mountainpenguin said:
well this is a bit of trying to address the symptom rather than the problem.
There is a missing generation to caving.
I am only one of my friends who would have taken to the sport if it were not for the backwards feel.
you *have* to join a club you *have* to have insurance. You have to find a big book and follow byzantine rules to get to go to a lot of places.
We grew up with CROW access to crags. Want to take a friend climbing, just do it.
We grew up with trail centers. Want to take a friend mountain biking then goto a good trail center and they will be able to hire a bike.
We grew up being able to go for a wander on the mountains easily.
We grew up being able to go for a paddle in a canoe with friends.
Non of this has been possible in caving and we feel like we have been pushed out. We would be the ones volunteering for the social media.
I know so many who would have and have volunteered but have left due to the hard / impossible work of dealing with the "our way or the high way" old guard who control access and control clubs.
Thanks for your thoughts Mountainpenguin, which I've mulled over carefully since yesterday. I think there's some useful stuff in there.
But - I couldn't help wondering whether you were
really motivated to have a go at caving. If you'd have persevered even just a bit, I think you'd have found that things are different from the perception you gained. (That's not a criticism of you in any way.) I should add that my caving is done mainly in the Dales and Peak District; I can't speak for other areas (although I've been made very welcome on my own visits).
I take it you must still have at least
some interest in caving, otherwise you'd not have taken the time to share your thoughts above. In which case - go on, give it a go. You might be pleasantly surprised.
In many cases, if you want to go caving, you and your mates can just go. You don't need to join a club. If you don't though, you'd miss out on so many other rewarding aspects of the caving scene, which you'd otherwise never have known about. Joining a club also normally gives you access to a bunch of folk who are probably going to do their best to avoid you coming a cropper. There are also any number of good instructors who you can hire to teach you skills - but I'd still suggest getting involved with a decent club anyway for the longer term, as you'll get more from it.
Anyway, this led me on to pondering to what extent we should pro-actively encourage folk to have a go. Or whether we should focus instead on making it as attractive as possible to anyone who shows interest
voluntarily. I don't have an answer but I think these are factors perhaps worth considering.
Since typing this I just noticed your most recent post explaining that you're involved with CRO. Yet your words above suggest that you "would have" had a go had you not evidently been put off by your perceptions. Now I'm confused.