The date for the Harriet Hollister Ski-O has been changed to Saturday, January 14th, to avoid conflict
with the Empire State Winter Games and the Worldcup Ski-O event at Lake Tahoe. Now with have a fully packed
Ski-O weekend with Harriett Hollister on Saturday and Mendon Ponds Winterfest Sunday!
Saturday, January 14th - Harriet Hollister - Starts 12-1:30 from the parking lot.
Harriet Hollister canceled and may be rescheduled to 1/21 due to lack of snow.
Sunday, January 15th - Mendon Winterfest - Starts 11:30-2 from Hopkins Point Lodge. Courses CLOSE and pick-up at 3:30 both days.
November 28, 2011
The Rochester
Orienteering Club Annual Membership Meeting (including Election of
Board Members and Awards, Potluck Supper & SCROOGE-O*) will take
place at 5:00 PM, Saturday, December 3, 2010 at Brighton Town Park.
Brighton Town Park is just West on Westfall Road from the intersection at South Clinton. Look for the orienteering signs.
Schedule of events:
4:00 Board of Directors meeting (all are welcome to attend)
5:00 Annual general membership meeting (which will be brief), followed by a potluck dinner
6:00 (approx) Scrooge-O starts
Bring a flashlight, compass, dish to pass and a place setting. For more information, call the ROC Hotline at 377-5650
If you are planning on coming PLEASE pre-register by
going here or clicking on Online Registration on the left side of the
page. You may still register at the event but this saves everyone time
and is very much appreciated.
*Scrooge-O: An orienteering Score-O event in the dark that combines the
fun of hide-and-seek and tag. One or more people are designated as
Scrooges and given red flashlights and blank punchcards. When a
Scrooge's flashlight is shone on an orienteer they must exchange their
completed punchcard for the red light and blank card thus becoming the
scrooge. Individuals, family groups and especially children love it!
Everyone Welcome!
Also, ROC started a tradition a few years ago to
collect clothing items to donate to the St Joseph's House of
Hospitality on South Ave ( It serves the needs of homeless men) This
year, we are asking for donations of SOCKS, men's socks. So, if you
can, please bring a pair of new, men's socks for the homeless ( no need
for fancy socks, any style will be appreciated).
Rob Holmes ROC President
October 31, 2011
Results from the October 30th event at Powder Mills Park and Club Series - Final standings are now available on the results page.
October 23, 2011
On Sunday,
10/30/11, we host a regular meet at Powder Mills Park. There will be a
range of course options for those that want to take a nice family
stroll to those looking for fierce competition. This event is the 6th
in ROC's club series and offers White, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green,
and Red courses.
If you are planning on coming PLEASE pre-register by going here or clicking on Online Registration on the left side of the page.
Starts will run from noon until 2pm from the Wadhams Lodge, which is on the North side of the park.
Courses will close at 3:30pm.
Courses offered: White: 10 controls, 1.9 km, 45m Yellow: 10 controls, 2.6 km, 65m Orange: 14 controls, 4.1 km, 140m Brown: 14 controls, 4.1 km, 175m Green: 16 controls, 5.0 km, 225m Red: 20 controls, 7.2 km, 325m
All map scales are 1:10,000 with 5m contours.
The
Red course is split onto two maps. After punching control #12, the map
should be flipped for the remaining controls. For the Brown, Green, and
Red courses, the control placement will tend to be lower to the ground
than typical for local meets. This may require paying careful attention
to the clues and locating the control features before finding the flag.
This is to add some challenge to the more advanced courses in a park
with minimal technical route options.
The map is scheduled for an update in the coming
year, but for the most part it is still in good shape. Please abide by
park property boundaries which are marked with a thick pink line. No
course will enter the YMCA property, since this is off-limits because
of an event taking place on the same day.
Not all rootstocks are mapped and some that are
mapped are quite weathered. I tried to update critical ones in the
vicinity of controls. The contour features are course so all smaller
reentrants won’t necessarily be apparent on the map. For some parts of
the southern end of the park, using contour lines for general
navigation is OK, but don’t rely on them for precise navigation.
There is a new trail under development with some markers
just east of the North-South road running through the park. This trail
is not marked on the current map. Some areas that are marked as
“impenetrable” are passable this time of year, but not all.
Have fun!
Rob Stevens, course setter
October 17, 2011
Results from the October 15th event at IBPW and updated Club Series standings are now available on the results page.
