Outside Adventure Grants 1999 winning proposal
March 1, 1999

Dear Outside Adventure Grant,

Since before the days of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn young boys have sought adventure in caves. Our adventure carries on this tradition of young cave explorers. Only instead of dragging a string to find our way out, we would be mapping and methodically documenting caves in the Guadeloupe Mountains. The plateau surrounding Madonna Cave in New Mexico's Guadeloupe Mountains, located in the Lincoln National Forest, which borders Carlsbad Caverns National Park, is riddled with caves. We would, like Huck and Tom, spend two to three days away from "home" examining each one of these beautiful and exciting cave systems.

Just prior to the expedition, a small plane would be helpful to take aerial photographs in order to locate both documented and undocumented cave entrances. A few of the less remote caves in this area are gated to prevent vandalism. Consequently, we would obtain permits to enter as many of the gated caves as possible. We would then establish an above ground level base camp on the plateau surrounding Madonna Cave near the highest concentration of entrances shown on the aerial photos or near a large, reasonably well-known cave. We would spend three weeks going on two to three day expeditions into the various caves surrounding our base camp. This is an exciting prospect for all of us. One of the reasons some of these caves have not been explored is they are technical, requiring a lot of heavy equipment to be hauled up to and into them. The uniqueness of these caves is demonstrated by their decorations. They contain speleothems that took as long to form as there are superlatives to describe them, stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, gypsum crystals, and mind blowing pools.

Nate Fuller: I love caving, climbing, and backcountry skiing. I have climbed the Grand Teton and Mt. Owen, consequently I am well versed with the equipment needed in the vertical world, and have utilized this with caving. My first caving experience, outside of tourist caves, was our local Fossil Mountain Ice Cave. Its floor is completely covered by smooth ice so crampons are necessary for merely walking. More recently, I have twice traversed from the entrance of the Fossil Mountain Ice Cave to the exit of the Wind Cave, and rappelled into other local caves such as Plank's Pit, Rendezvous Peak Pit, and Three Piton Cave. However, my caving experience is not limited to local caves. I have spent ten hours in Groaning Cave and six in Fulford Cave, both of which are in Colorado.

David Kaplan: I have been climbing since I turned six, and first went spelunking when I was thirteen. On my first trip, the Fossil Mountain Ice Cave/Wind Cave Traverse, three adults and myself were forced to spend twenty-four hours in the cave due to a rigging problem. Luckily, we managed to get back out the upper entrance and did not need a rescue. Since that night I have completed the traverse twice. My passion for spelunking is relentless, and exploring the depths of a possibly new and well decorated cave to promote protection and awareness of all caves (by taking pictures and giving presentations) would be the greatest accomplishment of my life.

Scott McCoy: Being raised in Jackson, Wyoming, I have a natural love for the outdoors and a burning desire to find new places untouched by humans. I have climbed since I was ten and picked up a number of other sports along the way including, skiing, kayaking, hiking, and biking. My caving experience is limited to the paths of Carlsbad Caverns. The decorations and structures I observed within were magnificent and I have always wanted to see more. Although I have done very little caving, my climbing experience and endless drive to explore will transfer directly to this adventure.

Ryan Talermo: Throughout my life, I have been intrigued by the outdoors. My climbing experience began when I was twelve on the rock faces in New Hampshire. Since then I have climbed the Grand Teton and other local mountains. My first caving experience came three years ago when my step-dad took me on the Fossil Mountain Ice Cave/Wind Cave traverse. We spent six hours in the actual cave, and ever since my desire to explore caves has only grown stronger. My passion for the outdoors is incredibly strong, and I feel that the experience of finding and exploring caves as a group would be the crowning glory of my experiences in nature.

The four of us have known each other since grade school, and will all be seventeen this summer. We've all grown up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a town geared toward the outdoor enthusiast. It is impossible to live in a town like this and not spend time in the mountains climbing, skiing, or caving. We spend even more time than most people in the mountains exploring and enjoying life without bounds. The Tetons offer challenges for all abilities, so we have been able to establish a solid base of climbing skills and steadily build upon it. The experience of living in the mountains has changed the way all of us live and play. Because we live in such a unique place, we all have caving experience with ropes, establishing anchors, jumaring, and rappelling or have enough climbing experience with these techniques to be able to apply them to caving.

Local caves we have explored are exciting and amazing, but none have the exceptional features or enormous rooms caves are known for. We have all visited tourist caves with paved walkways and a guide. Looking back there would have been nothing more exciting than to get off the trail and see everything the tour left out. The caves in the Guadeloupe Mountains are some of the largest and most heavily decorated caves in the world. Unfortunately, a few caves in this area are reasonably easy to access so some rock collectors and sellers have taken or vandalized their irreplaceable formations. People have also left trash in these caves, and part of our adventure would include cleaning any overused areas of these caves. These and all caves should be protected from this kind of ignorance and greed. Education on how and why people should preserve caves is something we intend to do upon our return to society.

The practice we need for a large trip like this, including rope work and spelunking, can be obtained locally in the Fossil Mountain Ice Cave. It is very technical, requiring at least six hours of concerted effort including: wading, rappelling, scrambling, and jumaring (it is also at eight thousand feet with a three mile approach). This cave would give us a chance to experiment on how we work together as a team in a cave and how any new equipment (carbide lanterns, powerful electrical lights, static rope, ascenders, harnesses, clothing, food, and sleeping bags/pads) performs best. The caves near Madonna Cave are steep and require techniques such as rappelling and jumaring. The Fossil Mountain Ice Cave traverse requires at least five rappels and one jumar, or it can be done both ways to provide for six rappels and six jumar sessions. We would also practice our conservation tactics by carrying out all human waste and cleaning up any trash, as this is the best way to preserve a cave.

Most of the caves we intend to visit have little human activity because they are either gated and a permit is hard to obtain or they are little known caves in remote areas. This means that most interested people will never get a chance to witness the beauty they hold for themselves. David Kaplan is a photographer with high quality equipment, experience, and the ability to develop his own pictures. He, along with the rest of us, will document our trip with writing and film. Nate Fuller has had considerable experience with video cameras and television production. He will take a small camcorder to help document our adventure. We would enjoy immensely the chance to give slide and video presentations in our area or even other places around the country in order to display the beauty these and other caves have to offer if they remain safe from human destruction.

The presentations we give when we return will stress how conservation and responsible spelunking are the key to preventing their destruction so they will always be like they were when two certain boys from the 1800s first saw them. We will educate people on the problems that collection, vandalism, graffiti, and litter have caused in the past. We will remind them of how amazing caves or sections of caves are closed to the interested because of fear of destruction of the most beautiful, and most delicate, formations. We intend to raise awareness of the environmental peril caves face by not only giving presentations to small groups, but to the world through your magazine and the Internet. Unfortunately until everyone is aware of how delicate caves are we would probably have to be general in describing the location of these caves in order to protect them. The ultimate goal of our expedition is to protect all caves by heightening respect through awareness.

Thank you,
Nate Fuller
David Kaplan
Scott McCoy
Ryan Talermo