Lenora
Max
From Max: My first experience caving was descending the rappel to the Bone Bed on the Wild Side of Rat’s Nest Cave, and crawling over and through meters of animal bones to find the passage on the far side so that my parents knew where to go.
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A Bit About Max
How I got here: When my caving parents were exploring Rat’s Nest Cave, they found some passages that they simply could not fit into. So they brought 6-year-old me into the cave to squeeze inside and tell them what I found. Normally it was nothing. But after years of acting as the family canary I discovered that I actually quite liked this caving thing, and here I am today, still squeezing into new passages in the hopes of finding something new and breathtaking.
Myself in 5 Words: So very, very, painfully nerdy
My first experience caving was: Descending the rappel to the Bone Bed on the Wild Side of Rat’s Nest Cave, and crawling over and through meters of animal bones to find the passage on the far side so that my parents knew where to go.
Most Memorable Caving Trip: Moving rocks at the far end of Rat’s Nest Cave to discover a hole so small that I had to take off my harness to fit through (and as context, I weigh 150 lbs soaking wet). But once we slipped through we found ourselves in a room the size of a church, standing there as the first people ever to see this amazing space.
My favourite Rat’s Nest moment to date is: Every time we get passionate people into the cave to share their stories. Musicians, photographers, science communicators, and choirs have all graced the cave with their passions, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the gift that they gave the cave. And I’m always excited for the next crazy opportunity. Have a look at the UnEarthed page to see what’s coming up!
Person I’d Most Like to Cave with: My niece. Right now she’s a little young, but she has so much energy and creativity that I know she is going to find a whole new world to fall in love with when she goes adventuring with her uncle.
Or Shaq. I don’t follow basketball at all, but it would be fun to see him try the squeezes, and I think he’d be a good sport about it.
Everyone Should Try Caving Because: It’s somewhat paradoxical, but you don’t learn about yourself by just being with yourself, comfortable and stagnant. You learn about yourself by getting out there with other people and doing crazy things you thought you couldn’t do. The cave is a frontier of discovery: both in discovering the hidden stories that the world has to tell us, and in discovering yourself in pushing those frontiers.
Brent
From Brent: I think everyone should try caving (at least once) because it is a place were we can challenge ourselves and our perspectives, to gain a better idea of the world we live in and how to most responsibly live in that world.
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A Bit About Brent
How I got here: I started my adventure by realizing after I had finished living in India for 10 years that the outdoors is the place I wanted to be. This started as a passion for just being outside as well as climbing mountains. I went to Thompson Rivers University and took the Adventure Guide Diploma, majoring in mountaineering, rock climbing and rope rescue. I then had no idea what to do with this so I searched online for outdoor jobs and found Horne Lake caves who were looking for a vertical cave guide. I had never been in a cave but I loved the idea of ropes so I signed up and they accepted me (wether it was the right or wrong). While I worked there I had heard about caving company out in Canmore and heard it was very similar to ours. I then spent the next couple of years zipline guiding and dog sled guiding and eventualy found myself in Canmore. I still had the thirst for more caving, to continue to see the subteranian world and long story short they accepted this vagabond climber.
Myself in 5 Words: I like hanging on ropes.
My first experience caving was: When Horne Lake Caves accepted me as a guide and then dragged me down to the end of the illustrius River Bend cave. Going through squeezes that I wasn't sure my feet would fit through and then crawling through passages that had hundreds of thousands of years worth of calcite growth and rappelling down massive chambers.
Most Memorable Caving Trip: When some of the guides as a group went out to Crowsnest Pass with some of the Cody Cave Tours guides to do a cave called Yorkshire Pot. It was the biggest trip for myself at the time being the second longest cave in Canada. We rappelled down many rappels, the biggest being around 40m, down climbed many walls, squezed through a couple of passages and crawled through the blood stone passage (covered in red calcite). One of the best parts being that Yorkshire and the Heavy Breather system had been conected via a dig which had a garbage can in it to stop the 13.8km of passage in the Yorkshire system from drying out.
My favourite Rat’s Nest moment to date is: One of the most memorable moments was when I finally made it down to Ignominious End after around 15 years of no-one being down there. My favourite moment was sitting down at the end in a muddy dark hole with no distance to go further with two of my best friends, exhausted beyond words and realizing we still have the whole cave to do backwards and uphill.