October 12, 2011
This Saturday we host a regular meet at Irondequoit Bay Park West
(IBPW). This event is the 5th in ROC's club series and offers White,
Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green, and Red courses.
Starts will run from noon until 2pm, and the courses will close at 4pm.
Parking is at the main lot immediately to the West of
the Irondequoit Bay Fish and Game Club. Please take care to park
efficiently, and once the lot is full park only on the North and East
sides of the road (to avoid cars parking on both sides of this narrow
street). We will have the use of a portable restroom (no permanent
facilities on site). We will supply water for participants, but the
site lacks a source of drinking water; you won't be able to fill water
bottles at a nearby spigot as is often available.
Courses offered:
White 1.1 km, 65m
Yellow 2.0 km, 110m
Orange 2.6 km, 110m
Brown 2.7 km, 130m
Green 4.8 km, 250m
Red 7.5 km, 380m
L1 2.7 km, 130m
L2 2.7 km, 150m
L3 2.1 km, 100m
The park fits completely on 8 1/2 x 11 paper at a
7,500:1 scale with room for the legend, so we're making the most of the
terrain. We've constructed the event similar to our May meet in Mendon
by employing several shorter loops.
The Red course will run loops L1, L2, and L3. Green
will run L2 and L3, and Brown will run L1. Red and Green participants
should finish, download, and rest before clearing and heading back out
onto the next loop, All participants will have the same opportunity to
rest between, but starts for subsequent loops should happen before 2pm.
For this event, please compete in the loops in order, L1 before L2, and
L2 before L3. (Brown and Green are welcome to run on the additional
loops after completing their required loops if time permits)
Dick Detwiler has recently updated the map due to
the addition of many bike trails, and these are worth a note. There are
many trails - all over. Taking the time to follow a trail may not make
sense, and given the falling of leaves, you may cross a trail in these
open woods without realizing it.
Because the park is relatively small, we have placed
controls closer together than normal. You should not find a control on
the same feature as yours within 90m, but do check control numbers to
verify you are at the proper control. White does not, but other courses
will pass controls not on the course - don't be distracted.
White (in particular): This course will have more
climb than normal, but will compensate by being shorter in length. You
will be rewarded for the climb with some great views.
All other courses will be somewhat shorter, but
include more climb than normal, and the advanced courses allow for
resting between loops.
Difficulty: The park is dominated by a creek that
runs through the center, and I've tried to offer the most challenging
navigation exercises possible for loops 1-3. In some situations, you
will be challenged to find the optimal route where the direct challenge
of navigation may not be quite as difficult.
I hope you enjoy this.
Steve Tylock, course setter
September 10, 2011
This Saturday we celebrate National Orienteering Day
with a meet in Highland Park. The main purpose is to introduce
orienteering to newcomers, so it would be great if you could bring
someone out who's never done it. There will be White and Yellow courses
free to newcomers, as well as prizes.
We encourage club
members to come and help welcome newcomers and enter one or more of the
courses being offered (see below for course descriptions).
We'll be starting at a new location for us, at the Cornell Cooperative
Extension, 249 Highland Avenue, a little bit east of South Avenue.
Courses offered: White 2.5 km (free to newcomers) Yellow 3.3 km (free to newcomers) Sprint 2.3 km Trail Challenge 6.0 km
If possible please register by using the Pre-registration site
or click on the Online Registration link on the side. You may still
register at the event but this saves everyone time and is very much
appreciated.
The park has been completely re-mapped
since last year's meet, using LIDAR contour data. The main portion of
the park was mapped by Joe Brautigam from Connecticut, who not only
mapped that section of the park to very high standards, but he set the
course for the US trail-O championship which was held here in early
August. Trail-O requires high precision in both mapping and course
setting, so this map is truly very high quality.
The
portion of the park to the west side of South Avenue, and north of
Pinetum Drive, was not mapped by Joe as that wasn't needed for trail-O.
The mapping standards of those portions are not quite trail-O quality,
but should still represent a significant improvement over the previous
map, due to the availability of LIDAR contour data. These portions of
the map will only be used for the Trail Challenge (see description
below); the White, Yellow, and Sprint courses will stay within the
portions of the park mapped by Joe.
The White,
Yellow, and Sprint courses will use a 1:4000 scale map, mapped to
Sprint Orienteering standards. The Trail Challenge will use a 1:7500
scale map, also mapped to Sprint Orienteering standards, other than the
map scale (sprint maps need to be 1:4000 or 1:5000).
