Join us on this night for the business of the club, socializing with other like-minded mountain people, and a special presentation by Alex Fischer, a spelunker, who will talk about a dramatic cave rescue that he participated in. Here is a brief synopsis:
Fisher Ridge Cave is a 130+ mile maze of a cave system located near Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park. As of November 2019, it had been mapped to a length of 130.001 miles, making it the fifth-longest cave in the United States and the eleventh-longest in the world. On New Years Eve 2023, during a long exploration and camping trip, Alex along with dozens of highly trained cavers were called upon to rescue a team member, Paul Walko, who fell and broke his leg, about 10 hours of underground travel from the entrance. Alex, and the team, carefully navigated the treacherous Kentucky cave system to extract him. Over the next 4 days (83 hours) that it took to get the patient out of the cave, he helped move someone with a broken leg through crawls, squeezes, scrambles, complicated vertical terrain requiring ropework, and many other obstacles to save his life. The rescue over the New Year stands as the second longest cave extraction in U.S. History. Join us on this night to learn about this remarkable cave rescue and cave system.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, PLEASE READ!!!
Our general meetings have moved to a new location, The State Bar of New Mexico, located at 5121 Masthead St NE near Jefferson between San Antonio and Paseo del Norte Blvd. Keep in mind potential traffic delays and closures along I-25. The new meeting spot is very impressive, with a large and safe parking area, an auditorium with comfortable theater seating, great sound, and a large format screen.
With the new location, there are new rules that we have to follow along with changes to the meeting's format:
The State Bar requires that the doors remained locked while the meeting and presentation are taking place in the auditorium. To accommodate people who may arrive late, we will begin the period of socializing and snacks first, from 7:00 to 7:20 followed by the business of the club which will include announcements, trip reports, and items for members to vote on.
During the snacks and socializing, there will be a greeter to let you in. We ask that you please make an effort to get there before 7:20. If you arrive later, we will tape a sign on the door with a number to text where someone will either come and let you in or you will receive a return text with the code and instructions on how to enter the building. The main entrance is on the south side of the building where we will display our clubs' NMMC sandwich panel. I included a picture of the main entrance.
This is a free event where guests are encouraged. You DO NOT have to be a member of our club to attend.
