, 254
My name is Kevin Mulligan. My early cave trips were with the Boy Scouts in Peipers Cave Pennsylvania. I have since moved and caved in places like Kentucky, West Virginia, TAG, expeditions out west, and even other countries around the world. Well, that's enough about me, let's talk about The Gauntlet.
By 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 running 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 motivated to get back on rope. Ding! An idea was born.
Word 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 rest 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 midnight.
Soon we realized participants should demonstrate certain competencies before attempting the full course and our check off stations became a standard requirement.
We were volunteering, our time, rope and equipment. We love sharing our expertise but it was getting expensive so we began to fund raise with a donation jar and GoFundMe site. When the Gauntlet was requested in western US, we began to organize a western gear cache. The Gauntlet has worked from Texas to Massachusetts, and Virginia to Oregon. We're ready to come to a caving event near you. Contact us at thegauntletsrt@gmail.com
About the Presenter:
NSS Fellow NCRC Level 3; Member NJ-Initial Response Team;
Cave & wilderness rescue team, Member Hungarian Cave
Rescue Service;
Father of the Gauntlet