The Rochester Orienteering Club has scheduled an event Sunday January 19, Ski-O at Mendon Ponds Park. Hopkins Point Lodge. Start from 11:30 to 2:00 pm.
Please Register if you are think you might make it to the meet. As always this is nonbinding and you may of course register at the event too.
Part of Mendon Ponds Winterfest.

The ROC annual meeting will be held on Sunday, December 8th at Hazelwood Grove Lodge in Ellison Park. This year it is for MEMBERS only.

BOD meeting 2-3:30
Poker-O (outside if weather is reasonable) Orienteering Bing-O (inside if weather is nasty) 3:45-4:45
Pot Luck 5:00-5:45
Annual Meeting 5:45-6.

For the Pot Luck we ask that you bring a dish to pass based upon your birthday month:
Jan-March - snacks
April-June - salads
July-September - main courses
Oct-Dec - desserts

The club will supply cold drinks, coffee and tea. You will need to bring your own plates and dinnerware. Please bring serving utensils for all Pot Luck items.

There is no charge for the event, but we would like you to preregister so we know how many people are coming in order buy drinks and to plan the activity.

Results from the Webster Park Night-O are now available on the results page.

Webster Park Night-O at Parkview Lodge with starts 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. The night of Saturday, November 16th will be a full moon so as long as the skies are clear you may have some extra illumination. You must have a flashlight or headlamp to participate, and might also think about bringing your cell so you can call the ROC meet phone should you run into trouble. The courses CLOSE AT 9:15. Come and start early if you want to make sure you have enough time to complete your course.

We are in need of volunteers, especially for registration, greeter, flag pick up either that night or the next day and food. Contact Sandra Lomker slomker@frontiernet.net

Please Register if you are think you might make it to the meet. As always this is nonbinding and you may of course register at the event too.

Course Length Climb
White 1.6 km 35 m
Yellow 2.4 km 60 m
Orange 3.5 km 70 m
Green 5.5 km 135 m
Blue 8.1 km 200 m

All courses - Center dots:
For all of the controls there will be a center dot that highlights where the flag is placed. This is often used for Ski-O events. Don't miss read them as a knoll or boulder when looking at the map in the dark.

Adv Courses - Green and Blue:
The advanced courses will feature several cross marsh legs. The marshes are all crossable and about ankle deep or mid calf if you make a wrong step. You can still stay entirely dry if you take the trail routes around for extra distance.

Results from the Mendon Trail Run are now available on the results page.

Mendon Trail Run - The race has sold out; we are unable to accept any further on-line entries, or any day-of-race registrations.

The Mendon Trail Run is coming up Nov 2. If you can help out let our race director Brian Thomas know. Contact info on the webpage.

We're up to 251 at the present time, and I expect to receive a fair number of mailed entries today and Monday, since yesterday was the postmark deadline for mailed entries. (Of those 251 entrants, 121 have signed up for the 50K, which I believe is about double the number we've ever had in the past.)

Thus, it appears that there is a very high likelihood that we'll hit our limit of 300 runners. We're going to hold to that limit very strictly because we're not geared up in a number of ways to handle more than that, and we want the race to be a good experience for everyone.

So if anyone is planning on doing the race, they need to pre-register, fairly soon. I'd really like to avoid anyone driving to the race, expecting to sign up on the day of the race, only to find out that they can't because we've hit our limit.

Dick Detwiler (registrar)

ROC invites you to our first Vampire-O October 26...a spooky evening of orienteering with a ghoulish twist. This is a mass start event, with everyone heading out at 7pm with flashlights in hand.

Some vexing vampires will be out on the course with special flashlights and blank punch cards. If you are the victim of their beastly beam you must trade your punch card for the blank card. You also get the special flashlight and get to search for "fresh blood" and a new punch card. Will you get back to the creepy castle safely? Perhaps you will find the garlic that grants you immunity? Or will you go to the grave before you return to safety?

