Extreme Geocaching

[TobyT]

Ok, So I'm a big fan of the concept of extreme geocaching but there doesn't seem to be any opportunities to go try it here in the South West of W.A.
My idea is to create some kind of website wether it be in the form of a blog or a part of a forum or something, to encourage the "sport"? and for people to upload the links to where the cache is on geocaching.com or wherever etc. so that we can get a bunch of fun ones around here to tackle.

What are your thoughts on this idea?

[pwags]

Ok, So I'm a big fan of the concept of extreme geocaching but there doesn't seem to be any opportunities to go try it here in the South West of W.A. ...

Hmmm... what do you mean by "extreme"?

I thought that the Difficulty and Terrain ratings could be used to identify the "extreme" caches. Any 5/5 caches near you?

[Philipp]

extreme brain-cruncher (= D5), extreme bone-cruncher (= T5) or both?

Maybe you're interested in nightcaching ... http://nightcaching.blogspot.com/p/maps.html

[d.d.dudes]

sheeesh.........didn't know that site existed.......nice. Into the extreme but i think a site for that was formated afew years back but the drive-bys got the upperhand.I was once told......"we need to use what we were made for........originally" your instinct is just sneaking through, i like it.......ha ps ...... my icon gives to much away

[Damo.]

This topic came up some time ago and I went through all the active caches and tagged the ones which were 5 star D or T with an "extreme" tag and made a public query for both.

http://geocaching.com.au/my/query/screen/485
http://geocaching.com.au/my/query/screen/486

[Yurt]

No 5/5 caches in Sydney eh? No wonder I have never found one!

Drop Dead Gorgeous is the closest to home...


If one was to place a 5/5 cache would the difficulty be able to be a combination of a tricky (but not diff 5) puzzle combined with a tricky hide? I guess it's up to the hider to decide. Finders will then pooh-pooh the difficulty and/or the terrain. But NOT if they are keen to have a 5/5 find under their belts!

[TiedyeSmileys]

I guess it's up to the hider to decide. Finders will then pooh-pooh the difficulty and/or the terrain. But NOT if they are keen to have a 5/5 find under their belts!

We had this experience, did a 5/5 cache which was a fun cache but the terrain definitely wasn't a 5. We mentioned this in our log and the owner agreed and dropped the rating quite a bit and we lost that 5/5 find

[TobyT]

Extreme, as in: If you don't break your arm on every second one you're not trying hard enough. Think along the lines of ropes, harness or in some cases a scuba set? Terrain? I'd say 10.

[Hoojar]

No 5/5 caches in Sydney eh? No wonder I have never found one!

Drop Dead Gorgeous is the closest to home...

There's also a 5/5 down in Wollongong (shameless self plug) that for some Sydneysiders would be closer than Drop Dead Gorgeous.

http://coord.info/GC2HYPF

[Dik:]

Extreme, as in: If you don't break your arm on every second one you're not trying hard enough. Think along the lines of ropes, harness or in some cases a scuba set? Terrain? I'd say 10.

By definition Terrain 5 needs equipment such as ropes, scuba, boat etc.

Some people think a 4x4 requires terrain 5 too, but if you can walk it there and back in a day then 5 is over rated.

Look for 4.5 rated terrain. They are the ones where you go without ropes and half way there start thinking you should have brought them along.

[pjmpjm]

No 5/5 caches in Sydney eh? No wonder I have never found one! Drop Dead Gorgeous is the closest to home ... If one was to place a 5/5 cache would the difficulty be able to be a combination of a tricky (but not diff 5) puzzle combined with a tricky hide? I guess it's up to the hider to decide. Finders will then pooh-pooh the difficulty and/or the terrain. But NOT if they are keen to have a 5/5 find under their belts!

I think there are more such challenging caches in the Blue Mountains than within the general Sydney area. 'Drop Dead' near the Shipley Plateau is the only 5/5 I can think of offhand, but there are others whose difficulty level (usually involving climbing and sheer drops, etc.) would probably qualify them as 'extreme' in some way.

I logged 'Daylight' (the famous tunnel) and although the climb down was (in retrospect) a 5/5 equivalent, the cache itself was 'only' rated 3.5/4.

I guess our recent outing to Knightsbridge was towards the other end of the scale, notwithstanding alfyboy's initial hair-raising FTF log.

[Toriaz]

I logged 'Daylight' (the famous tunnel) and although the climb down was (in retrospect) a 5/5 equivalent, the cache itself was 'only' rated 3.5/4.

Except that you can do Daylight without going near the ladders & my 4.5 year managed it without a problem.

But I guess there are many caches that can be riskier at some times more than others, or if you go by certain routes (eg the ladder route to Daylight). Waterhole is rated 2/4, but I'm still feeling lucky to have survived that one due to the water levels being a lot higher at the moment and me almost getting swept away by the rapids.

[Bronnie_1990]

Any cache can be extreme, or made extreme by applying 'Pesky's Pricipal of Inverse Geocaching'....
When attempting to halve the distance required to travel to a cache the difficulty and terrain are doubled!
Although walking across a park to find a micro hidden under the only bench in that said park , can't really be made too much more difficult.

Blindfolded and on a unicycle?

[ruzzelz]

This topic came up some time ago and I went through all the active caches and tagged the ones which were 5 star D or T with an "extreme" tag and made a public query for both.

http://geocaching.com.au/my/query/screen/485
http://geocaching.com.au/my/query/screen/486

Must do vote for these from me

Geotalk XoE - Down The Back - a top day out
Egg Rock ( might chicken on this one?)
Springbrook Pinnacle - just a little walk (well may be a wee bit more than little