Person I’d Most Like to Cave with: Max's neice because shes cooler than Max, or really anyone else besides him
Everyone Should Try Caving Because: It is an activity that takes you into another world, one that doesn't change and continues to trap time. The size, shape and depth of these places can give us a good idea of past glaciated periods as well as what the future could potentially hold. It is a place were we can challenge ourselves and our perspectives, to gain a better idea of the world we live in and how to most responsably live in that world.
Brandon
From Brandon: The person I’d most like to go caving with is Neil deGrasse Tyson. It would be amazing to listen to him talk so eloquently about the universe while inside the cave exploring the whole new underground world.
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A Bit About Brandon
How I got here: I grew up in Ontario and always loved the outdoors. Through my schooling I was lucky enough to visit Alberta and the lovely mountains that can be explored and enjoyed to your hearts content. Not only did relocating open up many new doors but my passions such as rock climbing and hiking were taken to new heights. I discovered many new activities and caving was one of them. I was able to transfer a lot of my skills learned on rope above the ground and apply them below ground to explore a whole new world.
Myself in 5 Words: Curious, adventurous, passionate, enthusiastic, and...
My first experience caving was: Way back when I was a young lad and I thought cracks in the ground were "caves." I would have told you that I was a “hardcore” caver and that going under a rock pile on the side of the Niagara escarpment was the best cave there was. Several years later and learning this was not the case, my mom pointed out to me one day in the newspaper that just down the road from our house there was a place called Eramosa Karst. A friend and I set out into the woods for hours looking for a hole in the ground, how most of my caving trips turn out except now wandering around mountain sides for hours. Once we finally found the sink hole we dropped down to our hands and knees and slithered our way down the long small tunnel until it opened to a large room. It wasn’t the longest cave or the biggest cave but it was incredible to explore a new unseen world so close to home.
Most Memorable Caving Trip: My most recent trip to Booming Ice Chasm is also my most memorable. The feelings I felt while inside that cave are indescribable. Let me lay it out for you. Once you rappel into the cave your body starts misting your voice echoes so much so that you must talk slowly or your echo will talk over you. The glitter of ice crystals above your head catch your eye as you look around. Your headlamp lights up the ice and it glows mountain lake blue. As you keep descending and look into the distance, on the walls of the cave, waterfalls hang motionless in time. Once you reach the bottom you look back up as your caving partners are descending, their headlamps light up the clear blue ice hundreds of meters in front of you. Way in the distance you see the faint glow of the entrance light through the mist of each breath, reminding you how incredible it is to be and feel alive!
My favourite Rat’s Nest moment to date is: It would be difficult for me to choose just one as I have had many extremely memorable moments in Rats Nest Cave from the "WILD SIDE!" to the tour side of the cave. However it is always most fulfilling when I get to help people who are a little uncertain if humans should even be in this new world that they have entered. Helping them push their boundaries and explore things they never thought possible, but with the guides help they can, is always the most rewarding experience. The thanks and the hugs after they have conquered something so large for them lasts forever.
Person I’d Most Like to Cave with: Neil deGrasse Tyson. It would be amazing to listen to him talk so eloquently about the universe while inside the cave exploring the whole new underground world.
Everyone Should Try Caving Because: It is something you cannot experience anywhere else. There is still potential underground to see something that no one else has ever seen before and I am sure that is what drives a lot of us to go caving. That sense of adventure and the bond formed with the people you cave with is like no other. Even close to our backyards, in Rats Nest Cave, people are pushing new passageways and discovering things never before seen.
Tiffany
From Tiffany: My first experience caving was when I was about seven years old. I had a healthy infatuation with bats and was determined in becoming a "batologist". My grandparents decided that I would probably appreciate going into a cave to see where they lived and it was love at first sight!
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A Bit About Tiffany
How I got here: I had been completely enchanted by caves as a child and continued to explore them as I got older. Most of the caving I had done before working at Rat's Nest Cave was overseas so I decided it was due time to join the Canadian caver scene and learn as much as possible.
Myself in 5 Words: I'm completely obsessed with nature.
My first experience caving was:When I was about seven years old, I had a healthy infatuation with bats and was determined in becoming a batologist. My grandparents decided that I would probably appreciate going into a cave to see where they lived and it was love at first sight!