In addition to a costume contest (make sure you can orienteer in it!) we will have some Halloween-themed activities starting at 6:15pm.

We start at the Cooperative Extension on Highland Avenue, with parking in the back. Enter by the auditorium door. Our Vampire-O will begin at 7pm with a mass start. This is a perfect family activity. Register now. If you plan to bring a group and are not pre-registering please contact me at hunt.laurieanne@gmail.com. Note that all minors must have a waiver signed by a parent, available on our website.

Bring a flashlight or headlamp, a watch and your costume. Vampire-O will last 60 minutes.

Powder Mills Park, October 20, 2013

Please Register if you are think you might make it to the meet this Sunday. As always this is nonbinding and you may of course register at the event too.

This meet will start at North Lodge, which despite its name, is in the southern part of the park. Directions to the lodge, assuming you're coming via I-490:

- Exit 490 at exit 27
- Turn left onto Rt. 96
- Travel 0.7 miles, then turn right onto Park Road
- Travel 0.5 miles, then turn left onto Corduroy Road (this turn is right by the fish hatchery)
- Travel 0.5 miles, then turn right onto Woolston Road
- Go 0.3 miles, then turn left onto a road which leads to the lodge

You can start any time between noon and 2 p.m.

This meet will feature 5 courses:

White: 1.6 km, 45 m of climb
Yellow: 2.1 km, 100 m
Orange: 4.3 km, 165 m
Brown: 3.6 km, 155 m
Green: 6.0 km, 215 m

The course designs are being tweaked a bit, so these distances and climbs may change slightly.

All courses will involve fairly significant climb (pretty much unavoidable at Powder Mills).

As of this writing (10 days before the meet), many leaves have fallen from the trees, and by the meet date, many more will have fallen. This is good and bad.

The good part is that the woods are very open and thus visibility is quite good.

The bad part is that trails are much harder to discern when covered with leaves. This creates a challenge for the easier courses which involve significant use of trails for navigation, and also for the more difficult courses where trails might be depended on as catching features. Many trails are blazed, which helps staying on them once you're on them, but doesn't usually help a whole lot when crossing them at a more or less 90 degree angle. There's not much that can be done other than to let you know, and for you to be particularly aware that trails won't be as obvious as they otherwise would be.

This meet will be using a new map, made using much of the latest technology (LIDAR contour data; GIS data giving information like edges-of-pavement, building footprints, and parcel boundaries; and high-quality aerial photos).

The map is still a bit of a work in progress, but it is felt that areas around each control are fairly accurate, as are the logical route choices from control to control. Swampy areas are not always mapped totally accurately in terms of vegetation, but at Powder Mills, you really don't want to be venturing through the swamps, no matter what the vegetation. There are some other areas where the map can and will be improved, but again, it should be reasonably good for this meet.

Results from the Letchworth State Park meet are now available on the results page.

Oct 5 Letchworth Nav Training in the morning and THOMASS event in the afternoon. Event details
Please Register before September 28th to let us plan for food, maps and logistics for training. Day of registration is also possible. There is also a park entry fee $8/vehicle.

New policy for youth participation, details on Local Meets page. Pass this along to any groups you may know that might not receive this message.

Results from the Cobbs Hill National Orienteering Week meet are now available on the results page.

Cobbs Hill Park NOW Meet September 21 Tay House Lodge. Start from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 pm. Part of National Orienteering Week.

Greetings, Orienteers!This Saturday morning is the time to introduce your family and friends to orienteering! Orienteering is known as the "thinking sport", where participants navigate through a park using a map and compass to find flags located on distinct features. ROC's National Orienteering Day meet starts and 10 am at Tay House Lodge on Norris Drive in scenic Cobb's Hill Park. What's exciting about NOD is that everyone who does our beginner course (White course) will receive the bargain price of $2 per person or team. And you can do a second, or even a third course, for an additional $2 per course. The White course generally average 2-3 kilometers in length and most complete it in under 45 minutes. We provide you with instruction and welcome beginners. Courses other than White are $8 per individual or team for non-members/$4 members.

