Meetings and Trips

  • Meetings

    Meetings are typically held the third Wednesday of the month and include trip recaps, future events and trips, and a guest speaker or skill learning session. Meetings alternate locations between Basic City Brewery in Waynesboro and Pro Re Nata in Crozet.

  • Trips

    Group caving trips are organized by members and details are discussed at meetings as well as through the listserv. We organize grotto trips that are beginner friendly as well as more advanced and vertical trips.

  • Surveys and Projects

    Many Charlottesville Grotto members are involved in surveying caves and dig projects across Virginia and West Virginia. The best way to get involved with a cave project is to come to a meeting.

Officers

  • Casey Tucker - Chair

    Though I went into show caves and some wild cave trips as a youth in Boy Scouts, I really started caving in 2011 in Texas when I crawled, sans helmet, into Airman's Cave in Austin. I was hooked! After the city gated that cave, I found caving projects and opportunities with various caving organizations and grottos in central Texas. I learned to navigate vertical caves, how to survey, and spent lots of time digging. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

    I joined the Cville Grotto around 2017 when I moved to Staunton, VA. It was the closest non-student grotto that was active and had members involved in projects.

    I love surveying caves! Pushing passages and breaking into the unknown of virgin cave is an experience like none other. It is active exploration that really excites me. The caving community is also spectacular. The people involved are smart, fun, engaging, and a good time. Fun caves, fun people, and lots of type 2 fun for me! Project caving is my passion, and I love sharing that passion with others.

  • Blake Jordan - Vice Chair

    I started wild caving in 1992 in New Mexico at the GypKaP, the New Mexico Gypsum Karst Project and joined the Sandia Grotto in 1998. I became the GypKaP Director in 2002 and passed it to another caver in 2016.

    I moved to Virginia in the fall of 2017 and joined Cville Grotto in 2018, when the meetings were at Bill Murray’s place in Ivy. I was voted in as Chairman and served two years before being voted in as Vice-Chairman. I have been Vice-Chairman since the end of 2019.

    My favorite parts of caving are digging, survey, and the creation Speleological art. I also love exploring caves and like to dark adapt often or take small naps in the darkness. Caving recharges my life source batteries and is a great grounding activity!

  • Harriet Flynn - Secretary and Webmaster

    I first got to experience caving in 2016 and was hooked from the start! I went in six different caves in Virginia/ West Virginia and knew I wanted to keep exploring.

    After hearing from Casey about the Charlottesville Grotto, I joined in January of 2020, just in time for one group trip before we stopped meeting for a while.

    My favorite part of caving is taking new people in caves and watching them get to experience it for the first time.

  • Ed Smith - Chancellor of the exchequer (Treasurer)

    My first cave trip was in 1996 and I loved it. I joined the Charlottesville Grotto soon after.

    My favorite part of caving is the cave survey. We become citizen scientists doing fieldwork, collecting data and mapping caves. Along the way there's teamwork, shared trials (mostly small), and a collective pride in a job well done.

    A close second is having a pint or two with other cave-minded people at our club meetings.