Vertical Caving course outline
Caving in general is either horizontal caving, where the cave is mostly explored without requiring ropes or any specialised equipment or vertical caving.
Vertical caving is achieved with a combination of rock climbing skills, rope rigging and vertical mobility with the use of specialised equipment designed to be used in the challenging environment that’s often present in cave systems. Cave systems are quite often gritty, wet, dark, sharp, places to explore which require a sound understanding of your limitations and the equipment required. Caving provides more adventure for any one persons lifetime if you choose to accept that challenge….
Day 1
8am – 10am
Introductions Timings Course Outline
Rough outline of the day
10am – 10:15
Break
10:15 – 12pm
What is vertical caving? Hazards, environment description and preservation, wildlife etc
12pm – 1pm
Break
1pm – 2pm
Personal Equipment and its uses
Basics of Software and hardware
Caving Environment and the effects on equipment, edges grime water etc
2pm – 3pm
Knots and their uses
3pm – 4pm
Optional knot session
Optional intro to anchor systems
Day 2
8am – 815am
Question time, questions from day before
(injuries, coping?)
Rough outline of the day
815 – 9am
Introduction to anchor systems and how they are used (specific to caving)
Types of anchor systems, primary? rebelays? Redirect? self equalizing, cordalette systems, bunny ears etc
9am – 10am
Practical session, building anchor systems
Intro to Setting up belay systems
Intro to pull through systems
10am – 10:15
Break
10:15 – 12pm
Setting up your harness (tails etc)
Jugging up and jugging down
Ascending on descender (small ascents)
Switching from jugging to abseiling
12pm – 1pm
Break
1pm – 3pm
(Continue previous session)
Knot bypass
Edge pro bypass
Redirect/diversion bypass
Rebelay bypass
(Touch on basic self rescue)
3pm – 4pm
Optional continue of previous session
Me gear ready for day 7am
Day 3
8am – 820am
Travel to training site
830am – 9am
Question time (injuries, coping?)
Rough outline of day
9am – 1030am
Basic SRT
Anchoring
Safety lines
Abseiling
Up down traverse
Edge pro placement
1030am – 1045am
Break
10:45am – 12pm
(Cont session)
12pm – 1pm
Break
1pm – 3pm
(Cont previous session)
Redirect/diversion bypassing
Rebelay/reanchor bypassing
Knot bypassing
Pull through systems
Ladder climbing and belays for and first man climb
3pm – 4pm
Optional continuation group depending
Day 4 Full day caving
8am depart for cave 1
Cave 1 is a carefully chosen cave, it will include a wide selection of challenges from tight squeezes and exposed edges to exposed climbs and various rigging tasks in real world conditions, however these will be avoidable allowing options if any of the participants struggle to overcome them. This way the following days caves can be planned accordingly to the participants strengths and weaknesses.
Generally cave days will be long, breaks will be regular however for short periods, generally 10-15mins each.
Lunch 12pm – 1pm
Timings on cave days can be varied from day to day depending on the groups efficiency and difficulty of the cave itself
Topics of days caving
-basic navigation map to ground outside
-basic treasure map style underground navigation, super highways, naming features, creating cans etc
-basic all round rope safety
-caving hazards, jumping, thin floors, dust etc
3pm – 5pm return to club house
530pm – 630pm
Optional sunset adventure
Generally we climb a karsk and watch the sunset
Day 5 Full day caving
Me gear ready for day 7am
8am Depart for cave 2
Cave 2 will be selected to test the group as a whole, discovering how well they work together as a group. This cave is more about the group itself than the cave and will allow us to choose the difficulty of the following days caves.
3pm – 5pm back to club house
Day 6 Full day caving
730am – 8am depart for cave
Cave 3, challenge day. This cave will be chosen to bring all the new skills learned on the course together on the one day.
4pm – 5pm return to club house
Debriefing, feedback, talk through people’s strengths and weaknesses. Ask for course feedback
Day 7
Optional caving day. Easier cave.
Skills
◦ Creating anchor systems
◦ Tying and selecting the appropriate knots
◦ Setting up personal PPE Tails descender etc
◦ Selecting equipment suitable for task
◦ Traversing safety lines horizontal and vertical
◦ Abseiling and use of munter to improv abseil
◦ Setup self belay backup VT, auto block, French etc
◦ Rigging pull through systems
◦ Self belay and belaying others
◦ Rope to rope transfer
◦ Caving ladders descend and ascend
◦ Ascending and descending fixed ropes using mechanical ascenders
◦ Basic self rescue
◦ Knot bypass ascending and descending
◦ Diversion/redirect bypass
◦ Re-belay/re-anchor bypass
◦ Edge pro bypass/placing edge pro
◦ Switching from ascent to rappel
Knots required
◦ Figure of 8
◦ Figure of 8 rethread
◦ Alpine butterfly
◦ Double overhand noose
◦ Double overhand stopper knot
◦ Bunny ears 8
◦ Clove hitch
◦ Half hitches (device tie off)
◦ Yosemite bowline
◦ Flemish bend with figure 8 in lower tail
◦ Yosemite Bowline with a bight
Also see:
—What to bring
—Gear lists rescue, personal, students, course related
—knots pdf study guide
—Personal ppe setup pdf study guide
—Basic anchors pdf study guide
—Cave conservation pdf study guide hazards etc, to do and not to do’s
Papers to see
—waiver and medical forms
—risk assessment
—activity plans
—activity maps