See Why Caving Rocks at Science Museum Oklahoma, Nov. 16-17
November 7, 2019
A child enters the CaveSim experience in June 2017 in New Mexico. Photo by Thomas Graves.
Sixty feet of caving passages and a 12-foot vertical caving tower will deck the front of Science Museum Oklahoma when CaveSim returns to the museum with its free caving experience, Nov. 16-17.
“We’re excited to have CaveSim back at SMO this year — it’s a fantastic way to experience geology in a hands-on way. Experiences like these truly reveal the wonder and relevance of science, and it just goes to show that there’s always something new to discover at SMO,” said Linda Maisch, vice president for community engagement at SMO.
Colorado-based CaveSim teaches guests how to cave safely and responsibly with a crawl-through electronic cave simulator, vertical climbing tower and numerous hands-on caving activities and experiences. Located near the entrance to the museum and free and open to the public, CaveSim will be at SMO from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17.
When a caver enters CaveSim, video game-style scoring begins. The object is to avoid touching any of its cave formations — a computer keeps track of how many times each formation is bumped.
The idea for CaveSim was born in 2008 while founder Dave Jackson was taking a cave search and rescue class. The class was taught in a real cave, and he noted how much damage was caused to fragile cave formations in the process. He thought there was a better way.
In addition to the mobile cave passage and climbing tower, the CaveSim experience includes fire and ice demonstrations with calcium carbide, cave rescue equipment, a squeezebox to see how small of a space a guest can fit through, bat lessons and games, geology lessons, and more.
Jackson and the CaveSim team will be on hand to facilitate each of the elements.
Located at 2020 Remington Place in Oklahoma City, Science Museum Oklahoma is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Daily general admission for Science Museum Oklahoma is $16.95 for adults (ages 13-64) and $13.95 for children (ages 3-12) and seniors (65 and older). Annual memberships begin at $105.
For more information about CaveSim, visit www.cavesim.com.
For more information about Science Museum Oklahoma, visit www.sciencemuseumok.org.
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