Escabrosa Grotto Incorporated (EGI)

For over 40 years, Escabrosa Grotto has been helping the National Speleological Society protect Arizona caves.  Whether our members are mapping local caves, installing custom bat gates, or educating the public about the beauty and fragility of life underground, they're always working hard to ensure that southern Arizona's caves remain beautiful.

This can be hard work, it's true, but it's great work too.  Imagine the satisfaction that comes after spending hours underground--hours that eventually add up to days and weeks--meticulously measuring and sketching a kilometer of awkward passages, precipitous drops, and vast chambers.  Then imagine seeing all those measurements and rough sketches rendered by a professional cartographer into a beautiful map that's accurate down to a single inch.  Finally, imagine that your name is listed on this map as one of the surveyors!

But maybe you're not into learning about clinometers and cosines (tools of the cave surveying trade).  Imagine this then: you're helping to haul steel bars, welding tanks, and sacks of cement up a cactus-strewn hillside in the desert in order to help install a bat gate.  We know what you're thinking: "That sounds great!  Where do I sign up?"  But wait, there's more.  Imagine that the gate you're helping to build has been created by one of the most respected cave gate designers in the world.  Finally, imagine revisiting this same cave a year or two after all your back breaking work--and that oxyacetylene burn that just won't heal--and discovering that it's now home to a large maternity colony of bats!

All these activities and more are open to you as a member of EGI, which is easy to join if you're serious about caving and cave conservation.

Want to learn more?  Come sit in on a meeting or two.  We get together at 7:30 PM on the second Friday of every month at the Southern Arizona Rescue Association's house at 5990 North Sabino Canyon Road.
 

If you're new to caving, we'd love to introduce you to it!  And if you're a caver from way back, well we'd love the chance to get underground with you!

If you'd like more information or have specific questions, shoot us an e-mail at one of the addresses listed in the "Contact Us" area.

And don't forget: Cave Softly!