In this final installment of the series of conversations Matt had with the legendary Mammoth Cave explorer and author, Roger Brucker talks about forming the CRF and establishing protocols for exploration and safety, as well as the bungled book deal that forced him into his first published work.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/REGISTER for the 2026 NSS Conventionhttps://caves.org/convention/2026-nss-convention/NSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Legendary caver Roger Brucker has authored several books on the exploration of Mammoth Cave and the surrounding area, including The Caves Beyond, The Longest Cave, Beyond Mammoth Cave, and more. Enjoy this second of a three-part series with Mr. Brucker to close out 2025 where he shares more about Mammoth Cave exploration, and talks about his historic novel Grand, Gloomy, and Peculiar: Stephen Bishop at Mammoth CaveOrder a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/2026 NSS Convention Promo Videohttps://youtu.be/9hQ2K-XREqY?si=hMwiNpXafTbP2JNONSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Legendary caver Roger Brucker has authored several books on the exploration of Mammoth Cave and the surrounding area, including The Caves Beyond, The Longest Cave, Beyond Mammoth Cave, and more. Enjoy this first of a three-part series with Mr. Brucker to close out 2025 where he touches on the early days of the CRF, and exploring Crystal Cave and other caves that would eventually all be considered part of Mammoth Cave.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/2026 NSS Convention Promo Videohttps://youtu.be/9hQ2K-XREqY?si=hMwiNpXafTbP2JNONSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Jenna has been steeped in caving her entire life. Both parents were cavers, and she grew up frequenting Carlsbad Caverns National Park. In this talk, she shares how she found her own caving identity in the world of cave rescue, and talks about how cave rescue instruction and protocols are evolving.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/2026 NSS Convention Promo Videohttps://youtu.be/9hQ2K-XREqY?si=hMwiNpXafTbP2JNONSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Harry has led a rich caving life that is still going strong. From working in a wilderness education program to an official role at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, as well as opening and operating a caving outfitter for a number of years near the park; he shares many of the experiences that have led him to the current moment.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Pre-Register for Indiana Cave Capershttps://cigcaves.com/cave-capers2026 NSS Convention Promo Videohttps://youtu.be/9hQ2K-XREqY?si=hMwiNpXafTbP2JNONSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
In a great talk, Ryan shares his photography experience, rescue trauma, as well as the book he recently published about the most significant cave in his vast caving life, and why now was the time to do it.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Order “Caverns in The Clouds” by Ryan Maurerhttps://www.underarockphoto.com/2026 NSS Convention Promo Videohttps://youtu.be/9hQ2K-XREqY?si=hMwiNpXafTbP2JNONSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
A titan in the world of cave rescue passed away peacefully yesterday.RIP NSS 8545RL
In the conclusion of this in-person interview, Dave shares his history of cave photography, and explains some of his techniques. He also talks about caving in Montana, and shares a few harrowing stories of caving back home in Indiana where he reveals several leads he’s left unexplored. Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/NSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Dave has found so much cave in Indiana, and inspired a new generation of Indiana cavers that got busy discovering and mapping back in the 80s and 90s. Dave was on the crew that connected Roppel Cave to Mammoth Cave, and has seen his fair share of harrowing adventure underground.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/NSS Calendar of Eventshttps://caves.org/calendar/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Jonathan wasn’t a caver until he became curious about a cave on a piece of property he purchased in rural Tennessee. Thanks to his openness to allow exploration of his cave, Helm’s Deep quickly became the longest cave in the state, and was a topic of much discussion at the 2024 NSS Convention in Sewanee, TN. In this talk he covers many of the discoveries made in the cave, including its surprising archeological significance.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Custom Cave Survey Pageshttps://www.customcavepages.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
The Out of Bounds Grotto is a caving club that was created for the 21st century–a virtual grotto that brings together cavers from across the country for the love of exploration, conservation, and the sport of caving with no geographic constraints. Tally founded the grotto with these things in mind and, as you’ll hear, is a tireless volunteer for many of the causes cavers care about. She’s also working to improve the caving experience for women who might otherwise have concerns about sexual harassment in what is still a very male-dominated world.Out of Bounds Grottohttps://outofboundsgrotto.org/Tickets to Floyd Collins: The Musical at SKyPAC in Bowling Green, KY 3/8/25https://www.theskypac.com/event/ramsey-theatre-company-presents-floyd-collins-the-musical/Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Custom Cave Survey Pageshttps://www.customcavepages.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Canadian super-caver Katie Graham talked about her caving genesis, and her love of the most remote, and tough caving for a variety of objectives from exploration to scientific research. She talks about caving in Canada and Mexico, as well as being a repeat winner of the infamous “Golden Garbage Can” award.Tickets to Floyd Collins: The Musical at SKyPAC in Bowling Green, KY 3/8/25https://www.theskypac.com/event/ramsey-theatre-company-presents-floyd-collins-the-musical/Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Custom Cave Survey Pageshttps://www.customcavepages.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
A once-in-a-lifetime historical panel with Roger Brucker, author of Trapped! The Story of Floyd Collins, Mammoth Cave Guide Jackie Wheet, and John Benton, co-author of The Floyd Collins Tragedy at Sand Cave along with Bob Thompson and Bill Napper. Plus a short talk at the top with two of the people behind a production of Floyd Collins: The Musical put on by the Ramsey Theatre Company at SKyPAC in Bowling Green on Saturday, March 8th.Tickets to Floyd Collins: The Musical at SKyPAC in Bowling Green, KY 3/8/25https://www.theskypac.com/event/ramsey-theatre-company-presents-floyd-collins-the-musical/Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Custom Cave Survey Pageshttps://www.customcavepages.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Former NSS President Bill Tozer passed away last weekend. In this 2018 episode, he shares that was one of the first to descend Ellison’s Fantastic Pit, as well as Sótano de las Golondrinas. Plus stories of his early caving days in Indiana.
Dr. Julian “Jerry” Lewis is a cave biologist with a long career consulting on everything from massive infrastructure projects to small-scale bio-inventory for various entities. He also served for many years as the president of the Indiana Karst Conservancy. In part 2 of our discussion, he touches on some harrowing moments in his career, including an incident that threatened the existence of one cave organization, while ending another one. Dr. Lewis’s profile on Karstwaters.org:https://karstwaters.org/about-kwi/kwi-officers-and-board-of-directors/dr-julian-jerry-lewis/Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Buy tickets for Floyd Collins: The Musical, March 8th at SKYPAC in Bowling Green, KYhttps://www.theskypac.com/event/ramsey-theatre-company-presents-floyd-collins-the-musical/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Dr. Julian “Jerry” Lewis is a cave biologist with a long career consulting on everything from massive infrastructure projects to small-scale bio-inventory for various entities. He also served for many years as the president of the Indiana Karst Conservancy. In part 1 of our discussion, he outlines the genesis of his career, and touches on various other highlights like building his bioconsulting business, and appearing on the hit TV show “Dirty Jobs”Dr. Lewis’s profile on Karstwaters.org:https://karstwaters.org/about-kwi/kwi-officers-and-board-of-directors/dr-julian-jerry-lewis/Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Mike Ficco has found Virginia’s deepest cave, and has explored all over the world, including China, Montenegro, Slovenia, and elsewhere. He shared the highlights of his long caving career, which includes chairing the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias (link below).Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Cave Conservancy of the Virginias:https://caveconservancyofvirginia.org/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Georgia Schneider’s caving life has grown quickly since she started caving; taking her to places like New Zealand, France, Mexico, and countless US caves. She talks to Matt about working with the National Parks Service to inventory caves on federal land, and shares the special feeling of returning to places she helped discover.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Fall MVOR: September 19-22https://fb.me/e/5n6OMEmx4Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Bill Torode has volunteered at the NSS library for over 50 years, and has mapped hundreds of caves. We talk about being the first person to peer down what came to be known as Surprise Pit in Fern Cave, as well as several other anecdotes from the long-time TAG legend.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Pre-register for Indiana Cave Capers:https://cigcaves.com/cave-capersFall MVOR: September 19-22https://fb.me/e/5n6OMEmx4Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Pete shares his varied caving life starting in West Virginia's Germany Valley all the way through Grand Canyon exploration, Lechuguilla, Tears of The Turtle (the deepest cave in the US), and shares his experience rewiring the electricity for Carlsbad Caverns National Park. He also shares some big NSS news as a member of the board.