Logan Ripoff, Jeremy Irish, Spider+Spidi and WantedDeadOrAlive at the Memorial Cache site
By: Kelly Ranck
In July of 2001, Thomas Klestil was president, the most popular album was “1” by The Beatles, and the country had recently cheered on David Coulthard as he won the Grand Prix. It was Austria.
And on July 30 of 2001, the Italian Geocacher Giorgio introduced Austria to the cutting edge GPS-enabled treasure hunt called geocaching. His original cache on Mount Niedere in Vorarlberg disappeared a short two years after it was hidden. Local geocachers placed a memorial plaque at the original cache coordinates and hid numerous caches nearby – all under the name ‘A Tribute To Austria’s First (ATTAF)’. These caches were placed in a circular shape along a beautiful path with breathtaking views of the surrounding Austrian mountains.
The group of geocachers included Geocaching.com CEO Jeremy Irish and German reviewer Stash-lab. Dozens of geocachers stopped to take a group photo and toast the occasion. This moment would not have been complete without the stunning mountainous backdrop. What better way to celebrate an anniversary than on an Austrian mountaintop?
Group of geocachers who attended the event
Since the first cache was logged ten years ago, more than 18,000 geocaches have been hidden in Austria. Some caches, such as You have got mail, are so popular that they have accumulated over 170 favorite points.
Geocaching is quickly growing in popularity. As you’ve been reading this article, more than 100 caches have been logged on Geocaching.com from around the world. In fact, 3-5 caches are logged every second!
Because of its popularity, geocaching anniversaries such as Austria’s are continually being celebrated around the world. These anniversaries signify commitment to the activity, consistency, longevity, history, and tradition.
The beautiful mountains of Niedere
Let’s continue to gather together to celebrate this much loved activity.
Editor’s note: Groundspeak Lackeys are traveling thousands of miles from H.Q. this year to share smiles, shake hands and make geocaching memories at more than a dozen Mega-Events worldwide. Sean Boots, aka bootron, attended the Mega-Event Pinzgau 2011 (GC2JTB2) in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. Sean has been a Lackey since 2004 and works as a Senior Developer. This is Sean’s account of his trip.
Michael Krause (krauswaller) pointed to the peak of the two story climbing wall and asked if I was game for grabbing the T5* geocache at the top. The wall was a skyscraper towering over the surrounding booths in the main courtyard of this year’s Pinzgau 2011 Mega-Event. Enticing as the idea sounded, I had just finished my liter of Weissbräu, and had already partaken in a full day’s worth of geocaching, so I politely declined. He accepted my answer but it soon became clear he wasn’t finished with me yet.
Earlier that afternoon, my wife and I had been given a personal geocaching tour around the general area by Christian Laucher (C.H.R.I.S), who along with Rainer Edlinger (edei) is the founder of the now annual Pinzgau Mega-Event. He was gracious enough to spend a couple hours with us in the middle of his busy day. He drove us to various caches he’d found months before and observed our caching technique like a proud father. He helped us find our first letterbox and showed off several of his other favorite spots. Despite being under immense pressure to perform, we put forth a respectable effort and got to see a nice bit of the Austrian countryside along the way.
C.H.R.I.S helps bootron find his first letterbox
As we collected our finds, Chris talked about his experience putting together this grand event. He told us of the special Pinzgauer Kids Art Power Trail that was created specifically for the Mega, which consisted of a series of 56 caches designed by six to 14-year-old children residing in Salzburg’s Socio-Education Center. He talked of how important it was for the organizers to keep the event free of charge for all participants but he also understood that the choice to bring event sponsors may have also ruffled some feathers. His passion for the sport and desire to make people happy was on display throughout our time together.
“Geocachers” he’d say, pointing his finger at each caching group along the road as we passed by. And they all were. Even miles from the event, the place was teeming with them. “Everyone in Saalbach is a geocacher”, he said.
