9th Annual YTR (Young Timers’ Reunion)
March 30 - April 2, 2006
Blue Bend National Recreation Area (Blue Meadow Campground)

About YTR | Contact Information | Directions | Vertical Session

About YTR
It’s time for YTR again!! This event, designed exclusively for university and college students that are a part of a student grotto and/or cave/outdoors club (or would like to meet others that are members of these clubs), is again set to take place. There are some changes this year though, which we think will make the event even better than past years.

YTR 2006 will be held from Thursday, March 30 until Sunday, April 2, 2006. You can arrive anytime after 4pm on Thursday. This year’s cost will still be $10 for students. Remember, all students must have a student ID from their school in order to get the $10 rate. Anyone without a student ID will be charged $20. If you are not a student and planning to attend, you are required to help out in some way if you want to avoid the extra $10 charge (see below). There is no pre-registration for this event unless you plan to attend the Vertical Workshop.

Our goal is to provide a simple and fun annual event that encourages student caving groups to gather and get to know each other and cave together each year. We want to encourage these groups to meet each other and get to know each other, and some changes have been made to hopefully help facilitate this. We also want to encourage the “younger” caving community to get involved in more regional caving activities like conservation and exploration, as well as promoting safe caving habits.

We are again offering a limited Saturday evening dinner option. This option will cost $5 and will need to be paid when you register and no later than Friday night/early Saturday morning. Dinner will include a simple grilled meal consisting of: hamburgers, hot dogs, cole slaw, and probably some baked beans, with maybe some other surprises. (Sorry, no vegetarian option at this time!). Drinks are on your own. Dinner will be served on Saturday from 6:30pm til 8pm. We won’t guarantee your food will be there after 8, as we’ll offer any extras for the same price after 8 pm so nothing goes to waste. Any extra money collected will be donated to the West Virginia Cave Conservancy.

There will be no band this year, but we are encouraging people to bring their own instruments and join in an acoustic group jam session Saturday evening around the big group fire pit. There will be led trips available (first come, first serve) for your caving pleasure (sign up will start Friday night, trips will be scheduled for Saturday). There are always self-led trips, and information on the various caves will be available at the site. The WVCC will also be hosting a workday at the Persinger Cave Preserve, so if you plan to visit the cave, spot on by and lend a hand for a few minutes with our project. There maybe some munchies there to help entice you to visit the preserve. If you need some cave gear, Howie’s Harnesses will again be returning after a couple years off. You can visit his website or call 828-627-2656 if you would like to order anything in advance or see what items he has available. Remember, he is traveling a long distance, so please consider helping him make it worth his while. Karst Sports is still supporting us through door prizes as well. We ask that you please consider visiting our vendors either at the campsite or on the web. Howie’s Harnesses will bring orders for specific equipment and deliver it to you at YTR provided you make the arrangements ahead of time.

VPI will again host its vertical workshop. This does require advance registration, and information about this is available on the website. Please cut and paste the form from the website to a word document and send it to Chris Michie at the address provided for the vertical session. This is limited to the first 15 that sign up. There is no cost for the vertical session, but food and equipment can be provided for an additional charge. The workshop will begin Thursday night, with a classroom session, followed by some rope work on Friday and a vertical cave trip on Saturday. A cold-cut lunch and a dinner will be provided on Friday only for all participants. Please contact Chris Michie for more information on the vertical workshop.

If you are not enrolled in a university or college and still want to come to YTR, you will be expected to help out in some way. In exchange, we’ll only charge you $10 to attend. There are many ways you can help and we would prefer to have you volunteer for some of these slots in advance. If you are out of school and attending, you can save that $10 by signing up (first come, first serve) to help with any of the following jobs:

1. Thursday night/Friday morning set up (includes gathering and cutting wood, helping the vendor set up, and getting camp and registration ready). This group needs 5 volunteers and at least a couple chain saws.
2. Saturday night cookout. We need volunteers to cook the food. You will need to be back at the site from your trip by 5:30 pm Saturday and you will be asked to be available to cook until 8pm (or later) that night. This group needs a few volunteers.
3. Cleanup. We need people that can help cleanup before leaving on Sunday. We’re counting on you to not leave before noon or until the cleanup is mostly done (which was about noon last year). This group needs at least 5 volunteers.
4. Trip leaders. If you are familiar with caves in the Greenbrier Valley, you can help lead trips. We need to know this in advance of the event, so you need to sign up early for this. We figure we’ll need 10 trip leaders.

To sign up to volunteer, please email Jeff so you can be put on the list. There are plenty of spaces for the non-students that usually attend to help out, so please sign up early to get your preferred job!

Contact Information

For more on Blue Bend (directions below), visit their Web site. For more information on the West Virginia Cave Conservancy, please visit www.wvcc.net.

For additional information about YTR or to volunteer: Email Jeff Bray
For additional Vertical Session information: Email Chris Michie

Please support our vendors and door prize suppliers:

YTR 2006 Planners:
Jeff Bray, John Pearson, Sandy Knapp, Chris Michie (VPI), Ben Mirabile, Brian Masney (WVUSG), Doug Moore, Beth Urbanik (Ohio U.), James Skinner (WVUSG), and Doug Moore.

Directions
From White Sulphur Springs, travel roughly 8 miles north on State Route 92. Turn left (west) at Alvon, West Virginia, onto State Route 16. There is a very large and obvious sign for Blue Bend National Recreation Area at this turn. Travel less than 4 miles to the Blue Meadow Campground (also a large sign) on your right.