Horizontal Leader

Personal Skills and Awareness

• Knowledge of how to choose appropriate caves for a group
  • How to use guidebooks, surveys and other sources to discover new venues and skills
  • How to find out access information for a chosen cave or mine and how to respectfully gain access
    • The Caving Crew Routes Guide
    • Peak District Caving
    • CNCC
  • Being mindful of the impact of caving on landowner relations and being respectful of existing access requirements, and be respectful of access agreements – they can be easily lost and hard won.
  • Flexibility in adapting plans to suit the conditions and group
• Knowledge of how the Weather may affect underground activities – eg due to flooding.
  • In particular those entering caves and mines with active stream ways, leaders should understand the different ways in which severe flooding and flood pulses/flash flooding could occur and take account of factors such as ground conditions and thaw of lying snow. They should also appreciate the hazards of bad weather on the surface.
  • Specific verified knowledge of trip for expected weather conditions.
  • Difference between caves and mines with active streams, and ones without that are suitable for bad weather trips.
• How to set Callouts and what to include in them
  • “Cassette” in Crew Handbook.
• Leaders should be aware of the vulnerability in terms of conservation of the more popular sites and should help encourage their group to set a good example on the need to protect the underground environment.
  • Awareness that some sites might be only appropriate for cavers who have proven their ability to be delicate and conservation minded.
    • Eg Bagshawe Cavern gated series
• Basic First Aid: Leaders should have a basic knowledge of First Aid procedures in the underground environment. It would be particularly wise to do a caving-specific First Aid Workshop, and whilst outdoor specific first aid certificate is also good advice, it’s worth giving some thought to considering the challenges and limitations of the underground environment.
• Hypothermia: Leaders should be familiar with the causes, symptoms, treatment and above all prevention of hypothermia in the underground environment and be able to spot it and prevent it in others.

Group Skills

Group management and aspects and responsibilities of supporting a Caving Crew group

• Able to communicate regularly and effectively with the group (before, after and during the trip)
  • Ability to suggest and communicate appropriate meeting location
  • Checking in with the group at regular points upon the trip – especially the quieter people
  • Ability to connect people after the trip and pass on any details, accounts or photos.
• Able to to judge how hard lesser skilled people will find things
• Able to manage and judge how best to use seconder
• Club Tackle Responsibilities
• Awareness of legal and safety issues relevant to caving.
  • CROW, 3rd party insurance etc.
• Group-self-rescue from Squeezes
  • Calming someone who is panicking down
  • Explaining why someone may be struggling and helping then work past it (eg. shoulders tensing, etc)
  • Helping people identify the best path through a squeeze
  • Basic rescue (eg. Stuck caver goes limp, breathes out hard. Rescuer pulls or pushes in time with the breath out. Slings may help when pulling)
  • Able to talk someone through doing the above to you if you get stuck
• What to do in the Event of an Accident Underground.
  • Leaders should have a clear idea of their responsibilities and priorities in dealing with casualties and the rest of their party. They should be able to decide when self-help is appropriate and to organise this, including methods of aiding a partly incapacitated person in moving towards the surface.
  • Leaders must know how to call out the local Cave or Mine Rescue Organisation in the event of an accident.
• Caving Crew leader kit – awareness of contents and when to use what
• The minimum tackle and personal clothing to take on a club trip

Technical Skills

• How to set up and use a static handline
• How to set up an assisted handline
• How to set up a basic lifeline with an italian hitch
• How encourage and do spotting on a climb some people may find tricky
  • Cave spotting is very hands on aims to prevent a fall starting
    • Training venues may include the muddy slide in Bagshawe
    • Boulder scramble on Giants near entrance on right
• Surface navigation and approach routes.
  • The ability to do this may be essential depending on the location of caves to be visited
  • Consider a previsit to check on access routes for venues that are potentially hard to find
• Underground navigation
  • This is one of the primary roles of the leader.
  • Making navigation mistakes is not a problem, as long as they’re caught at an appropriate time, and the group is lead through appropriate terrain, and returned to surface.
  • You don’t necessarily need to know the cave you’re going into to safely lead it, so long as you know that the venue is broadly appropriate for you (and the group’s) skills.
• Cave Development & formations
  • Aspire to know something about the environment so you can impart that to people around you.