Rainer gets Sean to sign the Pinzgau logbook
It didn’t take long for Krauswaller to come up with a bigger, better plan. He now had convinced a group of friends to take a short “30 minute trip” down the main thoroughfare to find some “easy” T5 caches along the way. He asked me to join and this time wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. So with his family and our several new German and Austrian friends, we all met up for a spur-of-the-moment, early-evening, international geocaching adventure.
We arrived at our first cache destination, a quick stop off the road near what appeared to be a four-wheeler park. I was informed that the cache was located at the top of a nearby tree, and that it would take some teamwork to get ahold of it. But Krauswaller and Quaxi had other plans in store for me. In addition to this cache being a T5, they said they were “turning this one into a D5 too” and soon had the three of us equipped with helmets and our own four-wheelers. With a bit more trepidation than I wanted to admit, I mostly made it around the course, suffering only a minor ego bruise when my vehicle veered off the trail and I was forced to dismount. Darn it, but what a time!
Bootron climbs up to the T5
As we wrapped up our muddy ride, the rest of the group formed a human ladder and grabbed the cache from the tree. We all signed the logbook, got back into our automobiles and were off to the next stop.
Krauswaller, bootron and Quaxi
This time we took a side road and ascended up a hill alongside a tiny creek, until we arrived at a giant man-made bridge-like structure designed to stop trees from blocking the main highway if ever the stream was to flood. The cache was yet another T5, located on the upper inside of the structure a little more than halfway up.
As I watched Quaxi lower the rope from the top of the structure, I felt the trepidation creeping back in again. After Groundpeak’s Bavarian reviewer Rainer (SaRa) made the first climb, I decided that I wanted to log this cache legitimately, and not just mark my name down in the logbook after someone else did the dirty work. So we each took turns strapping into the climbing gear, grabbing the cache, and then replacing it for the next person. Much thanks to my excellent climbing coach, Krauswaller, who helped me navigate the side of the wall despite my having absolutely no idea what I was doing.
After event party with new friends
We rewarded ourselves later that night at the closing party with more Weissbräu and spent the final few hours solidifying our new friendships, while listening to Rainer Edlinger (edei) enthusiastically read off one thousand lotto numbers for the event’s raffle, which offered a 1:2 prize to ticket-purchased ratio. Excellent odds!
Needless to say, there was no flat screen television or all-expenses-paid return trip to next year’s event for us, but we did manage to score a brand new letterbox logbook, a local hockey team cap, and a stuffed Pinzgau clown. Perfect mementos for an amazing trip!
* T5 = cache with a terrain rating of 5 stars, D5 = cache with difficulty rating of 5 stars.
You can also find a Lackey at one of these upcoming Mega-Events:
WINNING CAPTION: Why do people keep signing my mail and leaving little army men and hot-wheels? – Team Snook
Share your genius for witty captions in the 25th installment of our Geocaching.com Caption Contest. You could earn a barely coveted prize. What caption would you write? “Geocaching, out standing in its field.” You can do better!
Barely coveted prize
Submit your caption by clicking on “Comments” below. Please include your geocaching username in all entries. Then, explore the captions other geocachers posted.
You can influence the voting. “Like” the caption that you think should win. If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers to “like” your caption. Lackeys vote to decide the winner of the contest.
The winner receives a barely coveted prize from Groundspeak Headquarters. This contest the barely coveted prize is a biodegradable Cache In Trash Out garbage bag.
Click on the image to discover the winning caption from this contest
21 Lackeys voted to award the winner of the 24th Geocaching.com Caption Contest a barely coveted prize. Click on the image at right to discover the winning caption from the previous Geocaching.com Caption Contest.
Jon Hudson (Dakar4x4) will always remember an afternoon phone conversation on May 26th. The quick call marked the finale after weeks of questioning and anticipation.
His daughter Charlie (FluffyDog) called Jon at work to say the postman finally delivered a small package. The box arrived at their United Kingdom home from Seattle, Washington in the United States. He says, “Her excitement was unforgettable.”