You can start from 10am-12:30pm. If you'd like to do more than one course please arrive early. All we ask is that you return to the Finish by 1:30 whether or not you finish your course. Your course choices are String-O (free, for small children), White (Beginner), Yellow (Advanced Beginner), Sprint, and Score-O. For the Score-O [Scatter-O] course you can choose to get any 5, 10, 15, 20 or all 25 controls in any order. You can take as long as you like, as long as you return by 1:30.

We encourage you to pre-register on our website at Online Registration also linked in the side navigation <---. You don't pay until you arrive at the meet and there's no problem if you find you can't make it. Pre-registration closes on Thursday at midnight. If you plan to go out as a family or team please note that we have extra copies of maps available for $1 each. Orienteering is more fun when children and team members feel included by having their own map, and you can take the map home as a souvenir and learning tool as well as use it again next time you visit the park. If you would like more information please call our Hotline at (585)377-5650. Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Results from the Genesee Country Village and Museum meet are now available on the results page.

Next event at Genesee Country Village and Museum, 1410 Flint Hill Rd. Follow the link at the top of our webpage for the next event in the yellow header. There is a map on that page, click it to zoom if you need further directions. The Nature Center is to the south of the large parking lot. You may sign up now using Online Registration.

Genesee Country Village Course Setter's Notes

1. The area in which the courses are laid is not as big as most parks in which we hold meets. It is approximately 1km by 1km in area and is printed at 1:5000. The courses are classified as middle distance which are characterized by short, technical legs with lots of changes of direction. White: 1km, Yellow: 2.4 km, Orange: 2.9 km, Brown: 3.0 km, Green: 4.0 km, Red: 5.5 km. The contour interval is 2.5m so there is very little climb on all of the courses. The Red course is printed on 2 seperate maps, you'll get both maps at the start and will need to change maps at #12.
2. The map of the nature area at Genesee Country Village is a mature work in progress less than two years old. The vegetation should be complete enough for this meet but may not be as accurate as other maps that have significantly more herritage.
3. This area is strewn with boulders and rocky ground. Mapping all of the rock features would blacken the map. Rock features on the map were chosen based on size and uniqueness. If you see a boulder that is not on the map do not be surprised. It was not mapped either because it was not deemed distinct enough or understandably just has not yet been mapped yet. When you see the area, you will understand what I mean.
4. The central boulder field is still a work in progress but is very representative of the area in order to find the controls there.
5. The long broken down fence is not a reliable handrail as it is not visible in most parts. It is on the map for your safety. Please be careful in that area.
6. Lastly, this is my first meet course setting and I hope that it meets expectations. My efforts have always been for you all to have an ejoyable and safe time. So if you find part of the course frustrating or somehow not to your liking, be comforted in not having to run/walk the mistakes I did not allow to make it to the map!
7. Lastly, much thanks go to the field and map work by Laurie Hunt, Linda Kohn and Karl Kova. Also gracious thanks for course setting advise go to Laurie Hunt, Dick Detwiler and especially Linda Kohn, whose detailed mentoring in field work, mapping and course setting is as appreciated as any compass that points north.

Greg Michels - Course Setter

Results from the Ellison Park Trail Challenge are now available on the results page.

TC details

Ellison Park Trail Challenge - Orchard Grove Shelter - Thursday August 29
(park in the big lot on the north side of Blossom Road, just east of the dog park - take the small footbridge across the creek to the shelter)

Registration opens at 5:50pm, race briefing at 6:25pm, mass start at 6:30pm, courses close at 7:45pm, sunset at 7:50pm. Flag pickup will start promptly at 7:45pm. Maps will be handed out at registration, so come early and have plenty of time to plan your route. Preregistration is strongly encouraged and will save you money - entry fees for preregistration are $4 for ROC members and $8 for non-members. Meet-day entry is $10 for everyone.

