BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//pretalx//talks.caving.dev//nss-convention-2026//talk//LW7FXW
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:EST
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20001029T030000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10;UNTIL=20061029T070000Z
TZNAME:EST
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20071104T030000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11
TZNAME:EST
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20000402T030000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=4;UNTIL=20060402T080000Z
TZNAME:EDT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20070311T030000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3
TZNAME:EDT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:pretalx-nss-convention-2026-LW7FXW@talks.caving.dev
DTSTART;TZID=EST:20260709T110000
DTEND;TZID=EST:20260709T112500
DESCRIPTION:My name is Kevin Mulligan. My early cave trips were with the Bo
 y Scouts in Peipers Cave Pennsylvania. I have since moved and caved in pla
 ces like Kentucky\, West Virginia\, TAG\, expeditions out west\, and even 
 other countries around the world. Well\, that's enough about me\, let's ta
 lk about The Gauntlet.\n\nBy 2019\, I was hosting some vertical practices.
  We began to add some obstacles. We hang some barrels and culvert pipes in
  trees. At some point during a practice\, someone suggested that we string
  these obstacles together to make a course. Before long cavers were runnin
 g through it like some sort of competition. Soon we were timing each other
  to see who can get through the fastest. People were suddenly more motivat
 ed to get back on rope. Ding! An idea was born.\n\nWord got out and people
  from out of state started showing up. Someone asked why don't we do this 
 at cave events. So we put the culvert pipes on a trailer and stuffed the r
 est inside the pipes and brought the course to the 2022 MAR/VAR. It seemed
  everyone wanted to try it and some nights we worked the Gauntlet until mi
 dnight.\n\nSoon we realized participants should demonstrate certain compet
 encies before attempting the full course and our check off stations became
  a standard requirement.\n\nWe were volunteering\, our time\, rope and equ
 ipment. We love sharing our expertise but it was getting expensive so we b
 egan to fund raise with a donation jar and GoFundMe site. When the Gauntle
 t was requested in western US\, we began to organize a western gear cache.
  The Gauntlet has worked from Texas to Massachusetts\, and Virginia to Ore
 gon. We're ready to come to a caving event near you. Contact us at thegaun
 tletsrt@gmail.com
DTSTAMP:20260826T232305Z
LOCATION:254
SUMMARY:The Gauntlet - 
URL:https://talks.caving.dev/nss-convention-2026/talk/LW7FXW/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR