2003 Speleo Digest

[Sharon Faulkner]

The 2003 Speleo Digest, edited by Kelsea Johnson and Meredith Hall Johnson, is expected to be available on July 1, 2007. For a preview of the authors and contents included in this issue of the Speleo Digest series visit: www.caves.org/pub/speleodigest/

[Sharon Faulkner]

2003 Speleo Digest Press Release-

The year 2003 was a prolific year for NSS grotto and internal organization newsletters. In the 2003 NSS Members Manual, there were listed: 202 United States grottos, 3 international grottos, 2 traveling grottos, 12 Regions (6 with newsletters), 17 Sections (15 with newsletters), 9 State Cave Surveys, and 2 affinity groups. (Cave Conservancies were not listed.) Of all these Internal Organizations, 100 submitted newsletters to the Speleo Digest Series Editor. Of these, articles from 95 were used publications.

From Alabama through Wisconsin in the U.S. and from Bahamas through United Kingdom in the international section, caves of all sizes, types, and difficulties are cataloged in the 2003 Speleo Digest. More than 230 maps are included! Topics range from Cave Descriptions to Spelean History to Spelean Humor and Art. Cave Science includes a jam-packed Geology section and Biology. Equipment and Techniques includes Cave Gear, Cave Digging, and Conservation. Surely there is something for every caver in this book.

A few highlights include: the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias announcing the Powell Mountain Karst Preserve, which contains 16+-mile Omega Cave, the deepest cave east of the Mississippi (Region Record); two related articles explaining the French Wrap, a potentially life-saving self-belay method to control out-of-control rappels (Front Royal Column); and the Indiana Karst Conservancy’s purchase of Waynes Lost Cave, “an Indiana ‘classic’ cave” (Near Normal News). Most of us don’t subscribe to more than one or two grotto newsletters, so there is a lot we’re missing out on. Not anymore—buy a Speleo Digest and you’ll catch up on all the best of that year’s publications.

If you would like to view the Table of Contents, Publications Represented page, or any of the book indices, just visit the following: www.caves.org/pub/speleodigest/.

Supplies are limited, so order your copy today for only $26, plus shipping. Online orders can be placed 24/7 at www.NSSBookstore.org using the NSS Secure Server.

NSS Bookstore
2813 Cave Ave
Huntsville, AL 35810
Phone [phone].
[e-mail]

NOTE: The book was shipped to the NSS Office Monday afternoon; therefore, you may not be able to purchase one until Thursday when the book arrives and the website has been updated.