CUCC Expedition Handbook

Expedition Leadership

This is far from a complete checklist. However, it is a series of notes outlining some expo jobs and giving a vague timetable. It needs to be kept up to date!

Expo Committee

In order to make sure that various necessary jobs get done, it is always best to assign tasks to specific people, since otherwise everyone thinks that someone else will be doing it. Define responsibilities early!

Leader

Overall coordinator and motivator.

Treasurer

Collects deposits to fund gear-buying. Keep track of accounts and sends out expo bills a month or two after expo returns. Provides expo bire and sesh books. See the explicit treasurer's checklist and guide.

Sponsorship

If you are going to pursue sponsorship, start early (you will be competing with many similar groups and most potential sponsors will be more impressed by an air of efficient organisation than one of last minute desperation).

Equipment

This covers more than just rope and hangers. The club and expo dear orders are usually combined, so will need to liaise closely with sponsorship officer and club Tackle Master.

Transport

The logistics of getting 20 or so cavers and half a tonne of miscellaneous gear out to Austria, on a shoestring budget with a limited number of cars, and people coming-from/going-to various places are daunting. The job mostly involves collating info and badering people regularly. Starting early saves everyone money. See the explicit transport checklist and guide.

Survey marshalling and Kataster chief

If the previous expo's survey marshal did a good job then this can be straightforward, otherwise finding and recording the records needed to make sure that survey is in a fit state to support future exploratipon can be heartbreaking and frsutrating. The non-survey data archiving also needs doing carefully, such as curating the list of equipment left at top camp and ensuring that the logbook entries are all typed up and parsed into the expo server.

Caving Priorities

This should be the fun bit, but thee is a long grind in getting the previous years' survey data and QMs sorted out - the previous years expoers will need a lot of chivvying.

Project officers

If there is a special project which has its own special needs (radios, aerial photos or whatever), it may be best to have one person specifically responsible.

Consultants

Previous expo members can help a great deal, even if they are not going. Don't be afraid to ask questions, solicit suggestions, or ask for help with equipment or training. Keeping older members involved will also make it more likely that they will return to expo in the future. This is particularly useful in view of the amount of information which is still not written down adequately, like where to find cave XYZ etc.

Vital jobs

Every expedition depends on the work of previous expos. The first priority is to make sure that all the work of last year's expo is finished (but don't let these tasks block time-sensitive tasks for this year). This should be the job of last year's expo committee, of course (especially as this work needs to be started well before the next expo starts to become organised), but the current year's leadership needs to check that everything has been done as soon as they start organising.

The next priority is the vital jobs with deadlines

Have we finished?

• GPF Feedback report sent (within One month of return)
• All survey data from field notes to survey folder
• Survey notes scanned and uploaded.
• Logbook scanned and typed up.
• Passage descriptions written
• Question mark lists compiled
• Surveys drawn up
• List of Equipment left in Austria up to date and online
• If sponsors asked for reports on their products or photos of them in use: get them done promptly, before the main report
• Report written for Sponsors
• Report written for Descent/Speleology (basically same report but a rather different emphasis)
• Filled in forms for new cave numbers given (or sent) to Robert TWC.

Preparing for the next expo

Time-critical tasks

There are two time-critical external tasks that must happen, otherwise expo might not happen.

Send off permission request to camp and cave in the National Park

Deadline: End February. Do it at the same time as the GPF application.
Address (since 2013):

Amt der Steiermärkischen Landesregierung
Abteilung 13 - Naturschutz
Landhausgasse 7
8010 Graz

We have been late before on this in 2013 and 2014 so it's important to do it on time. Not doing so jeapordises the whole expedition.

Apply for Ghar Parau Foundation funding.

Deadline: last day of Feb. Applications are done online.

Check for BCRA grants:

Current list of awards.

Check expo VfHÖ members are paying subscriptions

Deadline: end of December. In 2018 we had 9 people paying €30 to be members of this local cave club. This is for very basic underground insurance cover. This is life membership with annual renewal, so an additional €30 each is due in January. If this is not paid by the individual then expo will almost certainly have to pay it to maintain goodwill.So in early December these people need to decide if they want to cancel their membership and do that by the end of December.

General Preparation

• Get some people interested ! Don't intimidate your novices by making them think that expo is compulsory and hard, but do hold it up as one of the main aims of the club and well worth getting competent for. A few expo pictures in any squash presentation are always worth while.
• Start motivating your core of experienced cavers by New Year - you will need to start assigning jobs to people by then, and an idea of the size of the expedition is essential when looking for sponsorship or applying for grants.
• Establish some goals. Last year's members will know whether there are major projects to do or lots of smaller ones, or just prospecting. Knowing the main goals establishes the style of the expedition. Its no use hoping to tackle promising leads far from an entrance with a small expo of relative novices, nor can you keep a large crew of hard cavers happy with B-leads near the entrance. The potential personnel help to define the goals and vice-versa.
• A budget ! If you have some goals, you can estimate what gear is needed, and therefore how much you will need to buy it. Having clear accounts from previous expo treasurers will help.
• Get an idea of numbers - get a deposit off people to provide a float. First deposit should be refundable on cancellation so you can get some finance without forcing people to commit. You are looking for the experienced cavers at this stage, but you should be able to make a guess at how many new expo-goers you will get from the general state of the club.

