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Hi! Welcome to the Leeds University Union Caving Society (LUUCaS). We are an active outdoor club that’s underground and out and about regularly, running trips all over the UK.

From South Wales and the Mendips in the South, to the Dales and Derbyshire in the North, we travel all over in search of adventure and challenge. If you’re looking to widen your travel experience in a unique and fun way, this is the society for you.

<FRESHERS 2025> 

• Freshers' Fair - Come and visit us at the Freshers Fair on the 23rd and 24th of September in the Edge gym sports hall for a chance to meet our committee and ask any questions you have about caving and the society!

• GIAG - We're hosting 2 Give it a Go sessions that you will be able to purchase a ticket for here on our page without needing a membership. No previous experience is required, and all equipment is provided. Ticket release will be a few days before each event and will be announced on our Instagram and our Freshers Whatsapp group (link in Instagram bio).   
• Ladder Meet training and abseiling on Ilkley Moor. (Sunday 28th September) We will be taking the bus over to the wonderful Ilkley Moors and practicing ladder climbing and abseiling - important skills in caving! Freshers will be beleyed so you don't need any previous abseiling experience.
• Caving day trip in the Yorkshire Dales. (RESCHEDULED TO Sunday 19th October) We will be driving out to the Yorkshire Dales and taking trips down a handful of short, beginner friendly caves, led by our most experienced members. We will be visiting the pub and grabbing dinner when we arrive back at Leeds but bring water and lunch/snacks for the day and a spare change of clothes and a towel!

• Mendips - Our first weekend trip of the year will be in the Mendips, Somerset 10th-12th October. Tickets and further details for this trip will go live closer to the date - keep an eye out for updates on our Instagram, and remember, you need a membership to go on this trip! We will be exploring plenty of beginner-friendly caves so this is a great opportunity to get involved!

Make sure to consult our Caving Kit List in the Files section of our page before your first caving trip with us!

What is Caving?

Caving is a cooperative sport where a group of people traverse the exciting and varied environments that caves offer; we scramble over boulders, climb up walls, ascend/descend ropes and crawl through squeezes and streams to explore these often unrealised natural landscapes. These combine to make caving a challenging and compelling sport, with the rewards of exploring places rarely (if ever) seen and having experiences you’ll never forget.

Gear and Training

New to Caving? We are well equipped to cater to new cavers with a large store of equipment (this includes harnesses, helmets, wellies, caving oversuits etc), plenty of experienced and graduate cavers and regular training in a controlled, indoor environment to build skill and confidence for use in a cave.. 

In caving, training involves practising SRT (single rope techniques), which allow us to venture into deeper and more advanced caves, predominantly by descending and traversing. We’ll cover the basics of safe rope ascent, descent and traversal, general caving advice and even teach you how to rig up ropes for cave exploration. The first few training sessions of the year do not require membership to attend so feel free to show up and say hello! We train twice a week at The Edge gym's climbing wall:

Tuesdays and Fridays 7-9pm at the Edge climbing wall

Trips and Socials

Socials - Some of us in the club are considered ‘social cavers’. And why wouldn’t you be? Every training session precedes a pub session, and we’ll often be found drunk and jovial long into the night… and of course, a venture further into town for clubbing or bar hopping can be arranged!

Beyond this we are an active and adventurous bunch, many of us frequenting climbing & bouldering walls together during the week. We also run many ticketed socials throughout the academic year, some from past years paintballing, go karting, trampolining and ice skating. We’re always looking for fun things to do, so let us know and it’ll probably happen! Make sure to keep in touch on our Instagram and Whatsapp group (the latter of which will be launched in September for the 25/26 academic year).

• Day Trips – Generally run once a fortnight, usually on a Saturday. We drive or get the train out (usually to the nearby Dales) and spend the day adventuring underground. Commonly followed by a visit to the pub or a curry house!
• Weekend Trips – Our most infamous and popular trips! Generally ran around once a month, leaving Friday evening and returning Sunday evening. We head to cave-heavy region of the UK and spend the days doing as much caving as we can, and the nights socialising and playing games together at a caving hut (think a super chaotic hostel!). We even cook up communal breakfasts and dinners so there’s no excuse to miss these events!
• Expeditions and Holidays – Once uni ends for the year, it’s time to think about caving further afield. For those keen enough, thanks to the great links LUUCaS members have created over the years, there are opportunities to adventure into Europe and beyond. These trips promise more exotic climates, different activities (like via ferrata, climbing, hiking and canyoning) and, in the case of expeditions, venturing into uncharted caves. Over the years we’ve invaded Spain, France, Austria and cannot wait to get elsewhere!

Membership

As of September 2025, it is £27 for the year. This gives you… 

• Use of equipment from our gear store, including ropes, SRT kits, and appropriate caving clothing.
• Free access to our training sessions at the EDGE climbing wall. Just meet us by the Edge reception when our sessions start.
• BCA (British Caving Association) Insurance, which covers your access to caves on private land and public liability in case something goes wrong. (Note that the club does not recommend any personal liability insurer for caving in the UK, where there are well organised free rescue systems in place.)

It’s a steal for some of the best times you will have throughout the year!

If you are not a student at the University of Leeds, you are still very welcome to come caving with us! We’ve had students from other universities and non-students alike join us in the past. Make sure to purchase a Participant membership on Engage.

Contacts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leedscaving

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@leeds_caving?_t=ZN-9006c3Om4vO&_r=1 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leedscaving

ULSA Website: https://ulsa.org.uk/

(note that LUUCaS is the student branch of ULSA - the wider caving association for those in the Leeds area)

Thanks for reading, see you underground!