True Crime-Paranormal-Conspiracy Theories Stories Part V #Wattys2023

What Is Spelunking (Caving)?

Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment.

The challenges involved in caving vary according to the cave being visited; in addition to the total absence of light beyond the entrance, negotiating pitches, squeezes, and water hazards can be difficult. Cave diving is a distinct, and more hazardous, sub-speciality undertaken by a small minority of technically proficient cavers. In an area of overlap between recreational pursuit and scientific study, the most devoted and serious-minded cavers become accomplished at the surveying and mapping of caves and the formal publication of their efforts. These are usually published freely and publicly, especially in the UK and other European countries, although in the US, these are generally private.

Sometimes categorized as an "extreme sport", it is not commonly considered as such by longtime enthusiasts, who may dislike the term for its connotation of disregard for safety.

Many caving skills overlap with those involved in canyoning and mine and urban exploration.

Motivation

Caving is often undertaken for the enjoyment of the outdoor activity or for physical exercise, as well as original exploration, similar to mountaineering or diving. Physical or biological science is also an important goal for some cavers, while others are engaged in cave photography. Virgin cave systems comprise some of the last unexplored regions on Earth and much effort is put into trying to locate, enter and survey them. In well-explored regions (such as most developed nations), the most accessible caves have already been explored, and gaining access to new caves often requires cave digging or cave diving.

One old technique used by hill people in the United States to find caves worth exploring was to yell into a hole and listen for an echo. On finding a hole, the size of which did not matter, the would-be cave explorer would yell into the opening and listen for an echo. If there was none, the hole was just a hole. If there was an echo, the size of the cave could be determined by the length and strength of the echoes. This method is simple, cheap, and effective. The explorer could then enlarge the hole to make an entrance. Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, used the yelling technique to find caves in Kentucky when he was a boy. Since caves were dark, and flashlights had not been invented, Lewis, and other explorers, made torches out of knots of pine tree branches. Such torches burned a long time and cast a bright light.

Caving, in certain areas, has also been utilized as a form of eco and adventure tourism, for example in New Zealand. Tour companies have established an industry leading and guiding tours into and through caves. Depending on the type of cave and the type of tour, the experience could be adventure-based or ecological-based. There are tours led through lava tubes by a guiding service (e.g. Lava River Cave, the oceanic islands of Tenerife, Iceland and Hawaii).

Caving has also been described as an "individualist's team sport" by some, as cavers can often make a trip without direct physical assistance from others but will generally go in a group for companionship or to provide emergency help if needed. Some however consider the assistance cavers give each other as a typical team sport activity.

Etymology

The term Potholing refers to the act of exploring potholes, a word originating in the north of England for predominantly vertical caves.

Caving in the north of England, an area that is also popular for pothole exploring

Clay Perry, an American caver of the 1940s, wrote about a group of men and boys who explored and studied caves throughout New England. This group referred to themselves as spelunkers, a term derived from the Latin spēlunca ("cave, cavern, den"), itself from the Greek σπῆλυγξ spēlynks ("cave"). This is regarded as the first use of the word in the Americas. Throughout the 1950s, spelunking was the general term used for exploring caves in US English. It was used freely, without any positive or negative connotations, although only rarely outside the US.