Trail Challenge: A TRAIL CHALLENGE is a mass start cross-country race
over fields and trails with a difference. The course is not marked out
by marshals and cones but is instead defined by checkpoints that are
marked on a specially made color map. The TRAIL CHALLENGE arises from
choosing the fastest route between them.
The format
was pioneered in ROC by Tyler Borden at the Genesee Valley Park meet,
where it was very well received. The technical difficulty is roughly
Yellow, but the distance is much longer than a typical Yellow course.
Schedule:
Sprint, White, and Yellow: Start any time between noon and 2:00 p.m. Trail Challenge: MASS START at 1:30 p.m. All courses close at 3:00 p.m.
Safety note: All courses involve road crossings. Sprint, White, and
Yellow courses will be crossing Highland Avenue and Reservoir Avenue.
Please use caution when crossing these roads.
The
Trail Challenge will be crossing those streets plus South Avenue. The
South Avenue crossing is the most potentially dangerous crossing,
because it is a highly traveled street, with curves and hills limiting
visibility. There is only one legal (from an orienteering standpoint)
crossing point, the crosswalk at Reservoir Avenue. This is shown on the
Trail Challenge map as a crossing point, with the rest of South Avenue
marked as out of bounds (vertical purple lines). The course is designed
so there is little advantage to crossing South Avenue anywhere other
than the cross walk, so please obey the rules of the game (which are
there for everyone's safely) by only crossing at the crossing point
shown on the map.
August 9, 2011
The next event will be held at Genesee Valley Park at Dogwood Shelter on Saturday, August 20.
Sprint and White courses will start beginning at 10 and the Trail Challenge courses will
mass start at 11. For information on the Trail Challenge see event flyer.
Please pre-register for the event by following the online registration link,
to pre-register for the Trail Challenge courses head to the Trail Challenge pre-reg site.
July 15, 2011
ROC members and participants,
The club is organizing the 2011 Canal Cities Orienteering Festival from
July 30th to August 7th in conjunction with the Central New York
Orienteering Club and the Buffalo Orienteering Club.
This Festival includes nine days of Orienteering,
with education, training, racing, and two different nation
championships in the Western New York area – based along the Erie
Canal. The festival starts in Syracuse, runs through Rochester, and
ends in Buffalo.
As part of that festival, we are holding events in Rochester throughout the week of August 1st.
We have setup a week-long "convention" registration
rate but you may participate in any of the individual race events per
the usual ROC price structure and members may attend one of the four
afternoon sprint and training sessions for a nominal cost.
For information about the convention's educational
program, overall festival and the events in the Syracuse and Buffalo
areas, please check the festival web site at http://www.2011ccof.org
We will be sprinting and training Monday through Thursday afternoons from 1:30pm to 4:30pm at the following parks:
Monday - Mendon Ponds Park
Tuesday - Durand Eastman Park
Wednesday - Letchworth State Park
Thursday - Webster Park
Members that have not registered for the convention
can show up and pay $5 for any one of these events. (Members only,
limit 1 - otherwise register for the convention)
The ROC orienteering events are set as:
Monday 1st at 8 pm: Night Orienteering at Mendon Ponds Park, mass start
Wednesday 3rd at 4 pm: Mountain Bike Orienteering at Dryer Road Park
Friday 5th 10 am: Canoe Orienteering at Genesee Waterways Center, mass start (any paddle type)
These three events are open to the public with the
standard rate of $6 per individual or group, $3 for members, free for
volunteers.
In addition, the National Trail-O Championships will
be held on Friday July 5th. A Demonstration event will follow the
championships at Highland Park with a short introduction before hand.
We hope your schedule allows you to participate, and we'll see you in the woods.
July 11, 2011
Results from the July 9th event at Ellison Park and updated Sprint Series standings are
now available on the results page.
July 6, 2011
Come and join us at Ellison park Saturday moring July
9th. We will be at Roadside shelter on the north side of the park.
Watch for the "O" signs.
There will be White, Score-O, and Sprint Series #4. The
Sprint and White start from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. The Score-O mass start
at 11:00 a.m.
Results from the June 29th event at Basil Marella Park and updated Sprint Series standings are
now available on the results page.
June 27, 2011
Our next orienteering event will take place on
Wednesday, June 29th, at Basil Marella park in Greece. To get there
take I-390 to Vintage Lane (exit 25), turn West on Vintage and then
turn right at the next intersection (northbound on Fetzner Road) and
drive about a quarter of a mile to the park entrance on the right hand
side.