Courses

There are two course lengths - 4k and 8k. These distances are "reasonable route" lengths rather than straight-line distances. Some shortcuts are possible, particularly on the 8k course. The 4k course is largely flat. The 8k course has two sections with significant climb.
The time limit is 75 minutes for all courses. Walkers should choose the 4k course; those electing the 8k course should plan to run (even slowly) at least some of the time. You must be back by 7:45pm even if it means not completing your course. (It will be getting dark very soon after that.)
Because of the limited daylight and shortened time limit, there will be a "short course" option for the 8k course. Simply put, if you find yourself at #13 and don't think you have time to complete the whole course by 7:45pm, you can skip the final loop and go straight to #17. This option cuts off ~2km and a bunch of climb. You do not need to decide on short course vs full course ahead of time - just tell the person at the download computer which you ended up doing.

Map

The area north of Blossom Road was mapped several years ago and has received some updates for this event. It should be in pretty good shape, but be aware that (as always) there may be some discrepancies between map and reality. In particular, there may be small unmapped "herd path" trails in the hilly region.
The area south of Blossom Road (only relevant for 8k runners) has never been mapped to orienteering standards. Updates for this event were done from aerial photos with a small amount of field checking (largely limited to GPSing the trails). In particular, no attempt was made to map vegetation other than indicating the open areas - white just means that it isn't mowed grass.

Safety and Courtesy

Be alert for cars on park roads. 8k runners will cross Blossom Road twice - be especially careful on this busy road! No swimming/wading! As tempting as it might be (especially if it is hot), swimming or wading across Irondequoit Creek is not permitted. Cross the creek only on a bridge. Be courteous to other park users. In particular, do not run through any baseball games or interfere with disc golf players.

Results from the Durand Eastman meet are now available on the results page.

Are you ready to go orienteering this week? Our next event is at Durand Eastman Park (east side) on Thursday evening Aug. 8th. We will be starting out of Acorn Lodge which is on Log Cabin Road off of Lake Shore Blvd. We will have Sprint, White and Score-O courses. At 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm there will be Sprint and White course starts. The score-O mass start is at 6:45 pm. If you are planning on doing the Sprint and the Score-O event please plan accordingly.
Hope to see you there.

Sprint - 1.9 km, 60 meter climb. 1:5000 scale map
White - 2.3 km, 50 meter climb. 1:5000 scale map
Score-O - 24 controls, 50-minute time limit. 1:10000 scale map

Please note that even though the Sprint is shorter than the White, the White is easier navigationally and is intended for beginners and novices.

5:30 pm - registration opens
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm - people may start on the Sprint and White courses. Courses close at 7:30 pm. If you think you may need more than half an hour to complete your course, don't wait until 7 pm to start!
6:45 pm - mass start of the Score-O
7:35 pm - time limit for the Score-O. Control pickup begins at 7:35 sharp. Please be back no later than this time! It gets dark early these days, especially in the woods. Sunset is around 8:20 pm, but there will definitely be "waning light" in the woods by 7:35. We REALLY don't want to have to conduct a search for people in the dark.

There are no parking lots of any significant size near Acorn Shelter, but it appears (by the absence of "No Parking" signs, and by observing many people parked there when I was in the park this past Sunday) that parking is allowed on both sides of the road. Make sure you're as far off of the road as possible, and also try to park reasonably tightly (for example, don't leave three-quarters of a car length between you and the car in front of you!).

Meet Director: Nancy Burgey

Results from the Mendon Ponds Adventure Race are now available on the results page.

Event name: Mendon Ponds Adventure Race - Around the pond - once, twice, thrice!

