NSS Convention 2026

The Whigpistle Cave Project is in its 21st year and going strong with exploration and discovery taking place all over this large and growing central Kentucky cave system. Whigpistle now has more than 43 miles of mapped length. Trips take place on weekends with mostly local cavers and during annual expeditions with cavers from across the country. Trips are often long, vertical and wet, requiring wetsuits. The most recent expedition took place the week before the 2026 NSS Convention with both day and camp trips. The October 2025 Expedition mapped more than a mile in three areas in southern parts of the cave on a five-day camp and multiple day trips. Climbs were completed, quad maps checked, tight passages pushed and open leads surveyed. One important discovery was a climb completed by Bram Lovelace that led to an extensive upper level with no ends in sight. In 2024, new surveys were made in the Jackpot Cave section of the system, with 4,500 feet mapped in some very large passage for the Mammoth Cave area. The Hennion Family owns much of the land above Whigpistle, and brothers Weston and Ryan are active project members. They, other family members and friends have been working diligently for months quarrying straight down into the limestone bedrock to create a new entrance that will emerge into a remote part of the Martin Ridge section of the cave. Work continues on maps of the caves with steady progress being made. Many more climbs, blowing digs and open leads remain.