Three courses will be offered:
White: 1.4km, 9 controls
Sprint: 2.3km, 13 controls
Score-O: 60 min limit, 22 controls
Sprint and White course will be open from 6pm to 7pm. Score-O mass start will take place at 7pm.
White course will use a normal map. On the Sprint
course I took liberty to remove all of the trails from the map to make
it a bit more challenging (although that may actually be a blessing in
this park). For Score-O two classes will be offered: “Regular” will use
a normal map, “Pro” will use the same map as the Sprint course (i.e.
with trails removed).
Sprint and Score-O participants will have
opportunities to get both wet and muddy (technically, it’s possible to
get wet on White course as well but that would take some creativity and
determination).
The North part of the park has some soccer fields
which will likely have a lot of kid practicing at the time of our
event. So they are marked as out of bound area on the map – you must go
around. There is also a frisbee golf (a.k.a “disc golf”) course in the
woods and some of the controls are placed near the “baskets” (the
standard name for target or hole in frisbee golf) which are marked as
“X” on the clue sheet. Please be aware of low flying frisbees as you
make your way through the course and be courteous to freesbie golfers
if you happen to come across them.
Results from the June 15th event at Mendon and updated Sprint Series standings are
now available on the results page.
June 11, 2011
Our next meet will be in a part of Mendon Park we do not normally venture into much, the
Devil’s Bathtub area, just north of Pond Rd. We will have a white course, the second of
the clubs summer sprint series, and a one hour score-O.
The white course will be open from 6-7:30pm. Sprints will be open from 6-7pm and the score-O will start at 7pm.
PLEASE pre-register online if you can as this
will save a lot of time at registration for you and us. Thank you!
Course setter notes
Course / Controls / Length / Climb
White 7 1.4 km 60 m
Sprint 13 2.0 km 105 m
Score-O 29 563 points 60min
Full Score-O 29 6.1-8.5 km
White - Start begins at 6 PM. Beginner course with points mostly on or near trails, some hills.
Sprint - Start begins at 6 PM. PLEASE COME EARLY so
you can complete the course in time for the Score-O. The wood are still
mostly open in areas for the sprint. The length is short but don't
underestimate the climb. The will be a potential route across the marsh
marked on the map using a fallen tree bridge. Crossing in the marshy
water is not recommended as the water is quite deep.
Score-O - Mass start begins at 7 PM. Please come
early so we can register everyone, explain the rules and start on time.
A Score-O course allows you to select as many control points in any
order within the hour time limit. Control points will have different
point values for difficulty, distance and random selection. There will
also be a small twist having to visit marked controls to learn the
locations of extra controls worth more points not marked on your map.
Again, come early for full explanation of the rules,
you will have several minutes before the mass start to look at the map
and plan your strategy to collect the most points.
Tyler Borden, Course Setter
June 6, 2011
Executive Director of Orienteering USA with a 50% off offer to attend an A-meet. For those who have tried orienteering locally and are interested in experiencing an
A-meet at a nearby club, this is an excellent opportunity. The A-meet will be in Western,
PA in a few weekends and details ara available at the WPOC web site.
As it says on the flyer, "You've tried orienteering and liked it. Maybe
you've run a couple of local meets. Now is your chance to step-it-up
and participate in an A-meet.To sweeten the deal Orienteering USA will take 50% off of your entry
fee. The offer is valid only if it is your first A-meet."
June 6, 2011
Results from the Sunday event at Lincoln Park are
now available on the results page.
June 4, 2011
IMPORTANT: Please note that the time of the meet has changed, due to an event that the Bayview YMCA
is holding which will make parking very tight until mid afternoon.
The new times of the event are as follows:
3:00-4:30 p.m.: Sprint and White course start
4:00 p.m.: Score-O (mass start) (one hour time limit)
5:15 p.m.: All courses close, control pickup begins.
This meet will utilize Lincoln Park (formerly Irondequoit Bay Park East), as well
as the YMCA grounds which adjoin Lincoln Park. We will be starting at the Bayview
YMCA in Webster, in a building in the field west of the YMCA building. The Bayview YMCA
is located off of Bay Road, a few tenths of a mile north of the intersection of Bay Road
and Empire Blvd. The entrance is at a traffic light near Flaherty's Three Flags Inn and Wegman's.
The YMCA tells us that parking will be tight up to at
least 2:45 p.m., so it is suggested that people avoid coming any
earlier than necessary. Also, they request that orienteers park in the
lot EAST of the YMCA building (note that this is not the lot closest to
the actual starting location; it is about a 300 meter walk).
