Dr. Stan Sides
Dr. Stan Sides
This information was
provided by the Louisville Grotto
in advance of SPELEOFEST 2000
Written by - Scott Cundiff (ndurocaver@aol.com)
Submitted by - Bill Napper - Louisville Grotto Webmaster/Chairman 2000
(Wildcaver@aol.com)
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To some people, Mammoth Cave National Park is a nice place to
visit for a leisurely cave tour or a quiet day hike. To others, Mammoth Cave is a
geologically historical wonder that is unlike any other cave in the world. To Stan Sides,
the Flint-Mammoth Cave System is something more. Much more. On December 30, 1962, the life of Dr. Stanley D. Sides was forever changed by a single cave trip under Flint Ridge. He was so amazed at what he had seen on that first trip into the Flint-Mammoth System, that his own existence would be forever intertwined with Mammoth Cave National Park. |
| Little did he know that he would one day be in a position to give the "go ahead" to connect the boundless Flint Ridge system with the equally enormous Mammoth Cave Ridge. Once these two systems were connected, the Longest Cave in the world was born, far surpassing its closest contender. The Louisville Grotto is proud to announce that Dr. Stan Sides will be acting as the SPELEOFEST 2000 guest speaker. With well over thirty years of intense coexistence with Mammoth Cave National Park, Dr. Sides is perhaps the foremost authoritative historian on the park and the caves that make up its vast underworld. Few people have dedicated more time or energy to the research and understanding of the history of Mammoth Cave and its inhabitants. This will become evident when you attend his SPELEOFEST 2000 program. Dr. Sides will be featuring the history and newly discovered information regarding the life and works of Max Kaemper. If Floyd Collins was the world's most famous caver, then Max Kaemper would have to be the world's most famous cave cartographer! Click here for a brief introduction to the history of Max Kaemper and the mystery surrounding his work at Mammoth Cave. |  |
| Even though Stan resides in Missouri, he has been active at all levels in the world of caving in and around Kentucky's Cave country. As stated earlier, Stan began his "formal caving" in 1962 during the Cave Research Foundations New Years Expedition. Stan spent the next several years as one of the strongest Flint Ridge cavers and participated in some of the most grueling Flint Ridge exploration and surveying trips. A connection between Flint Ridge and Mammoth Cave Ridge seemed imminent and caving was extreme during this time period. Even though Stan was thoroughly entrenched in Flint Ridge Caving during the 1960's, he still managed to earn an M.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Shortly after, he began his postgraduate training at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology. This was about the time that Stan attended his first SPELEOFEST and has since intermittently attended others as well. |
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In 1971 Stan's caving was temporarily put aside as he served as "a conscripted medical officer with the U.S. marines in Vietnam." However, upon Stan's arrival back in the states, he was named the President of the Cave Research Foundation in August of 1972. Only one month later, on September 9th, the Mount Everest of Speleology was conquered with the connection of the Flint and Mammoth Ridges. Over two decades of active exploration and numerous cave trips had resulted in The Longest Cave in the World, and Stan was at the helm. Stan remained President of the CRF until 1974, at which time Roger Brucker stepped into the presidency. During the "Post-Connection" years, Dr. Sides went on to specialize in Hematology and Oncology, and became a partner in the Internal Medicine Group of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.He became a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. In addition to being the past-president of the Cave Research Foundation, Stan has also been named a Fellow of the National Speleological Society. Being in the medical profession, I assume Stan had spent a great deal of time doing research pertaining to Medicine. He must have spent an equal, if not more, amount of time researching Mammoth Cave. He has published many articles relating to Mammoth Cave, several in Scientific Journals. |
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Stan has also written the book "Guide to the Surface Trails of Mammoth Cave National Park". This book was dedicated by himself and the Cave Research Foundation in recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of Mammoth Cave National Park and the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Park Service. |
| Earlier this year, Stan (and his business partners) came full circle in the caving community by actually purchasing one of the oldest existing commercial caves still in operation. And now Diamond Caverns in Park City, just outside of Mammoth Cave National Park, will be in the competent hands of this caver extroidinaire. Just as recent as late November, a "significant" discovery was made in the Diamond Caverns system. I fortunately crossed Stan's path during the summer of 1996, during a week long cave course at Mammoth Cave National Park. The course was being offered by Western Kentucky's Center for Cave and Karst Studies. I was just getting started into caving at that time, and now I can say that one of my first real cave trips was to Floyd's Lost Passage in Floyd Collin's Crystal Cave. During that week, Stan led our small group into various caves within the park, such as Proctor's, Great Onyx, Colossal, Long's and of course Mammoth. Stan had been instructing "The History of Mammoth Cave" course for several years at that time (and currently still is). |
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| It didn't take long to realize that Stan LOVES Mammoth Cave.
Even more so, he LOVES to share his knowledge of the cave and its history. His expertise
ranges from (and not limited to) archaeology, geology, hydrology, genealogy, biology and a whole slew of other 'ologies. Above all, perhaps his greatest attribute is the zeal and enthusiasm with which he shares this information. Stan also has a knack for recreating the time period, the ways of life or the personalities of significant players throughout the caves incredible history. Even though these things have long since passed, Stan can some how conjure up verbal imagery that makes it all seem real to the listener, rather than some dry account of "how it used to be". Again, The Louisville Grotto is especially excited about having Stan as our guest speaker for SPELEOFEST 2000. If you are especially interested in the uniqueness of Mammoth Caves enormous amount of historical information, or if you are just a fan of caving in general, I strongly encourage you to make it a point to attend Stan's presentation on Sunday afternoon during SPELEOFEST 2000. |
This page was last modified January 10, 2003.
