselves Out of the water, because the water was extremely cold, since it was a snow melt.. So we explored along the sides of the cave looking at the different rock formations., And there was actually some wildlife that we found in there. Some cave spiders that were crawling along the walls.
And also there were roots from the plants that were growing on the surface, were hanging into the cave. RHIN. The reason why we have a vertical practices – and all of these, like ropes, things – is to help prepare for the vertical caves., Because here some things that you really have to focus on. What’S right in front of you, because it literally is like your life – is in your own hands.
And having to have that very single-minded focus and kind of escapism is very valuable.. [ MUSIC PLAYING ] .