Once you have an idea of the size and style of expo

• Get grant applications in early - keep copies of all correspondence so that you know what has actually been applied for!
  • Ghar Parau / Sports Council: the main grant to expo as a whole
  • College travel grants: motivate individuals to apply, make sure deadlines aren't missed
  years decrease sharply.
  • Other grants, bursaries, awards etc.: always keep a look-out for new sources of cash - perhaps for some unique piece of gear that this year's expo will need, or maybe some existing scheme has a different emphasis this year and caving might qualify.
• Start pursuing sponsorship. The first step is to work out what equipment and supplies the expedition needs. It is always best to approach a sponsor for some specific item rather than a generic plea for help. If you can convince them that you think their particular piece of gear or food is the best the expo could get, all the better.
• Other equipment: make sure you know what gear we have, and what we need. Some stuff will have been left in Austria, and there should be a list. Some stuff will have been binned (rope, especially) and will need replacing. New members will probably need new personal gear for expo (tents, for example). Get contract price lists for people like Field and Trek or Cotswold. Bigger orders tend to get bigger discounts, so coordination helps everyone save money.
• Survey gear may need servicing. Books, pencils etc. need replacing. Remember to buy envelopes for saving loose sheets of field notes.

Getting people committed

By Easter you should have broken the back of the administration, but you will still be surrounded by people who haven't decided / haven't paid. Organising transport is one of the biggest nightmares and the sooner you know who is going and when, the easier this gets. Getting a second (non- refundable) deposit off people helps to tie them down.

• Names, dates, deposits, commitments. Names for expo caving insurance.
• Find the best ferry/tunnel deals. This may mean booking in advance, so where possible do so.
• Tell the Austrians when we are coming. Make sure we have permission for top camp. Have any serious political developments occurred since last year?
• Tell Karin Wilpernig when we are coming.
• Make sure people are competent. This is mainly for new people, as those who have been before will know what to expect. SRT training sessions (or some good serious trips), surveying practice on the surface or underground in the UK.
• Motivate people to read the website so that they know what is being talked about and might form their own ideas of which projects will interest them most.
• A pre-expo Yorkshire meet should be arranged, to provide training for people new to expedition caving, and as an opportunity to meet people not based in Cambridge, before getting to Austria.

Last minute

There should be nothing left to the last minute (ho ho !). But unless you are an amazing organiser with unbelievably cooperative expo members of exceptional competence and self-reliance, there will be a panic for the last couple of weeks at least.

• Passports ! Yes, people do forget them. You need them to get out of the UK, after which they are (mostly) superfluous.
• Expo computer - up to date with all the documentation and survey data.
• Expo handbook - printed versions of the various how-to-do-it guides and the list of known and missing entrances. A list of projects with an idea of the work involved in each might also be useful (based on the expo goals file and various QM lists).
• Next of Kin ("the death-list"), contact numbers for parents or whatever. Usually resides in the:
• Bier book, which should be properly produced and bound; if it falls to bits and has to be reconstructed from the sweepings of the potato hut floor, the expo treasurer's job will be almost completely impossible.
• Remember to book good weather for the full five weeks - this gets forgotten nearly every year :-)

On Expo

Have fun, don't push so hard that it gets dangerous, the caves will still be there next year.

• Call-out book - make sure everyone uses it, and notes actual TU after trip (zero if trip failed to happen).
• Log Book - get people to write trips up as soon as possible. If passage names are decided later, go back and write them in, as it makes the log a lot more usable.
• Survey calibration - make sure people do it, or at least record which instruments they used.
• Survey 'guidebook' writeup - as soon as surveyors are at base camp, get this written up - don't let anyone go home without writing up their survey or it'll never get done!!!
  • In recent expos we have used the logbook for this and have not had a separate survey book.
  • Notes written on paper and inserted into the survey wallet are also acceptable.
    
  • Best is to update the cave description online.
  • Also do a rigging guide if the cave requires it
• Photos - make sure some are taken, preferably underground in new finds. If sponsors asked for photos, take relevant ones, eg. photos of their products in use. Two or three photos of all the sponsorship stuff together is not adequate.

Before going home

• DERIG !! - sorry folks, but this is essential :-)
• OK, some fixed ropes may be left in. Make sure you know what has been left (when left, age; length; diameter and type of rope, what is it belayed to). This info needs to be used to update the Fixed Aids list. Remember to record any fixed aids which were derigged, too!
• New Caves or old ones documented - fill in forms and give to Robert (or leave at Staud'nwirt for him - don't bring them home!) to get kataster number. Keep copies to bring back to UK.

Back in the UK

It's easy to relax when you get home, and then meet up at the BCRA conference in a state of panic because there are no slides, no-one to do the talk, no surveys etc. Timescales are short and expo members are dotted around the country. Not everyone will come to BCRA. But the quality of the talk affects the size of next year's expo grant since the people who administer the cash will all be there and good impressions do count.

• Photos - make sure they are developed promptly and that whoever is doing the BCRA talk gets them in advance.
• BCRA talk - ensure person who is doing it is briefed about things that went on when he/she wasn't present on expo.
• Surveys - should have been processed in Austria. Get surveys of significant new finds drawn up. Go through the survey books and produce a Question Mark list while things are still fresh in memory (unlike 1998 expo).
• Sponsors - keep sponsors interested if you want stuff next year. Send a preliminary report and any photos of their products (especially if they specifically asked for any). Make sure the webmaster has a list of sponsors so the relevant web page is up to date (unlike 1998 expo).
• Archive everything with CUCC Librarian and Webmasters. Latter, in particular, want copies of all files changed or added on expo machine, copies of Log Book, Call-out Book, TU tally from the beer book, KH and not-KH survey books (preferably after QM numbers written in but before BCRA), Top Camp log book (if there was one) and any cave description forms given to the Austrian Cavers to get new kataster numbers.
• Update this page with ideas/suggestions of what was missing ;-)
• Go back to "Have we finished ?" and start again ....