Bow Valley Naturalists will go deep underground with a talk on caving, Jan. 26.
Dr. Chas Yonge will present Caving in the Rockies and Adjacent Areas at 7:30 p.m. at the Banff Seniors Centre.
Yonge is the former owner/operator of Canmore Caverns Ltd. and has been a caver for 40 years. Beginning as a ‘pot-holer’ in England, caving has taken Yonge to areas like Cuba, Barbados, Belize, Mexico, U.S., Norway, Indonesia, Australia, China, Vietnam, Bhutan, UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Turkey and Papua New Guinea.
“My caving passion also led me into academic life with a PhD in karst climatology, mainly working with stable and radioisotopes, and over the years culminating in a number of peer reviewed papers, a book and conference presentations,” he said.
“I was an adjunct professor at the U of C from 1990-96. With my new company, Yonge Cave & Karst Consulting Inc., my currents interests include caves in stripe karst, hot springs and perennial ice in bedrock caves (ice caves rather than glacier caves).”
Yonge remains an active caver, including with some cave diving, in the Rockies and Shuswap area of B.C. He’s also a rock climber and backcountry skier.
Yonge’s talk will set the stage for caves and karst in the Canadian Rockies and adjacent areas. He will introduce the cave where his tours are conducted, plus focus on new explorations in Canada’s longest cave, Castleguard, a couple of recent cave finds in the marble karst of the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex and a deep cave in the Fernie area.
