FILMING GUIDELINES (Scroll down for Rappel & Adventure Trip filming guidelines.) TRADITIONAL WALK TOUR Trail/Tour The entrance to the cavern is accessed from inside the gift shop. The tour descends 235 steps (144 of which are on the 100-foot spiral staircase) to a depth of 165 feet, then comes back up the same steps. Availability Every day, year round. Equipment Handheld cameras fine. Good walking shoes recommended for traction. Environment Damp - stairs and/or handrails may be a little slippery. Narrow passageway at the beginning of the trail. Temperature is a constant 61°F (16°C) with 90% to 100% humidity. Lighting Cave is lit for walking tours, but additional lighting is recommended for picking up more detail. Suggested Interior Shots • Looking up at the “Igloo” from the lower platform. • Looking down 100-feet from the upper platform. • The “Mushroom Patch.” Suggested Exterior Shots • Children/families gemstone mining. • The view across Parrotts Ferry Road from the lookout on the Nature Trail. Permits Required None - privately owned property. THE RAPPEL Trail/Tour A thrilling 165-foot rope descent to the bottom of the huge vertical chamber. Expert guides harness up particpants and explain how to work the equipment. No experience is necessary. Rope must be fed through rack to descend. Rope must always be held by at least one hand. Descent starts in confined rock area, then emerges into huge vertical cavern. Availability Every day, year round. Equipment Hardhat, gloves, harness and ropes supplied. Wear loose-fitting jeans, t-shirt and sturdy shoes. Handheld camera equipment can be used on spiral staircase to film paralleling rappellers, or a lipstick/helmet camera can be used on the ropes to get rappeller’s view of cave. All equipment should be taken down at one time when shooting on stairs - large number of stairs make it physically demanding. Trail with stairs starts with narrow passageways. Environment Damp. Temperature is 61°F (16°C) with 90% to 100% humidity. The stairs make for physically demanding shoot - Lighting Cave is lit for walking tours, but due to vast chamber (100-feet x 100-feet) additional lighting is recommended for best shots. At least one in introduction area (beginning rappel) and one on stairs shining up toward rappeller emerging into chamber. Suggested Interior Shots • Rappellers beginning descent (taken from above in the “Introduction Room”). • Rappellers emerging into large chamber (taken from stairs). Suggested Exterior Shots • Landscape to the right of the gift shop - dissolving into cave interior. Permits Required None - privately owned property. THE ADVENTURE TRIP Trail/Tour A 2-3 hour high adventure caving trip beginning with the thrilling 165-foot rope rappel. Participants begin by descending by rope to the bottom of the huge vertical chamber. Then it’s 2 hours of crawling through unlit , tight crawl areas of the cave. This is a challenging expedition that requires strength and stamina.Color Availability Every day, year round. Equipment Coveralls, helmet with light, gloves and knee and elbow pads supplied. Wear loose-fitting jeans and t-shirt and shoes with good traction. Clothes may get scuffed up and stained with cave dirt. Helmet/lipstick cameras are okay but could get damaged if knocked into the hard marble walls of the cave during the crawling around the very tight passageways. Environment Somewhat damp. Very confined. Physically challenging. Lighting Cave helmet lights only during crawl around part. Additional lighting required for best shots. Suggested Interior Shots • Preparing for the rappel & receiving instructions. • The rappel. • Cavers negotiating tight crawlways. Suggested Exterior Shots • Landscape near gift shop dissolving into cave interior. Permits Required None - privately owned property. Special Notes Filming the Adventure Trip is a bit of an adventure in itself! Handheld cameras are hard to negotiate through the tight crawlways and impossible on the ropes during the rappel. We recommend filming the rappel with handheld cameras from the spiral staircase which parallels the course taken by rappellers. The spelunking part of the trip is best filmed with lipstick cameras which get pretty good results, even with the low light conditions. For best results we recommend a preliminary reconnaissance trip without equipment, to decide how best to film. Pictures of the Adventure Trip can be seen on this site and by clicking on the "Meet a Tour Guide" button on Moaning Cavern's page.