Venue: Mendon Ponds Park
Location: Pond View Shelter

Adventure Race Mass Start at 10;00 AM, 6 hour time limit
White, Score-O: Starts from 10:10 AM until 2 PM
Cost: Standard ROC meet fees apply ($8 per group, discounts for club membership and volunteering)

The Mendon Ponds Adventure Race will challenge competitors around Hundred Acre Pond (at Mendon Ponds Park). The Paddle segment will traverse that pond as well as the neighboring Deep Pond. The Peddle segment will take competitors around the pond to the far corner of the park, neighborhood roads, and the nearby Lehigh Valley and Fishers Landing Trail systems. The Pod (foot) segment includes the varied glacial terrain surrounding the ponds.

The Adventure Race will consist of each of the three segments in whichever order desired.

Competitors may choose to mix-n-match, one, two, or three of the segments with or without teammates. All segments begin and end at the Pond View Shelter. Each loop will allow 10 minutes for competitors to punch finish, download, refuel for next loop, clear, get a map, punch start, and begin the next loop (penalty of 1 control per minute of overage).

Competitors must arrange for their own bikes and watercraft. Because the legs may be ordered as desired, it may be possible to share. Competitors may not leave on a new leg after 3:00 PM.

Current segment course information:
Each is a score-O format.
peddle - TBD length, up to 20 controls, expected winning time: 1.5 hours.
paddle - 3.5km, 11 controls, expected winning time: 45 minutes.
pod-le - 9km, 23 controls, expected winning time: 1 hour.

The winner will be the competitor with the most controls in the least amount of total time. It is expected that multiple competitors will reach all controls. Similar to Score-O formats, one control will be deducted for each minute past the 6 hour deadline.

Participants that just want a foot orienteering challenge can head out on the foot course - which has a number of controls nearby for a shorter experience. In addition, a 1km, 6 control introductory White course will be available

Results from the Genesee Valley Park Trail Challenge are now available on the results page.

Next meet GVP Trail Challenge July 11 Thursday night. Event will start at 6:30 p.m. (everyone starts at the same time) at Canalside Shelter. Registration/check-in opens at 5:50 p.m. Unlike regular orienteering meets, as soon as you check in, you receive your map! So to have the maximum time to get familiar with the map and plan your route, arrive early!

The Genesee Valley Park map has been completely re-done this year, using LIDAR contour data and high-quality aerial photos.

The theme of this race is "bridges". The 8K competitors will cross bridges approximately (depending on specific route choices) 12 times (10 different bridges). Many of these crossings will be on elegant pedestrian bridges designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted. The 4K competitors can expect 5 bridge crossings. The bridges are over the Erie Canal, the Genesee River, and Red Creek.

There will be two distances to choose from - 8K and 4K. Note that unlike most orienteering courses where the distances refer to the straight-line distances from control to control, these distances are the estimated best-route distances that people will cover. There are a very few places where the distance could be reduced by cutting through woods (but not by a whole lot), and of course nearly an infinite number of ways that a person's distance could be more than the stated distances! However, the orienteering is generally relatively easy, so it is expected that few people deviate TOO far from reasonable routes.

The time limit is 90 minutes for both distances. If you plan on walking the entire distance, please enter the 4K. If you can run at all, even very slowly (say 12 minutes/mile), you shouldn't have any problem finishing the 8K course within the time limit, even with a few "non-optimum" routes.

You are strongly encouraged to pre-register, to save you money and to allow things to go much more smoothly at registration / check-in. Entry fees for pre-registration are $4 for ROC members and $8 for non-members. Day-of-meet entry fees are $10 for everyone. To make it even better, you don't even need to pre-pay when you pre-register. You pay on the day of the meet.

For more information about the Trail Challenge, and a link to pre-register, please visit: http://roc.us.orienteering.org/trailchallenge/

Results from the Webster Park meet are now available on the results page.

Join us for the Rochester Orienteering Club's next meet this Sunday, June 23rd with starts from Noon until 2 PM. Register online at http://roc.us.orienteering.org/onlineregistration.shtml.

