/ Eric Schudiske /

Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – January 18, 2012

February 29 – This Day in Geocaching History

In the 11 years and 9 months since the first geocache was placed, there is single date on which only a small fraction of geocachers have ever logged a cache. We suspect that’s because this particular date has only happened twice in geocaching history; it’s February 29, also known as leap day.

Given our penchant for all things that leap (frogs, horses, excited geocachers), we wanted to mark the third leap day in geocaching history — February 29, 2012 — by seeing how many accounts can log a cache that day.

Last February 29, way back in 2008, 36,696 distinct accounts logged an “Attended” or “Found it” on a cache. Given the growth of the geocaching community since then, we think we can double that number this year. But 73,392 distinct accounts logging a cache is a lofty goal; it’s the second highest number of accounts to log a cache in a single day. The current record, 78,313, was set on 10/10/10. Considering that 10/10/10 was a Sunday and February 29 will be a Wednesday, it is going to require a huge push to reach our goal.

So, talk to your fellow geocachers, your friends, and your co-workers about going geocaching (and logging their find) on February 29. In order to count toward the goal, people only have to log a single cache.

Everyone who logs a “Found it” or “Attended” this February 29 will receive the Leap Day Souvenir on their profile. As an added bonus, Premium Members who love to look at their “finds by date” statistics most likely see a blank square on the calendar on February 29. This is your chance to fill in the square —the 366th day of geocaching!

Outdoor Adventures with Geocaching.com and Tomb Raider®

 

Geocaching.com is teaming up with Crystal Dynamics™, a Square Enix™ studio to promote the 2012 launch of the new Tomb Raider® video game. Read more about the partnership on the Geocaching.com blog, Latitude 47.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Share Your Waymarking Adventures

Scenic Railroads waymark

Reveal the hidden world around you with Waymarking.com. Unlock unique locations in more than 1000 categories like Scenic Railroads, Last of its Kind or even Ginormous Every Objects. Anyone with a Geocaching.com profile automatically has a free Waymarking.com profile. Simply use your Geocaching.com username and password on Waymarking.com. Often times players combine both activities when they’re exploring another country or just down the block.

Waymarking, like geocaching, offers a sense of discovery that’s waiting just outside your front door. Waymarking.com provides tools for players to catalog, mark, and visit interesting landmarks and locations. Adventures around the world use waymarking to explore hundreds of thousands of exciting, whimsical and useful sites. Read about the eye-opening experience from those who see the world through waymarking lens.

N!tr0 writes, “[Waymarking]… makes me look far deeper than I ever would normally, check around corners, look for dates, read signs, whereas I just used to stroll on by. And I have taken more pictures every month than I ever did before.”

Ginormous Everyday Object waymark

Dragontree says, “The most satisfying elements of waymarking are that it combines all of my talents and interests. I can use my writing skills, photography skills, art and design interest to create a waymark online and we can visit the places in person where we have always wanted to go. It gives a sense of purpose to our life and creates an ongoing memory of the world where our footsteps have fallen.”

Last of its Kind waymark

Fi67 writes, “Waymarking combines so many different things: Going outside, taking pictures, search the web or books and finally digest all that and create your own waymark. Another way to play the game is visiting. You can go to the location of existing waymarks, take a picture and upload it with a comment about your visit. The exact visiting requirements are also defined by the category managers and can vary.”

Waymarking.com now offers more adventures than ever before. Explore the site. Add your own waymarking stories below and click the “Post Comment” button.

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

Lowest Cache on Earth GC1EHNZ GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – January 16, 2011

View of The Dead Sea from new the geocache location

The sunbaked rocks near the shore of The Dead Sea hide a geocaching adventure. Treasure-hunters trek to a location unlike any other on earth. Geocachers descend 111 meters (364 feet) below sea level  to search for what’s billed as the “Lowest Cache on Earth” (GC1EHNZ).

