“Cave Camp is where cavers of all experience levels come together to teach and learn from each other in a super cool way! You can enjoy a jam packed weekend full of hands-on workshops, over a dozen caving trips, and a keynote speech by Bill Steele!”
ROTARY CAMP, MONARCH MT
OCTOBER 6, 7, & 8 of 2017
The NRMG’s Annual CAVE CAMP will take place from October 6th through October 8th, 2017. Whether you’re a veteran caver, or a first time explorer, we welcome you to join us!
COST (buy tickets now)
TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT AS OF 7/12/17. To add yourself to the waiting list please use the CONTACT US link and let us know how many people to put on the waiting list! We do expect a few folks to cancel so get on the list ASAP!
$95 per adult
$35 per youth aged 13-17 (must be accompanied by an adult)
$25 per child 12 and under (must be accompanied by an adult)
This includes a mattress and a box spring in a heated cabin for Friday and Saturday night, food and drink for the entire weekend, and a FREE synthetic limited edition Cave Camp t-shirt!!
WHERE THE HECK IS MONARCH? WHY MONARCH MONTANA?
Monarch is centrally located in our great state. But most importantly, it’s near many of the classic Montana caves! Want to visit our deepest cave that doesn’t require rope? No problem. How about a cave with 2 vertical drops, each over 150′ deep? That’s nearby! Want to push muddy squeezes, or see the largest underground room in the state? It’s all right here! And in Montana standards, it’s a “close” drive for everyone!
Billings – 3 hours, 13 minute
Bozeman – 2 hours, 23 minutes
Butte – 2 hours, 52 minutes
Helena – 2 hours, 13 minutes
Great Falls – 0 hours, 48 minutes
Missoula – 3 hours, 28 minutes
Whitefish – 4 hours, 15 minutes
Lovell, WY – 4 hours, 28 minutes
Calgary, AB – 5 hours, 38 minutes
Custer, SD – 8 hours, 15 minutes
Salt Lake City, UT – 8 hours, 11 minutes
Seattle, WA – 10 hours, 38 minutes
Denver, CO – 11 hours 25 minutes
WEEKEND ITINERARY (Subject to change)
Friday October 6th:
9:00 am to 1:00 pm – Lick Creek Cave Annual Cave Cleanup
1:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Setup, registration, and check-in at Rotary Camp
4:00 pm to 4:30 pm – Raising of the NRMG flag
4:30 pm to 6:30 pm – Speleolympics qualifiers for vertical caving section
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm – Dinner (see menu here)
7:30 pm to bat:30 – Jam session (bring your instruments!)
Saturday October 7th:
6:30 am to 7:30 am – Begin drinking coffee
7:00 am to 8:00 am – Breakfast (see menu here)
8:00 am to 8:30 am – Welcome to Cave Camp! (group)
8:30 am to 12:00 pm – AM Workshops
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm – Lunch (see menu here)
1:00 pm to 2:00 pm – Afternoon Demonstrations (group)
2:00 pm to 5:30 pm – PM Workshops (see list here)
5:30 pm to 6:30 pm – Dinner (see menu here), End of Silent Auction
6:30 pm to 7:00 pm – Keynote Speech
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm – Speleolympic Finals!
8:30 pm to bat:30 – Socializing
Sunday October 8th:
7:00 am to 7:30 am – Begin drinking coffee
7:30 am to 8:30 am – Breakfast (see menu here)
8:30 am to 8:45 am – Speleolympics Awards Ceremony!
8:45 am to 9:00 am – Pack up, clean up the camp, and get ready for CAVING!!
9:00 am to late afternoon – Break into groups of 4-6 people, and head out for your alpine caving trip! There are dozens of caves nearby! There will be restoration trips, photography trips, surveying trips, and more! Sign up for the trip you want when you check-in.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER AND SPECIAL GUEST BILL STEELE
Bill Steele started caving as a teenager while in the Boy Scouts in the early 60s. He joined the NSS at age 16 in 1964. He’s a fellow of the NSS and a recipient of their Lew Bicking Award,Certificate of Merit, and Arts and Letters Award.