Meet headquarters is Kanatota Lodge on the north side of Lake Road. The start/finish will be on the south side of Lake Road, and no courses will cross Lake Road. Please, however, be very careful when crossing Lake Road before the start and after the finish. The red course will cross Holt Road twice. Please also be very careful when crossing Holt Road and do not expect cars to slow down or stop for you.

Volunteers are still needed for flag pickup. Contact Sandra or me if you are interested in helping out.

At 11:30 AM, Olympian fencer Felicia Zimmerman will give a short demo and will be open to questions about her Olympic experience. We hope that you'll consider coming out early and meeting a local Olympian.

Course Setter's Notes:

The safety bearing is North for all course.

Water will be available on the orange through red courses. Please do not drink from the jugs and dispose of your cups properly.

Mud…there are several trails that are quite muddy as well as many of the swampy areas. Not all rootstocks are mapped. There are many green areas in the park. Some of the light and medium green areas are a little more open then they will be in a month, but not all. So charge in at your own risk. For the most part I was able to move quickly with an occasional slow down in the light green areas. The medium green areas varied with some that were passable with a minor effort especially when I found a deer trail. But there were other sections of the medium green that were fights to get through. Avoid the dark green unless you bring your machete.

Our next regular event is a few weeks away but there are training opportunities and meets not too far away to try orienteering in terrain that is less familiar.

June 8 - ROC ADK Expo beginners O course at Mendon Ponds Beach Area
June 9 - BFLO Hunter's Creek Park South
June 13 - ROC TNT ROC Training link on our website.
June 16 - CNYO Daddy O

For other Orienteering events in the area check the listings on Attackpoint. This link is also at the top of our schedule page.

Results from the Braddocks Bay Canoe-O meet are now available on the results page.

Canoe-O Sunday, June 2nd.
GENERAL INFO
The address for the meet is 372 Manitou Road. Park on the north side of the parking lot near the kayak launch. The fee to launch a canoe or kayak is $5 and will be paid at registration. Registration will be at the Tackle shop on the south side of the building. There is a single bathroom at the Tackle shop so plan accordingly. There is a restaurant/bar next to the Tackle shop if you want something to eat or drink other than regular meet snacks.

SCHEDULE
12:00 - Registration opens
12:50 - Maps handed out
1:00 - Mass start
4:00 - Finish

COMPETITION RULES
1. This is a score O. There are 24 control points. #s 1-6 are 10 points, 7-12 (20), 13-18 (30), 19-24 (40) The groupings of controls will include all point values. Many controls are close to the start/finish. You will need to plan carefully. Competitors getting all the controls will be ranked according to their total time. THE LATE PENALTY IS 10 PONTS PER MINUTE SO PLEASE BRING A WATCH.
2. ALL competitors must have a life jacket or other flotation device in their boats.
3. All controls can be reached by boat and no portaging is allowed.
4. In honor of Earth Day bonus points will be awarded to boats that collect items of garbage from the water and bring them back in the garbage bag provided by Sandra Lomker. An item must fit in the bag. Concentrate on Styrofoam cups and plastic bottles. ONE POINT PER ITEM UP TO TEN POINTS.

Linda and I put out most of the controls for the Canoe O today. The water levels are high and there a lots of turtles, Whistler swans, baby geese and carp to keep you company while you paddle around. It should be a great event. We hope to see a lot of you there.
Rick & Linda

The next ROC Board of Directors meeting is Wednesday, June 5th at 7:00pm. Open to all, contact ROC President Laurie Hunt for further details if you are interested in attending.

It's almost time for Canoe-O! The water level should be up in June so we will be able to utilize all the creeks in the immediate area. There will be some boat traffic out in the bay, but it should be on the light side as it is still early in the season. Unfortunately, the canoe rental facility at the hotel went out of business this year so you will have rent canoes and kayaks at other places. Oak Orchard has a program that provides you with a car top carrier and life jackets. (Scroll down for Empire Blvd. rates) It is cheaper to rent a boat at their Waterport location, but for most it is a bit of a drive). http://oakorchardcanoe.com/rentals.php If anyone finds a better rate somewhere else let us know and we will post it.