The journey, as geocachers’ GPS devices track closer to the cache coordinates, reveals a scorching desert of shepherd tending flocks, palm trees and wiry brush.

The cache is hidden on the Jordan side of  The Dead Sea. The cache owner Limbo placed the small tradition cache in 2008 at an ideal vantage point. Limbo writes on the cache page, “After you find it, find a place to sit and enjoy the great view of the Dead Sea.”

Geocachers from around the world have logged smileys on the cache. One writes, “Given the altitude of this one, I really wanted to pick it up. My driver was pretty interested in the idea and accompanied me across from the parking spot to GZ, and was suitably impressed when I walked straight to the cache and voila! I signed the log while he sorted through the stash, and then it was back to the car to escape the ridiculous heat. They both reckon it was about 50 degrees Celsius [122 F] out here today.”

Geocachers log smileys on the cache

If you’re in the neighborhood in March, and can stand the heat, you could also log an Event Cache. “Meet & Greet @ the Lowest Point on Earth” (GC3AC47) is scheduled for March 3, 2012. It’s within a few kilometers of the “Lowest Cache on Earth.”

Cache container for "Lowest Cache on Earth"

Continue to explore of some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on the Latitude 47 blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com. If you’ d like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@groundspeak.com.

/ Eric Schudiske

Groundspeak Weekly Newsletter – January 12, 2012

The GPS Adventures Maze to open in Wichita, Kansas

A state in the U.S.A. known for horizons of wheat fields, wild sunflowers, and a thriving geocaching community welcomes the GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit this month. The fun, interactive exhibit opens Saturday, January 28th at the Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas. It runs through April 15. Everyone who attends can discover something new and exciting about geocaching, GPS technology and the history of navigation while exploring the family-friendly maze. Those who log the maze will earn the unique GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit cache type icon.

Those planning to visit the exhibit on opening day should arrive early for a little taste of Kansas hospitality. Before the doors open on the 28th, Exploration Place and the Wichita Geocaching Society will host a meet and greet event for geocachers. They’ll be joined by Groundspeak Lackey Sandy, who will offer select giveaways from Groundspeak Headquarters and celebrate the Maze opening with the geocaching community. The event runs from 8:30 am until 10 am, when the Maze opens. For future Maze locations, please visit www.gpsmaze.com.

Benefits of Adding Home Coordinates

Please enter your home coordinates so we can provide information on new geocaches and geocaching events near you.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching.com Teams Up with Tomb Raider®

Geocaching.com is excited to be teaming up with the action-packed experience of Tomb Raider.  Crystal Dynamics™, a Square Enix™ studio produces the video game series. The worldwide phenomenon launched in the mid-1990’s and has since been portrayed in Hollywood blockbusters.

Geocaching.com is a natural fit to join forces with the video game featuring world explorer Lara Croft™. A new campaign of treasure-hunting adventure will preview the upcoming release of Tomb Raider.

Through a variety of initiatives this year, Crystal Dynamics and Geocaching.com will create a series of unique location-based adventures. The experiences embody the spirit of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft’s drive to discover new adventures and locations.

“Many of us have been playing Tomb Raider since the first game launched in 1996, and we are excited that Geocaching.com is partnering with Crystal Dynamics on this project” said Jeremy Irish, CEO of Groundspeak, the company the runs Geocaching.com. “Tomb Raider is all about exploration and discovery. It inspires the adventurer in all of us, much like geocaching does, and we are excited about the opportunities that this project presents for both geocachers and Tomb Raider fans worldwide.”

To develop these adventures, Crystal Dynamics will be tapping into both the traditional Geocaching.com treasure hunting format and Geocaching.com’s latest photo-based adventure project Geocaching Challenges.  More details about future activities are not being released just yet. Subscribe to this blog for the latest updates in the coming months.

You can explore Geocaching Challenges for free on the iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7.

You can also read more on the Official Tomb Raider Blog.