andrewmcleod
Well-known member
Despite moving to a 4 week expedition this year so we'd have more places, we've been a victim of our own success this year and places filled up by February without even advertising (which wasn't the plan) so the expedition is full and has been for a couple of months. However, we've had one caver drop out, and that caver had been awarded an Alex Pitcher award by Ghar Parau.
We like to support young cavers and new expedition cavers, so we always try and get as many as we can on the expedition who are 'Alex Pitcher' eligible (and then apply for the award for them) - we also encourage cavers who would be eligible if it wasn't for their nationality (e.g. Irish cavers, who can often apply for the SUI equivalent). Since the caver who dropped out was one of these young new cavers, we would like to try and replace them with another caver in a similar position. Note that since the GPF application has already been submitted, we can't apply for a new Alex Pitcher award for this caver, but they would still get the usual £50 exped fee discount for being U25 (and additional support might be possible from us).
So:
We currently have one place for a caver who:
- Is either a UK citizen or resident in the UK and a BCA member
- Is under 25 at the time of the expedition
- Has not been on an expedition abroad before
And:
- Is SRT-competent - our cavers are nearly all vertical and while the Dachstein is a great place to _improve_ your SRT skills, it is not a great place to learn how to do rebelays etc.
- Ideally can attend our expedition training at the YSS on the 6/7th June
Obviously as a caver new the expedition, we don't expect people to have any experience with bolting, surveying etc. The ability to rig simple pitches very useful for prospecting but not essential, and we can start to cover this on the training weekend.
Dates available: either 15th August to 29th August, or 29th August to 13th September
Expedition fee: £185 reduced to £135 after U25 discount
Accommodation: €11 / night (one night at €10 / night in valley hut); sleeping bag required
Location: the Wiesberghaus in the Dachstein, Austria (you need to get to/from Obertraun or Hallstatt; travel not included)
Cavers must have caving expedition insurance (e.g. BCA expedition insurance/Snowcard)
If you are interested in attending, please send me a personal message on this forum with your name, details (email address etc.), a bit of information about your caving experience (we aren't expecting SRT superheroes, so don't panic) and if you can attend the expedition training
Alternatively if you have any question/I've forgotten to mention something obvious just message me/post below.
We are of course grateful to the Ghar Parau Foundation for their continuing support with financial assistance to the expedition and having supported us with two Alex Pitcher awards of £100 each for several years now (plus we have previously received support from UKCaving, so thanks for that as well )
We like to support young cavers and new expedition cavers, so we always try and get as many as we can on the expedition who are 'Alex Pitcher' eligible (and then apply for the award for them) - we also encourage cavers who would be eligible if it wasn't for their nationality (e.g. Irish cavers, who can often apply for the SUI equivalent). Since the caver who dropped out was one of these young new cavers, we would like to try and replace them with another caver in a similar position. Note that since the GPF application has already been submitted, we can't apply for a new Alex Pitcher award for this caver, but they would still get the usual £50 exped fee discount for being U25 (and additional support might be possible from us).
So:
We currently have one place for a caver who:
- Is either a UK citizen or resident in the UK and a BCA member
- Is under 25 at the time of the expedition
- Has not been on an expedition abroad before
And:
- Is SRT-competent - our cavers are nearly all vertical and while the Dachstein is a great place to _improve_ your SRT skills, it is not a great place to learn how to do rebelays etc.
- Ideally can attend our expedition training at the YSS on the 6/7th June
Obviously as a caver new the expedition, we don't expect people to have any experience with bolting, surveying etc. The ability to rig simple pitches very useful for prospecting but not essential, and we can start to cover this on the training weekend.
Dates available: either 15th August to 29th August, or 29th August to 13th September
Expedition fee: £185 reduced to £135 after U25 discount
Accommodation: €11 / night (one night at €10 / night in valley hut); sleeping bag required
Location: the Wiesberghaus in the Dachstein, Austria (you need to get to/from Obertraun or Hallstatt; travel not included)
Cavers must have caving expedition insurance (e.g. BCA expedition insurance/Snowcard)
If you are interested in attending, please send me a personal message on this forum with your name, details (email address etc.), a bit of information about your caving experience (we aren't expecting SRT superheroes, so don't panic) and if you can attend the expedition training
Alternatively if you have any question/I've forgotten to mention something obvious just message me/post below.
We are of course grateful to the Ghar Parau Foundation for their continuing support with financial assistance to the expedition and having supported us with two Alex Pitcher awards of £100 each for several years now (plus we have previously received support from UKCaving, so thanks for that as well
)
