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Welcome to DUSA!
Chasing Dragons Since 1963
We’ve been caving since 1963, exploring what lies beneath the ground and seeing parts of the world that most people never get to experience! We run trips most weekends during term time, with special events happening near the end of each term and longer trips happening during holidays. Our trips usually take place around Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and sometimes further afield!
If you’ve never caved or done anything similar before, no worries! Most of our members have never caved before coming to Durham, so if you’re interested, come try it out! We provide all the equipment you need.
Looking for more information? Feel free to message us any questions about the club, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Trips
DUSA runs a variety of trips, from those aimed at beginners to harder trips for more experienced cavers. Whether you like squeezy hellholes or prefer long pitches and tons of SRT, there will be a trip for you. Plus, we provide all of the equipment you’ll need!
We run day trips and weekends away throughout term time, with some longer trips happening during the holidays. Our trips are normally in the Yorkshire Dales, but sometimes we venture out to Derbyshire or even further to the Mendips!
Information about upcoming trips will be emailed to members on our mailing list and advertised on our socials.
Socials
When we’re not caving, we’ve got plenty of socials organized throughout the year! With themed bar crawls, movie nights, bake offs, and bowling, you’re bound to have a cracking time!! We also frequent the Vic during term time 🙂
These are normally advertised on our Instagram or WhatsApp group.
Training
As most of the trips we run tend to be quite vertical, they require SRT (single rope technique), so we’ll train you up! We run a couple of SRT training weekends as well as weekly training sessions from Silverlink Bridge in Pelaw Woods. SRT weekends and bridge training are great opportunities to learn and practice the rope techniques you need for vertical caving.
Joining DUSA
DUSA is a club for life. Members who left Durham years ago still continue to cave, and our annual Dinnermeet sees generations of DUSA coming back together to cave!
To become a member, check out our membership page for up-to-date fees.
The Exec Committee
DUSA is led by a committee of execs that are elected annually at our AGM in May.
Learn about who is currently on part of the exec, and what each role is responsible for on our committee page.
Helpful Links
Check out these links for some more information about caving whilst at university.
Introduction to Caving
New to Caving gives a general introduction to caving and safety information.
British Caving
British Caving Association is the home page for the national body for caving.
UK Caving is a forum board for UK-based caving.
CHECC is the home page for the UK university caving council.
Route Descriptions
Northern Caving gives routes and descriptions for many northern caves.
Peak District Caving gives route descriptions for caves predominately in Derbyshire.