EVERYONE WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY A $5 LAUNCH/PARKING FEE (Normal fee is $7) in addition to the usual ROC meet fees.

NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED TO START WITHOUT LIFE JACKETS FOR EVERYONE IN THE BOAT. The water will still be cool at this time of year. The bay is generally sheltered so big waves are not normally a problem. Not sure about portaging possibilities at this point until we know about the water conditions. Will send out course notes a few days before the event.

There will two divisions. One for canoes and one for kayaks. Extra points will be given for any garbage collected from the bay. There will be a mass start at 1 PM and a 3 hour time limit. Cannon balls will be shot at any boats still on the water after 4 and HUGE point penalties will be assessed. As usual the organizers will offer significant bonus points for any positive comments about the meet or their appearance. "Style" points will be awarded for decorated boats and participants. It is a great area for boating with lots of extra streams an inlets for controls. It will be a Score-O format.

Rick Worner, Course Setter

Results from the Mendon Ponds meet are now available on the results page.

There will be a regular meet this Saturday, May 18 at Hopkins Point Lodge in Mendon Ponds Park. Starts will be from 10 AM to noon. Note the earlier time! WYOBGR courses will be offered. We can promise better weather than at our last regular meet! Online Registration will save you time, as well as the staff.

Results from last weekends US SML Champs in Lake George, New York in Sprint, Middle and Long events for ROC club members.

Congratulations to all of our medal winners.

Results from Rochetser Map Adventure 2013 are now available on the results page.

Rochester Map Adventure 2013 is only 10 days away!!! The date is Saturday, May 4, with a mass start at 11:00 am. The start location is the South Avenue Community Center, at 999 South Avenue, Rochester (in the Highland Park area).

Rick Lavine and I (Dick Detwiler) have really enjoyed setting the course for this year, and we're sure the participants enjoy it as well. This year's event covers a somewhat different area than last year's (but with a lot of overlap). It will include the South Wedge, Cobbs Hill Park, Highland Park, Mt. Hope Cemetery, University of Rochester, Corn Hill, Downtown, the Park/East Avenue area, and the Neighborhood of the Arts.

This event has a total of 82 control points.

There's something for everyone in this event. For someone who is a serious runner or biker and wants to be challenged to cover a lot of ground in a quest to visit all of the controls, our estimate is that it would involve covering approximately 28 miles to do so.

But someone who isn't interested in covering mega miles will have a lot of controls accessible also -- within a 1-mile radius of the starting location, there are 43 of the 82 controls.

Pre-registration is STRONGLY encouraged. It helps us make sure we have enough maps and food, and it saves the registrant $5 per person compared to registering the day of the meet.

Register on Active
Course Notes Updated 5/3

Results from the Black Creek Park meet are now available on the results page.

ROC TNT training for the 2013 season.

Are you interested in improving your orienteering skills? ROC will be holding free informal activities twice a month. Sessions are open to ROC members on Tuesday or Thursday evenings, from late April through September at a variety of area parks. These self-service activities will be hosted by volunteers, and are intended for intermediate and advanced orienteers to develop technical skills and endurance.

To learn about these activities visit ROC Training or use the link on the side navigation bar. The orienteering activity will be informal and free. Sessions run from 7-8:30 pm.

Next meet takes place on Saturday, April 20th, with starts between 10 am and noon. Note the new Saturday start time! We will start at Black Creek Park, 3835 Union Street, in North Chili. Start and finish are at the Pathfinder Shelter on the east side of the park. Look for the orange and white signs. Pathfinder is an open shelter, so dress accordingly. Course setter Rob Holmes will be offering a full color range of courses WYOBGR.

If you have not already pre-registered; please Register Online now.

Rob says the low areas of the park are quite wet and at least one major trail is impassable, which will be reflected on the map. Hopefully the weather will dry up a bit before the meet. On the plus side the vegetation, which is normally pretty rough is quite open. Course notes will indicate all “green” areas can generally be considered one shade lighter.

