Minot native creates local cash scavenger hunt
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There’s treasure to be found in Minot, and the hunt for it begins on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Seven Paces in Grand Forks, co-founded by Minot native Justin Auch, will be bringing a $5,000 treasure hunt to Minot. The company was inspired by Forrest Fenn, who hid $2 million in a treasure hunt around the Rocky Mountains.
Seven Paces has set up treasure hunts in North Dakota that award prize money for solving challenges. Grand Forks had $25,000 hidden in its treasure hunt, Fargo had $5,000 hidden and Bismarck recently launched a hunt.
The challenges test the mind and patience. Auch said each of the challenges is a riddle that leads participants to landmarks around the city. The riddles consist of five clues per person, which point participants to the next landmark. This event is set run for a week.
Auch says it isn't about hiding money and challenging people to find it. It's about giving people a reason to get out, explore somewhere new, solve a mystery and have an adventure they might not otherwise have. He said he and his business partner, Matt Winjum, have experienced firsthand how much fun that can be, and they want to share it with as many people as possible.
Auch is a graduate of the Minot High Class of 2000. He owns Urban Stampede, located in downtown Grand Forks, as well as a software consulting company called Dakodee. Winjum is a fellow entrepreneur and one of the owners of Rhombus Guys Pizza in Grand Forks. Winjum and Auch were friends for years, and they have always bounced wild ideas off of each other. Seven Paces is one of those ideas.
Auch and Winjum recently had been doing their own hunting, based on “There’s Treasure Inside,” a book by Jon Collins-Black. Collins-Black hid five treasures around the United States, each worth more than $250,000, including one large treasure worth $1 million. Looking for these treasures has taken them all over the country, from Vermont to California.
Last year, Auch said, Seven Paces held a $20,000 treasure hunt in Grand Forks that took two months for someone to solve. The North Dakota city with the most registrations will earn next year's big treasure hunt.
The Minot event is a paid app-based hunt with clues inspired by Minot's history and local lore. The first verified finder wins the prize.