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Pre-register for Indiana Cave Capers:https://cigcaves.com/cave-capersFall MVOR: September 19-22https://fb.me/e/5n6OMEmx4Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Colin Magee is a Canadian caver originally from New Zealand who has been on high-profile Mexico expeditions like Cheve where he participated in the National Geographic Explorer episode “The Deepest Cave.” He discusses the importance of proper SRT and rescue training, as well as his initiative to gather data from the world’s caving clubs.Colin’s website, mentioned in the podcast:https://www.caver.ca/Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Cave Week 2024!https://www.nps.gov/subjects/caves/cave-week.htmRegister for the 2024 NSS Convention in Sewanee, TN:https://caves.org/convention/2024-registration/Pre-register for Indiana Cave Capers:https://cigcaves.com/cave-capersFall MVOR: September 19-22https://fb.me/e/5n6OMEmx4Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Katarina Kosič Ficco is a cave and karst field scientist with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage focusing on subterranean biodiversity. She shares her genesis in the world of caves and karst, having grown up in the classical Karst in Slovenia where the term originated. She also talks about discovering Petra, an exquisitely preserved Pleistocene feline skeleton found in Virginia less than a decade ago, as well as several expeditions that resulted in finding miles and miles of new cave.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Cave Week 2024https://www.nps.gov/subjects/caves/cave-week.htmRegister for the 2024 NSS Convention in Sewanee, TN:https://caves.org/convention/2024-registration/Find your local grotto:https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Mike Drake heads up exploration of the Studebaker/Wayne Cave system in Indiana’s Garrison Chapel Valley just west of Bloomington. He talks about the genesis and ongoing effort to survey the area’s longest cave. Plus, a bonus talk on Cave Week 2024 in June!Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Cave Week 2024!https://www.nps.gov/subjects/caves/cave-week.htmPre-register for the 2024 NSS Convention in Sewanee, TN:https://caves.org/convention/2024-registration/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Dave Brumbaugh has been a cave guide in several show caves, including back home in Pennsylvania. He has also worked at Carlsbad Caverns and indeed still works for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park. We talked about his extensive caving career, which included helping the FBI locate and dispose of unexploded ordinances in a Carlsbad backcountry cave.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Cave Week 2024!https://www.nps.gov/subjects/caves/cave-week.htmFind your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Rand Heazlitt is currently leading the continued exploration of Indiana's longest cave, the Binkley Cave system. He shares his perspective as the leader of the group that endured a 2016 flood that threatened the lives of him and his survey group in Binkley Cave. He also talks about current and future exploration of Alabama's Fern Cave, as well as dramatic expeditions in Mexico. Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Rand Heazlitt is currently leading the continued exploration of Indiana's longest cave, the Binkley Cave system. He shares his caving genesis, key moments in his caving history, and the story of the loss of a dear caving friend in part 1 of a two-part conversation.Donate to the NSS!https://members.caves.org/general/custom.asp?page=donate&_gl=1*5ppa8h*_ga*MTIwMTYxNDk3Mi4xNjg2MDYzMzYy*_ga_F1RQ2X41B0*MTcwMTE5NjcyOC4yLjEuMTcwMTE5NzgyNi4wLjAuMA..Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Jessica Jernigan is a TAG caver who has been at it for just over a couple of years, but has accomplished a lot in that time. We had a great talk about what caving does to fulfill not only our sense of adventure–indeed defining adventure as we looked at it through the lens of caving, but also how that fulfillment applies to other aspects of life.Donate to the NSS!https://members.caves.org/general/custom.asp?page=donate&_gl=1*5ppa8h*_ga*MTIwMTYxNDk3Mi4xNjg2MDYzMzYy*_ga_F1RQ2X41B0*MTcwMTE5NjcyOC4yLjEuMTcwMTE5NzgyNi4wLjAuMA..Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Mike Mansur is the author of The Cave Formation Repair Project. He and his team of volunteers have worked hundreds of hours repairing and restoring cave formations in such high-profile caves such as Carlsbad Caverns, Fort Stanton Cave, and Caverns of Sonora, among many others. Buy the book:https://speleobooks.secure-mall.com/item/The-Cave-Formation-Repair-Project-2nd-Edition-4132Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Tray Heinke appeared on an episode of Naked and Afraid, which was a big part of this talk, but he's been an Indiana caver for many years, exploring Indiana's longest cave, Binkley Cave; including a harrowing trip in December of 2016 that trapped him and his companions for more than 36 hours. He tells the story, and shares his adventurous plans for the near future.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
Patti Cummings is the Vice President of the Richard Blenz Nature Conservancy, home of Indiana’s storied Buckner Cave. She talks about her caving history and life, as well as managing the NSS-owned Buckner property, and specifically the home of former owner Dick Blenz, who passed away in 2018.Order a custom cave suit from our sponsor, Sophireaptress!https://www.sophireaptress.com/Find your local grotto!https://caves.org/committee/i-o/grottos/new_grotto_page-v2.shtml