[Update: April 17]

ROC tech shirt ordering deadline has been extended to April 20th at the Black Creek meet. Order at the meet or see the news post at the end of March below for ordering information.

Results from the Durand Eastman Park West Icebreaker meet are now available on the results page.

The Icebreaker orienteering event is this Sunday, April 7th from 12 noon to 2:00, if you have not already pre-registered; please Register Online now. The event we all have been waiting for will be held at Durand Eastman park starting from Camp Eastman's Rotary cabin, follow the "O" signs.

We will have a full line up of courses for you to choose from.

Course lengths are:
White - 1.8k
Yellow - 2.5k
Orange - 3.2k
Brown - 3.9k
Green - 5.4k
Red - 6.2k

Come out and join us. If you are new to orienteering this is a good event to try out the skills you have learned in the workshops you attended! If you missed the workshops there will be instruction starting at 12:30.

This year for the first time we are offering a ROC tee shirt in a comfortable moisture-wicking fabric. The shirt will feature the club logo and "Running Wild" on the back of the shirt. The shirts are available in both long and short sleeves, and you can choose from Men's, Women's or Youth styles and sizes. We will have some shirts to try on for size at the April 6th Workshop and the April 7th meet. Order deadline is ++EXTENDED TO April 20th meet at Black Creek.++

Shirts are available in Silver (a light gray), Purple, or Tropic Blue (a medium teal) for $14 short sleeve and $19 long sleeve. Order form with ordering instructions.

Note that these shirts are in addition to our traditional cotton schedule tee shirt.

ROC is offering a second workshop on Orienteering Skills on Saturday April 6 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Highland Park. A class will be offered in beginner orienteering skills. The workshop will run from 8:30 am until noon.

Orienteering Skills Workshops Registration by April 1st strongly encouraged. We had to turn people away that showed up day of wanting to sign up because we had run out of space for the March workshops. See Feb 3 post for class descriptions.

Classes have filled up for the workshops on March 16. The course setting class is cancelled due to lack of signups. The workshop will run from 8:30 am until noon. Classes may include outdoor activities if the weather permits.

Workshops are free to members of ROC. Non-member fees are $10 per person, $15 per family. All fees are fully redeemable towards ROC membership on the day of the workshop.

Orienteering Skills Workshops - Info and registration now available. Class descriptions.

The ROC ski-o scheduled for Sunday February 3 at Harriet Hollister is cancelled. Some light snow has fallen there, but we would need quite a bit more for safe skiing.

The 2013 schedule is now posted, some details to be determined.

We have planned a ski orienteering meet at Harriet Hollister Spencer this Sunday, but it's not clear yet whether the weather will cooperate. They tend to get and keep more snow than other places, but they didn't get much during the recent lake effect snowfall, and we are in for a few days of warm temperatures. As of now, not much snow is predicted after that. We will send further information when the situation is clearer. We plan short, medium and long courses, all on the shorter side. Start from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. If skiing is not possible, the meet will be cancelled.

There are no indoor facilities, except bathrooms located a 15 min ski from the parking lot. For those who haven't been there, the park has a spectacular view down to Honeyoye Lake. Ski conditions are posted on the RXCSF website. The park is about 12 miles south of the junction (West Bloomfield) of 65 amd 5/20.

Rick and Dayle Lavine - Course Setter

Results from the Winterfest Mendon Ponds Park meet are now available on the results page.

The Rochester Orienteering Club has scheduled an event this Sunday January 20, Ski-O at Mendon Ponds Park. Hopkins Point Lodge. Start from 11:30 to 2:00 p.m.
Please use ROC Online Registration.

   White - 7-8 controls
   Scatter-O Courses of 24 controls
   Short - 8 controls
   Medium - 16 controls
   Long - 24 controls

Part of Mendon Ponds Winterfest.