texascavers Digest 19 May 2011 18:00:19 -0000 Issue 1313
Topics (messages 17807 through 17810):
Re: TSA-ANL, Facebook, and caving
17807 by: Mark.Alman.L-3com.com
17809 by: Gill Edigar
Re: Cave of Forgotten Dreams/Violet Crown Cinema - This Weekend!
17808 by: Mark.Alman.L-3com.com
report on Punkin Cave Survey Expedition #16
17810 by: Jim Kennedy
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--- Begin Message ---
Sounds like a great project at CBSP, Jim, so count me in!
Since it ain't broke, don't fix it, and stick with CaveTex AND the TSA
Calendar!
http://cavetexas.org/calendar/index.php
Please continue to post your upcoming trips and projects and if you need
help posting info to the TSA Calendar section, give me a shout.
Thanks!
Mark
(P.S. - I assume you renewed your TSA dues at Convention, David. The
last info I saw showed that they had expired. Just sayin'...)
From: Jim Kennedy [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 9:42 AM
To: CaveTex
Subject: [Texascavers] TSA-ANL, Facebook, and caving
David,
You are missing the forest for the trees. There already IS something
out there like you describe, and it works. It's called CaveTex. Look
at it this way, you have to have email to be on Facebook. If you have
email, and you are a caver, you SHOULD already be on CaveTex. So your
problem about people who are not on Facebook is solved! And let's face
it, in this modern information age, most of us have too many things we
are trying to keep track of already, so why create another? No point in
re-inventing the wheel. As for a paper copy, it does have a cost and is
not as timely. Like Justin, I, too, put in my stint as TSA-ANL editor.
The internet is much more responsive to last-minute announcements. And
yes, there are those who argue that some people don't want to be on
CaveTex any more because it isn't so much about caving sometimes,
instead degenerating to endless discussions about the east Texas cavers
picnic, Facebook, and your personal trials and tribulations. There is
an easy solution to that. Stop posting those things to CaveTex and just
post about caving. That way, more cavers want to be subscribed, and
your problem solves itself. To help accomplish that goal, I will now
turn this discussion to caving.
Yesterday I met with some TPWD officials at Colorado Bend State Park.
We have been working on a plan to re-gate Gorman Cave for a couple of
months now. This meeting was to do a final site inspection in the cave,
discuss some details about construction, and move forward on the actual
gating progress. You all may recall that Gorman Cave is one of the
largest maternity colonies for the cave myotis (Myotis velifer) in
Texas, and is also currently the only cave officially "closed" (by TPWD
Executive Order) in the face of the WNS threat in the entire state.
Part of the problem with Gorman Cave historically has been that the
current gate was built far into the cave and way past many of the
preferred bat roosts, and so does little to protect them. And even
though the cave is "closed" and heavily posted, occasional Park visitors
and neighbors from the private properties across the Colorado River from
the cave still sneak in. TPWD wants to better protect ALL the cave
resources, especially the bats, so we are building a new gate just
inside the cave where the two entrances meet. It will be a very
bat-friendly gate that we use on similar maternity colonies all across
the US, a special modification to the Basic Gate called a Window Gate.
It will be the first of its kind in Texas. We are planning to do the
majority of the work as the 8th National Cave Gating Workshop, where we
do the hands-on construction during the day and have informal lectures
in the evenings. We'll also need a lot of volunteers to help move work
on the trail, move steel and equipment, and set up for the actual
construction and workshop. Right now we are proposing that we start the
TSA Colorado Bend State Park Project one month earlier in the Fall,
starting in September this time, in order to pull together some manpower
to make this happen. Camping (tent as well as bunk space indoors) would
be at the Conference Center, and volunteers would be fed for the
weekend. This is still tentative at this point, awaiting final sign-off
for TPWD Headquarters, but I wanted to throw that out to everyone early
so that you can pencil it in on your calendars and hopefully plan to be
there and help out. As the summer progresses, I will post more updates
on both the gating workshop and also the weekend Project work.
Cave hard, and write about it often.
-- Crash
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
The TSA-ANL was instigated in order to pass current and upcoming information
to cavers in a timely manner (because The TEXAS CAVER was--for whatever
reason--not serving that function anymore. A quarterly publication is not
timely.). It was, basically, an advertisement for caving to Texas cavers
involving recent finds and upcoming events. Such an instrument would still
be useful if somebody wanted to do it--electronically. The same info can be
posted on CaveTex, FaceBook, Twitter and whatever else people are into.
It was my practice when editor of the ANL to subscribe to many other caving
forums: New Mexico, MVOR, NSS, VAR, MAR and others, including private groups
and monitor them for usable info. One I did not subscribe to but should have
was TAGNET. I would then glean information about the latest discoveries and
upcoming events, especially caving projects, regional gatherings such as
TCR, and other info of immediate interest to cavers. It was usually just a
headline, brief description, and a link of some sort (phone number, email
address, or internet). That could (& should) still be done. There is a lot
of caving going on out there in the world that would be interesting and
inspirational to Texas cavers. Many newer (and some older) cavers have not
the slightest clue of the caving infrastructure and hierarchy of the caving
world in the US, the Americas, or the world. The job itself is very
rewarding as it puts the editor in touch with lots of the other caver movers
and shakers and provides a useful service to Texas cavers (& other
subscribers) and to the various caving organizations in the State--Grottos,
projects, surveys, gatherings, etc.
