Temporary Archive

[+Jackplug]

Who long can you temp archive A cache, I have one that will not be available in the winter si is six months too long.

Kevin.

[+sTeamTraen]

I wouldn't temporarily archive a cache unless the reviewer didn't like me making it just "temporarily unavailable" for more than a certain time. And that goes double if there's a good reason, eg if it's 3000 metres up in the Alps and only reachable from June to September.

 

Here is a cache near me with the opposite problem (not available in Summer due to prodigious undergrowth). But the reviewer has archived it anyway, in "blind typing" mode (some understanding of German is helpful for the subtleties, but basically, the reviewer has made no allowances for the reason why the cache was unavailable).

 

Maybe Groundspeak's view is that the icon "not available in winter" should be sufficient. Although in that case, I'd like to know what their position was before the icons were available.

[+The Golem]

I had one of my caches disabled yesterday (if you read the log entries you'll see why).

[Deceangi]

Temporarily Disabling a cache should not be used for longer than 3/4 weeks. In exceptional cases which are first discussed between all 3 of the UK reviewers will we allow longer periods in cases such as the Golems, but this is a rarity. If you feel you have a justifiable case for an extended Disabling of a cache, please contact either Eckington, Lactodorum or myself with your request, and we will discuss it between our selves.

 

In the cache mentioned by sTeamTraen the Reviewer was following GC's guidelines regarding the long term Temporarily Disabling of a cache. Allowing the long term Temporarily Disabling of a cache is a rarity and not the standard.

 

Deceangi

[+Jackplug]

Thanks for that Deceangi.

Kevin.

[+Jaz666]

Temporarily Disabling a cache should not be used for longer than 3/4 weeks.

 

Does this mean you are going to start to enforce this more and more from now on, or are you going to keep the more relaxed approach of giving most disabled caches a few months?

 

There are many reasons why someone might not be able to tend to a cache within 4 weeks, and even might not be able to log-in to gc.com during that time.

 

According to my gsak database, there are currently 260 caches that were disabled over 4 weeks ago.

[+Learned Gerbil]

In Scandinavia caches are not archived or even disabled because they either, can't be found because they are buried under ten feet of snow from November to March, or because they can only be reached by walking a mile across a frozen lake during the same months. This has gone on long before the icons. People just put the relevant info in the description and everyone just accepted that this was part of caching. Do people use the discriptions any more these days?

Edited September 12, 2006 by Learned Gerbil

[Deceangi]

Temporarily Disabling a cache should not be used for longer than 3/4 weeks.

 

Does this mean you are going to start to enforce this more and more from now on, or are you going to keep the more relaxed approach of giving most disabled caches a few months?

 

There are many reasons why someone might not be able to tend to a cache within 4 weeks, and even might not be able to log-in to gc.com during that time.

 

According to my gsak database, there are currently 260 caches that were disabled over 4 weeks ago.

 

You'll find that I personally give plenty of leeway, in in most cases the owners get 2 warnings before any final action is taken. With plenty of leeway between the 2 warnings.

 

3/4 weeks is considered a reasonable enough time in which a cache owner should perform maintenance on a cache. In the event of a Landowner requesting that a cache is removed off their property, 4 weeks would be considered excessive by them.

[+sTeamTraen]

In Scandinavia caches are not archived or even disabled because they either, can't be found because they are buried under ten feet of snow from November to March, or because they can only be reached by walking a mile across a frozen lake during the same months. This has gone on long before the icons. People just put the relevant info in the description and everyone just accepted that this was part of caching. Do people use the discriptions any more these days?

 

I suspect the average Norwegian thinks about that before he sets off, more than the average Brit. Certainly more than the average English person who might be on holiday "only 5 miles from a cache" in Scotland in January. Most cachers are reasonably mountain-savvy, of course, but there's still one or two brain-dead people who follow what their GPSr and PDA tells them...

[+Learned Gerbil]

That is why the seasonal availability and other hazards should be covered in the description as it is in Scandinavia. Descriptions tend to be detailed and very clear on hazards, special equipment or difficulties caused by weather or other factors. For example, the description will say, not avaialable when there is heavy snow cover, or only available if you have the use of a boat or the lake is sufficiently frozen to walk on.