The package contained a glossy eyed battery-powered hamster. The toy hamster had starring role in a Geocaching.com video. The segment aired in a continuous loop while the website received a major update in early May. The “Geocaching.com Hamster Power” video played on an old joke – that Geocaching.com is actually powered by hamsters. (It’s not.)
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Inside the package Charlie also found the hamster’s purple wheel and a note. Jon says, “She had the cutest hamster (the exact same one she had taken a liking to in the video) and an adoption certificate from everyone at Groundspeak, even Signal.”
But Jon says he never intended to adopt a toy hamster and Charlie has a cautious interest in any real pets, “She adores animals, but is equally scared out of her wits by them. It takes a long time for her to trust whatever geo-pet we meet on our adventures together, and of course, caching outdoors and going to caching events, we meet a lot!”
Charlie, Hammy and Dad
However, the hamster video struck a chord with Charlie. Jon says,”When Groundspeak announced the retirement of their aging Hamsters with the really cute video, I just had to show Charlie! She watched it again and again and again, still does in fact! As soon as the site was upgraded though, the video disappeared from the main screen and she asked where all the hamsters had gone. I explained that as per the story, they had been retired and the new ones were now running the geocaching site behind the scenes. Her immediate reaction was to ask where the retired ones had gone now that they were retired. That of course left me somewhat stumped, and so after being asked many times, I agreed to email.”
Soon a Groundspeak Lackey emailed a response. Jon quickly showed Charlie, “When she came home from school I watched her read it, she could not contain her excitement! One of the retiring Hamsters was going to be adopted over to Charlie! Now it wouldn’t be me getting the questions about checking the emails every hour for a response, but our poor post man, who was watched like a hawk for anything Hamster shaped being delivered from Seattle!”
Two Groundspeak hamsters still need homes!
The retired hamster, “Hammy” is happy in its new home. Jon says, “Hammy is still surprisingly spirited in his retirement years and has quickly adjusted to his new life with Charlie, who of course, is very proud of her very own, and incredibly famous geo-pet, thanks to everyone at Groundspeak! You folks really are the best!”
Almost all of the retired hamsters from the video found homes on Lackeys desks at Groundspeak Headquarters. The hamsters unblinking eyes and T5 cuteness remind Lackeys to diligently keep the website running at peak performance and to focus on the fun of an activity that allows people get outside and be active.
Here’s your chance to adopt some of that cuteness. Two retired Geocaching.com hamsters from the video still need homes. If you’d like to offer one of the hamsters a “forever home” post a comment on this blog. Explain why you’re the type of geocacher or geocaching family that would provide a good home for a retired Geocaching.com hamster. Please include your Geocaching.com username. The two winning geocachers will be announced by July 1.
WINNING CAPTION: "Photographic evidence of Rapture Caching!" – Snoogans Geocacher
Exercise your caption writing wit and wisdom in the 24th installment of our Geocaching.com Caption Contest. You could earn a barely coveted prize! What caption would you write? “Cache contains: Travel Bug®, rubber ball, and anti-gravity!” You can do better!
Barely coveted prize
Submit your caption by clicking on “Comments” below. Please include your geocaching username in all entries. Then, explore the captions that other geocachers have crafted.
You can influence the voting. “Like” the caption that you think should win. If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers to “like” your caption. Lackeys and fans of the Geocaching.com Facebook Page vote to decide the winner of the contest.
Click on the image to discover the winner of the previous caption contest
The winner receives a barely coveted prize from Groundspeak Headquarters. This contest the barely coveted prize is a Cache In Trash Out pin.
27 Lackeys and more than 450 Geocaching.com Facebook users voted to award the winner of the 23rd Geocaching.com Caption Contest a barely coveted prize. Click on the image at right to discover the winning caption from the previous Geocaching.com Caption Contest.