One newsletter that is distributed via all the means of electronic
communication now available to us would do a lot to help cavers and caving
in Texas. Who wants to be the Info Guru for Texas these daze?
--Ediger
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Bob West is coordinating a group viewing of this excellent movie in Austin this
weekend.
If interested, give him a shout, as they still need a couple more folks in
order to get the discount.
Better to view as a group. Caver equipment optional.
Enjoy!
Mark
From: David Gil [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 12:53 PM
To: Alman, Mark @ SSG - WSG - EOS
Subject: RE: Cave of Forgotten Dreams/Violet Crown Cinema
Hi Mark,
you for passing the word along to your group. We offer $2 off each admission
ticket for a group of 10 or more. We offer reserved seating so the group could
sit together. Generally the group would pay for the tickets via the same credit
card. They could be picked up ahead of time or distributed prior to the
screening. Below are a list of showtimes that we can offer the discount for as
well as a link to the film's iMDB page:
11:00AM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=611>
12:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=612>
1:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=613>
2:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=614>
3:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=615>
4:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=616>
5:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=617>
6:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=618>
10:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=622>
11:00PM
<https://tickets.thevioletcrown.com/visinternetticketing/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=VCCA&txtSessionId=623>
* (*denotes weekend only)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1664894/
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
David Gil
Marketing Manager
Violet Crown Cinema
512.495.9600
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I apologize for the lateness of this post, but to help stimulate more
Cave Talk on CaveTex, I offer this belated report for your reading
enjoyment. Feel free to reprint or re-post in any appropriate forum.
-- Crash
Over the long Easter weekend, 21-24 April 2011, more than a dozen
cavers gathered once again at the plush TCMA fieldhouse in scenic Carta
Valley, Texas for another assault on Punkin Cave, the 9th longest and
28th deepest cave in Texas. Like its neighbor Deep Cave (16th longest
and 19th deepest), Punkin is a phenomenally complex cave of hypogene
origin. And both caves are owned by cavers, thanks to the Texas Cave
Management Association! (Hint, please join TCMA!)
We had nine cavers that were able to arrive Thursday evening and survey
Good Friday, a holiday for some. One team (Saj Zappitello, Matt
Zappitello, and Angela Edwards) pushed some high leads off Superstition
Maze, finding the largest column in the cave so far. They got 43.55m in
16 shots (2.72m/shot). Another team (Justin Shaw, Lee Jay Graves, Galen
Falgout) returned to the West Maze, surveying a few of the numerous
leads left in that area. Their total was 39.77m in 14 shots,
(2.84m/shot). My team (Jim Kennedy, Don Arburn, Ann Scott) pushed more
holes off Area 51, gaining another 67.22m in 25 shots (2.69m/shot).
When we got back to the cabin, we were greeted by the new arrivals,
showered and had a great dinner (as usual), and enjoyed a movie on the
big screen.
The next day we lost Ann "Office Arms" Scott, but were able to field 4
complete survey teams with the addition of the latecomers. Saj again
led her hubby Matt and Karen Masters back to Superstition Maze, grabbing
another 43.55m of survey in 13 shots (3.35m/shot). Justin continued
sketching in West Maze with Lee Jay, Galen, and Angela, adding 35.87m
more to the books in 17 shots (2.11m/shot). Dale Barnard made his
inaugaral visit to Punkin, and with Arron Wertheim and Vivian Loftin
were guided to more leads in Area 51 near Jim's survey. They did great,
and captured 82.48m in 26 shots (3.17m/shot). Next door, at least for a
while, was Jim and Don and Aubri Jenson, wrapping up more mop-up leads
before finally surveying a long down-trending tube that excluded Don
"Femur Boy" Arburn. Their total for the day was 86.93m in a whooping 33
shots (2.63m/shot), and making a new third lowest point in the cave.
Grilled salmon, new potatoes, cheesecake, and other delectable goodies
rewarded the tired but successful cavers that night. More movies were
shown, adult beverages were consumed, and everyone basked in the
comaraderie and great feeling that comes with such a sense of
accomplishment. I am indebted to all the wonderfully dedicated people
that come out on these survey trips, pitching in to help with meals and
cleanup, and making the weekends so productive and enjoyable.
Punkin Cave is still the 28th deepest cave in the state at 62.4m. The
seven survey teams added another 396.28m to the length of the cave in
144 shots, for an average of 2.75m per shot. This brings the cave to
3950.76m, STILL the 9th longest in Texas, but only 357m from passing
Cave Without a Name and moving up another notch. And we need to get
down only 16 more meters to be deeper than Deep! We estimate AT LEAST
another kilometer of passage remaining to be surveyed with just the
leads we have seen. But since every trip so far finds virgin cave, who
knows how long and deep it will eventually be? We are giving the cave a
break for the summer because we already saw substantial numbers of bats
in there on this trip (unusually early this year), but we will start up
again in the Fall. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!
--- End Message ---