Three courses will be offered:
Sprint: 1.6 km, 90 meters of climb
White: 1.8 km, 60 meters of climb
Score-O: One hour time limit to visit as many controls as
possible. There are 24 possible controls, some White difficulty, some
Yellow difficulty, and some Orange difficulty. Controls have point
values ranging from 10 to 40. One route (one of many possible routes)
to hit all of the controls is about 7 km straight-line distance
(exception to straight line distance is that any private land is
avoided) with about 340 meters of climb.
The terrain:
This park is small (a little less than 1 square km in area), but it is not easy, either
navigationally or physically. It is extremely hilly, with a lot of trails but few
that go straight for very long, so the park feels much bigger than it actually is.
Also, it is almost completely undeveloped (exceptions being the YMCA grounds; a
boathouse and dock with a dirt road leading to them; and a new playground area
on Empire Blvd). This tends to make the navigation more challenging, without things
like roads, buildings, athletic fields, etc. to navigate (and re-locate) with.
There are a number of streams in the park, often with fairly steep banks. Where
trails cross them, there is no problem getting across, but in many areas away
from trails, it can be very difficult to cross them, not because of too much water
in the streams, but because of the steep banks, the steepness of which is not always
obvious from the contours. In the next major revision of the map, we'll attempt to do
a much better job of using the “earth bank” symbol to indicate the (very many) areas
where crossing is difficult or impossible.
The new playground on Empire Blvd has not been mapped
accurately. There is an extensive set of trails in the playground area,
and these have been mapped more or less accurately, but the whole area
right now is just mapped as “open land with scattered trees” (a major
oversimplification of what is there), and no playground equipment is
show on the map. This should not create any problems; no controls are
in the playground area. The most important thing to know is that it is
possible to get out to Empire Blvd if anyone chooses to use that as a
route choice during the Score-O (it wouldn't come into play for the
White or the Sprint, unless someone is WAY off course!), and the map
does an adequate job of showing how to navigate to Empire Blvs.
For the most part, the trails and woods are amazingly dry, considering what a wet
spring we've had. There is a section of a flat, grassy trail near the YMCA grounds which has,
as of Wednesday of this week, some standing water and mud, and this trail will be
used by the White course, and possibly (depending on route choices) on the Sprint
and Score-O courses. So don't expect shoes to stay totally dry and mud-free, but
it would be fair to say 99% of the terrain is dry.
May 23, 2011
Results from the Sunday event at the Dryer Road are
now available on the results page.
May 19, 2011
The next orienteering meet is on Sunday, May 22. Starts
are from 12-2pm. It looks to be a beautiful day to spend in the woods!
Below is a brief description of the park and the meet notes from Jim
Russell.
The main park is dominated by one huge hill with lots
of reentrants, most of which is open woods that is quite runnable.
There are several large open/rough open areas. The trail network is
very intense since this is a mountain bike park...lots of squiggles
that are really hard to map and even harder to read. I think Dick did a
great job of getting them on the map and as readable as possible. Of
course that was last year so there may be some changes. The Gonandagan
part is very similar but without the one big hill and without the MB
trails.
Linda described the park well in her post. It's two
hills with a maze of trails. There are quite a few open areas, and the
grass is generally low, making them very easy to cross. The woods are
mostly open, but the boundaries are generally green - regardless of how
they are mapped. In spite of all the rain, I found very few wet areas
today. (It did pour right as I got in the car so who knows?)
Course Lengths:
white 1.6K 11 controls
yellow 1.8K 9 controls
orange 3.3K 10 controls
brown 4.2K 12 controls
green 5.2K 10 controls
red 6.9K 13 controls
The white (and quite possibly yellow) course is of above average difficulty.
The trail maze makes it quite challenging to set these courses in this park.
For the rest of the courses --- think ski-O!
May 8, 2011
Results from the May 7th event at the Mendon Ponds Park are
now available on the results page.
May 6, 2011
On Saturday (May 7) ROC will hold the second race in the 2011 Club
Series at Mendon. The start is at Cavalry Lodge, off Douglas Rd in the
southeast part of the park. This is the area of the park with the most
complex glaciated detail, and I have taken advantage of the terrain to
provide some complex navigational challenges for you. There are 44
controls all located in an area 750m * 600m in size. That means the
opportunity for many controls and for plenty of difficult navigation
for the advanced courses. It also means that there are many close
controls, and we are stretching to the limit the rules on how close
controls can be to each other. No controls are closer than 30m apart,
and controls on similar features (for example, two controls both on
reentrants or both on depressions) are never less than 60m apart - but
still, please check your control codes to make sure you are punching
the control you are supposed to be punching!
