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'''RKG NOCEK (Caving Club "NOCEK*")''' is a non-commercial organization based in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruda_Slaska Ruda Slaska] , southern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland Poland], Central Europe. We are a group of outdoor sports enthusiasts - we are focused mainly on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caving caving], but we take part in activities like climbing, ski-alpinism, mountain bikes or plain hiking as well.

The club was founded in 1976 and currently gathers around 50 people from all over the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Silesia Silesian] aglomeration. Typically, we perform weekend trips to Polish and Slovak mountain areas ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatras Tatras], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beskidy Beskidy], Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska), however every summer season there are usually several longer events, including abroad expeditions (mainly to European countries - Austria, Spain, France, but also Romania, Moldovia, Ukraine, Slovenia...). Almost all outings are mentioned on the website - unfortunately, we describe our adventures only in Polish, but if you want to get familiar, you can always have a glance at our Photo Gallery at http://foto.nocek.pl .

The atmosphere in the club is very relaxed, though the organisation is legally registered - we have formal articles of association, a Board elected every two years, general meetings, etc. The club is also a member of the [http://www.pza.org.pl Polish Mountaineering Association], which is a part of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Internationale_des_Associations_d%27Alpinisme UIAA] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_of_Speleology UIS].

The club members meet every Wednesday to discuss upcoming activities and talk on really various subjects. Thanks to the City Hall and the school complex the facility is located in, there's also an indoor climbing facility available free of charge for the club members on Mondays and Fridays. The Club also maintains a sort of Gear Warehouse, that every member is allowed to borrow from.

Another activity that keeps the club on the move is the Caving Course, organised on a non-profit basis every year. Although the course is led mainly by the three club instructors - namely, Tomek Jaworski, Mateusz Golicz and Ryszard Widuch, every experienced club member tries to help. The course has a rather slow pace (lasts for about 10 - 12 months) and its programme includes general knowledge about mountaineering and caving, advanced SRT training on Petzl's equipment, basic climbing training and a few rescue techniques - all that on an indoor climbing facility and during several course expeditions (usually 8 - 12) to Tatra caves.

Karol Jagoda, our collegue is the current president (elected 2010) of the club. If you want to contact us, do not hesitate to drop a message at his mailbox: [mailto:rkgnocek@poczta.onet.pl ].

(*) - NOCEK is a colloquial name for myotis myotis, a spieces of bat commonly encountered in Polish caves.

''Text courtesy of: Mateusz Golicz <mateusz.golicz@sileman.pl>, 2006-02-24. The author is aware that his English is far from from perfect, reports on grammar and vocabulary mistakes are more than welcome!''