The Challenge:
The format is essentially the same as the TC06 format. The Challenge will be more about FINDING and less about LOOKING. All three teams will be going after the SAME set of caches and its each region's goal to get to as many of them as possible! There will be elements of speed, elements of strategy, elements of skill and brainpower and maybe a bit of fun thrown in there too!
Here is the approximate schedule of the Challenge (subject to change): At 7:00 am Saturday, the Regional Team Leaders will be given the waypoints for all of the caches in the Challenge. This will be in the form of a GPX file that was created from GSAK. It is up to each regional team to decide how to load the waypoints for their team. Regions can use this time to begin formulating their strategies, organizing into squads, etc. At 9:30am on Saturday morning, we will hold a BRIEFING to explain how to play the game and how to score points for your region. It is required that everyone attend this briefing. At this point, you will know all the rules, all the secrets, everything you would want to know about the game and how to accumulate points. At the end of the Briefing, regions will be handed crucial items that are required in order to earn points. The starting gun is fired the minute these items are handed to the regions and you will be informed of the time you MUST return your scoring items to the scorer's table. Late items will not score points for your team. Scores will be tallied while the participants are enjoying their lunch. Winners will be announced later in the day. See the finalized schedule of events for the weekend for exact times.
It is suggested that each region appoint a Team Leader. There will be a number of ways to earn points for your team. There will also be opportunities for lower-mobility cachers to contribute. On the course, you will see a cross section of what you normally find in Geocaching: some puzzles, some evil hides, some physical challenges, some 1/1's, some SURPRISES, etc. It will not be possible, or necessary, for each person to complete each cache, so you puzzle haters can breathe a sigh of relief!
So bring your team, bring your fun attitudes, water, deet, a snack, and don't forget your GPS!
The Teams:
The Texas Challenge competition is a competition between 3 teams. These teams are SETX, Centex, and NTX. SETX encompasses the Houston and surrounding areas, Beaumont area, and Pineywoods area. Centex encompasses the San Antonio and Austin areas. NTx encompasses the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. We realize that not everyone fits exactly into one of these areas, and in that case, you are free to pick a team. For that matter, if there is someone that lives in one of the defined areas, it's ok to compete on a different team if you have friends or relatives that you want to compete with, but most cachers do choose to compete in the area that they live. If you are unsure what area you want to compete, then you can let us know and we can wait until we have more of the registrations in and place you on a team that could use more hunters based on numbers.