Bill caved actively in Montana in the 70s at Silvertip Peak and Green Fork Falls Cave (Scapegoat System). He credits Silvertip caving with starting him down the path of exploring deep multi-drop caves, which led him to Mexico and now as co-leader Proyecto Espeleologico Sistema Huautla (PESH), which fields annual expeditions to Sistema Huautla, the deepest cave in the Western Hemisphere.
He is active with The Explorers Club and is a Fellow Emeritus member of it. He retired in 2014 after a long, successful career with the Boy Scouts of America, at the conclusion of which he was national director of Alumni Relations and the National Eagle Scout Association.
Bill is author of two caving books, “Yochib: The River Cave” and “Huautla: Thirty Years in One of the World’s Deepest Caves”. In retirement, he is writing two more books, one about his experiences with the Boy Scouts and the other his caving memoirs. He spends most of the rest of his time caving in Texas, organizing Huautla expeditions , travelling the world as a speaker on cruise ships, and spending time with his five grandkids.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We have the beautiful Rotary Camp in Monarch, MT. This facility contains:
-A main lodge capable of seating 100 people. The great room contains a fireplace and piano, and is over 2,500 square feet! At night, this will be a community hangout area
-Nine cabins, each with 11 single beds (not bunked) with mattresses. No linens are provided. There will be 3 late-night cabins and 3 quiet/family cabins.
-A bathhouse with 9 showers (4 men, and 5 women), 5 toilets for women & 5 for men.
-A few acres of tent space, with some spots right next to Belt Creek
-A fire-pit complete with stadium seating and firewood provided
-A 20′ tall pavilion capable of seating 100 people outdoors!
If you’re looking for more privacy or alone time, there’s always Cougar Canyon Lodge and Escape only 6 miles away! However, we’re hoping you can stay the whole weekend 🙂
FOOD & DRINK (Subject to change)
We are excited to announce that, through various brewery sponsors, we will have FREE BEER FOR ALL ATTENDEES of legal drinking age!!
-Our menu may evolve as we secure more sponsors and funding. If you eat the food of 3 people or have special dietary restrictions, please consider bringing some of your own food. With that in mind, check out the latest revision of the menu below:
WHAT TO BRING
-Overnight kit including blankets, pajamas, toiletry items, extra clothes, etc
-WINTER CLOTHES. We’ll be outside at times and it could be chilly out there!
-Vertical Gear, Gloves, and Helmet to compete in the contests
-[optional] tent or some other form of shelter
-[optional] winter sleeping bag
—–[If you plan to go caving] bring clean and decontaminated caving gear including:
-helmet
-caving pack/backpack
-3 sources of light, preferably headlamps
-gloves and other in-cave clothing (caves are ~40 degrees F)
-change of clothes for after the cave
-vertical gear (if you don’t have it, there are still many horizontal caves)
-hiking shoes (A cave trip might be 0.5-6 miles round trip)
-water bottle
ONLY BRING CLEAN AND DECONTAMINATED GEAR. NO CAVE DIRT. PERIOD.
TRAVEL
There are no major facilities or shopping centers nearby, so bring what you need! The camp can be accessed by any vehicle, including most low-clearance passenger vehicles. The final one-mile-long gravel section has some serious potholes, so you’ll need to travel very slow and carefully. Some cave trips may require a high-clearance vehicle.
TICKETS
TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT AS OF 7/12/17. To add yourself to the waiting list please use the CONTACT US link and let us know how many people to put on the list! We do expect a few folks to cancel so get on the list ASAP!
We want Cave Camp to be affordable FOR EVERYONE! That’s why we have multiple levels of coupon codes:
–$20 off for an NRMG OR NSS Member – Use Coupon Code NRMG
–$40 off for NRMG (click here for code) or NSS Member who Volunteers (cooking, cleaning, etc) – Email nrmgadmin[at]nrmg.org for code
–$60 off for NRMG or NSS Members who lead hands-on workshops – Email nrmgadmin[at]nrmg.org for code
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WORKSHOPS AND INSTRUCTORS
Many highly experienced cavers from across Montana and the entire US are planning to attend to provide personalized, hands-on instruction! The names in bold below are our instructors!
CONFIRMED ATTENDEE LIST
MAP
Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us direct at nrmgadmin[at]nrmg.org
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