''The Canadian Caver'' is a semiannual

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

that documents the activities of Canadian

caver Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is ...

s exploring

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s within

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and overseas. ''The Canadian Caver'' was created by members of the McMaster University Climbing and Caving Club from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

to document cave explorations throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

at a time when Canada's fledgeling caving clubs had no club newsletters. The first issue was produced in December 1969 and included articles on cave exploration in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and climbing in

the Bugaboos The Bugaboos are a mountain range in the Purcell Mountains of eastern British Columbia, Canada. The granite spires of the group are a popular mountaineering destination. The Bugaboos are protected within Bugaboo Provincial Park. Geography The ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

.''The Canadian Caver'' No.1, December 1969 By 1974 caving clubs in western Canada had achieved a level of maturity and stability (aided by the emigration of MUCCC cavers) that allowed the production and editorship of ''The Canadian Caver'' to move to

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

, where it remained for several years. In 1978 cavers from

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

produced an issue, which introduced the concept of a roving production/editorship that persists to the present day. The advent of computers and inexpensive printing in the mid-1980s meant that Canada's principal caving clubs began to document cave explorations in their own newsletters, which presented a challenge of relevancy to ''The Canadian Caver''. Rather than being the sole archive of

cave survey A cave survey is a map of all or part of a cave system, which may be produced to meet differing standards of accuracy depending on the cave conditions and equipment available underground. Cave surveying and cartography, i.e. the creation of an accu ...

s and histories of cave explorations, ''The Canadian Caver'' now provides a semiannual synopsis of the more significant cave explorations by Canadians at home and abroad. ''The Canadian Caver'' is possibly unique within the world in providing a national voice for cavers in a country that has no national caving organization. ''The Canadian Caver'' itself has no formal organization, no public funding, no fixed format, no long-range planning and no permanent editors.

References

External links

''The Canadian Caver''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Caver, The Newsletters Publications established in 1969 Caving by country