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How Brian Killingbeck started Caving   

In high school I enjoyed camping, hiking, and various high adventure activities with Boy Scouts.  We would go caving occasionally but what really got me interested in caving was a rappelling instructor telling us about a cave trip he’d been on where he had rappelled into a cave and exited out a different entrance down a waterfall.  Our troop formed its own high adventure crew and I always wanted to rappel down a pit and explore the cave

below.  I’ve always loved hiking in the mountains; I’d backpacked in Alaska with Boy Scouts.  Obviously, there’s not much mountaineering in Indiana, but I found climbing and traversing different cave passages required many of the same skills and evoked the same feelings of satisfaction.  I lived in Kokomo Indiana at time and joined the Central Indiana Grotto, in Indianapolis, and attended some of their trips.  It was fun but was also a long two to three hour drive to go caving in southern Indiana.  I really begin caving frequently when I transferred to Indiana University Bloomington and joined the Indiana University Spelunking Club. 

Brief Caving History

I have been caving for about 5 years. I cave a lot and have participated in many sport trips, photo trips, surveys, ridge walks, and digs.  I believe I have visited around 250 different caves.  I’ll know the exact number when I get my cave log updated.  I have caved in Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginian, Tennessee, Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado, Utah, Illinois, and Puerto Rico. 

About Me

I would classify myself as an explorer.  I enjoy caving mostly because I like to see the unknown for myself.  I enjoy the challenges caving presents and the beauties I witness.  Surveying isn’t quite as exciting as sport caving but it comes hand in hand with exploration and discovery which really excites me.   I’m a fast caver because I’m 23, in shape, tall, skinny, and am good at maneuvering and climbing within a cave.  My longest trip is 30 hours underground.  I’d like to do some expedition trips in the future.