Most Memorable Caving Trip: Going inside Athabasca Glacier though the cave entrance (that has collapsed since). It was a miserable winter's day, the cold wind was sandblasting our faces with frozen snow and the glacier wasn't even in sight yet. The whiteout made it seem like we weren't even walking forwards, but stuck in place on some savage snowed-over treadmill. A blue triangle began to appear and grew as we came closer, we had finally reached the foot of the glacier. The entrance alone left me gobsmacked, and the inside lead to a whole other world that was just frozen in time. The ice was so clear that everything seemed to be made of glass. I looked at everything around me and realised how surreal it would be to see something trapped inside, perfectly preserved through millennia. It was so calm inside the glacier it was hard to believe how tumultuous it was outside! Although all the caves I've visited have been memorable in their own way, this one stands out because of how impermanent the cave was. I'll never be able to visit this place ever again and feel humbled to carry memories of such a unique place.
My favourite Rat’s Nest moment to date is: One of my favorite Rat's Nest Cave moments to date is when we did a mock rescue during our training week. Practicing a rescue like this, with a team I was just getting to know was awe-inspiring. Somehow, getting Lisa out from the bottom of the Treacherous Slab in a stretcher was even more painful than it already sounds. Yes, the mock rescue was mentally and physically challenging, but the lessons you receive from pushing yourself is always worth the exertion. The order created in such a chaotic environment was so impressive, and could only be achieved through clear and concise communication. Everyone's role in the practice changed several times based on their position and what was needed at the time. It was remarkable to see how fluid we were able to make such a rigid structure move through the cave! This is one of my favorite experiences in Rat's Nest Cave because it made me realize how lucky I am to learn from, and work with people who are so capable of accepting challenges as they come, and create something so incredible out of it.
The person I’d most like to go caving with is: My grandparents, I haven't gone in a cave with them since I was a child so I think it would be a lot of fun to do it with them again and show them how deeply that first experience had impacted me so many years ago.
Everyone Should Try Caving Because: There's a whole other world down there! A world without predictable steps and hyperstimulation designed to distract you, a world that forces you to focus inwards and embrace your natural advantages and recognise the challenges you put onto yourself. I honestly love the transformation people go through in caves: it starts off a little weird, you're in a dark and unfamiliar place… But then, your eyes and body adjust to your new environment, you start worrying less about how you should move, and become more in tune with your body and how to use it in this unique place. You emerge through the depths as a creature of the cave who has challenged themselves and survived!
Cam
From Cam: Everyone Should Try Caving Because caves work like time machines, they transport all who enter back to a time of childlike mystery, adventure and excitement!
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A Bit About Cam
How I got here: On a family road trip when I was 6 and in an attempt to quiet the noise level coming from the backseat, my mother told my brother and I the story of the Lost Lemon Mine. Legend has it somewhere in South Eastern Alberta lies a lost mine with enough gold to fill the pockets of a whole town, if only they knew where to look and were brave enough to face the curse that is said to guard the portal. Ever since that day I have been fascinated with every dark hole on every mountain side I’ve seen. I started exploring abandoned mines before squirming into the wonderful world of caves.
Myself in 5 Words: Too cool for rules
My first experience caving was: Kananaskis Ice Caves!
Most Memorable Caving Trip: My first time in Rat’s nest cave on the explorer tour! Besides being blown away by the company, it showed me that caves don’t have to be just another hobby, they can be so, so much more.
My favourite Rat’s Nest moment to date is: Every moment I’m underground is my favorite moment.
Person I’d Most Like to Cave with: I feel like Barry White’s bass- baritone voice and romantic image would be amazing in a cave with good acoustics like Rats Nest. My darling I can’t get enough of your love babe!
Everyone Should Try Caving Because: Caves work like time machines, they transport all who enter back to a time of childlike mystery, adventure and excitement!
Adam
Caving is Adam’s passion and he has been guiding in caves since 2003. Adam has caved primarily in the USA and Canada but has been involved in a number of other international projects including the Bahamas, Mexico Spain and Barbados. When not in the cave or the office he enjoys all of the other amazing outdoor adventures the Bow Valley has to offer.
Chas
After 25 years with Canmore Cave Tours, Chas and his wife Pam are now enjoying their well-earned retirement. Chas is our local cave guru and will always be an important part of the Canmore Cave Tours family. He can now often be spotted creating new climbing routes on sunny summer days in the Bow Valley, another great passion of his.
He has even already written his own guide book called “A Climber’s Guide to Kid Goat Crag” which is available locally.