Advanced courses (brown, green, and red) work differently from
usual. Those runners should make sure to read the notes below
carefully.
Before I explain that, first, note that the easier courses (white,
yellow, and orange) take the usual format. The orange course in
particular takes a very snaky route around the area, with many rapid
changes of direction. Make sure to keep yourself oriented, and
remember that you have to visit the controls in the order the course
indicates. On the white course, I have used orange flagging tape to
help you navigate one leg where there is no trail: make sure to follow
the orange flagging tape all the way to the following control. Runners
on other courses (including yellow) may encounter this marked route,
but it is not shown on your maps so you will not know where it goes
and should be careful if you follow it!
Advanced courses (brown, green, and red) will work differently at this
meet from usual. There are four shorter loops, which I have creatively
named L1, L2, L3, and L4. You are welcome to do as many or as few of
these loops as you like - they stand alone as independent courses. L1,
L2, and L3 are each around 2.5km in length, while L4 is shorter,
around 1.0km.
After doing a loop, you can take a break, refuel, and compare notes
with other orienteers about how you did, for as long as you like - you
are not on the clock in between courses. You can also do the loops in
any order that you feel like. However, please make sure to download
your SI e-punch finger stick after each loop, and then reclear it
before going out on a second, third, or fourth loop.
This is a club series meet, so when you register for the meet at the
beginning of the day, if you are interested in competing in the club
series or comparing your results with others, you should select your
intended course, brown, green, or red. (You can only sign up for one
of the three.) If you sign up for red, then you have to do loops L1,
L2, and L3. Your time for red is just the sum of your times for L1,
L2, and L3 (which you can do in any order, and you can also do L4 as
well if you feel like it - it just won't be counted as part of your
result on 'red'). If you sign up for green, then you have to do loops
L1 and L2. Your time for green is just the sum of your times on these
two loops, which you can again do in either order. For brown, you must
do loops L3 and L4.
Club series scoring for advanced courses is based on the combined time
for the required two or three loops. That is, to get a score for a red
course, we will look at all the people who sign up for red, and
calculate their median time for the L1+L2+L3 combination. Similarly
for green and brown. To make sure we get the right groups for scoring
purposes, if you do more than the basic set of loops required for your
course (for example, suppose you choose to run green, so you do L1 and
L2, but then you decide at the end of the day that it was so much fun
that you want to go out on L3 as well for fun), make sure that the
results staff know which 'color' you want to be entered for (in the
example, if you don't say anything we might assume you want a result
for red rather than green, since doing L1. L2, and L3 qualifies you
for a result in either green or red, whichever you prefer).
The terrain in this area of Mendon is glaciated and complex, full of
random depressions, knolls, ridges, and reentrants. The map shows
quite a lot of green 'difficult to run' vegetated areas; however, at
this season of the year, these are not as bad as they look, and you
can probably think of most of the green as 'one level less severe'
than the map shows it. The boundaries of the green are no longer
particularly accurate; it is much safer to use other features for
navigation. Some clearings are now mostly overgrown. The 'white woods'
are really nice to run through.
A few of the smaller trails are becoming less distinct over time,
particularly early in the spring. Do not rely too much on the
indistinct trails.
Water features are extremely wet, after the record April rainfall
followed by more rain in the week preceding the meet. You shouldn't
need to get wet feet, but you may find a couple of depressions filled
with more water than you are expecting. (This applies particularly to
one control on the orange course, which is mapped as a reentrant but
is in fact the edge of a large seasonal pond!)
I enjoyed setting these courses a lot: hopefully you will have a lot
of fun running them and comparing notes with other orienteers on how
you did. With everyone never leaving an area of only a quarter of a
square mile in size, you should see plenty of other orienteers out
there! Don't follow someone who's not going to the same control as
you...
Results from the Ice Breaker event in Webster Park are
now available on the results page.
April 13, 2011
The opening meet of the 2011 spring-summer-fall orienteering season will
feature a new starting location within Webster Park, and also a newly-mapped
area west of the park which will provide the opportunity for people on the Green and
Red courses to experience some new terrain and “enjoy” some longer-than-normal courses.
The meet will be Saturday, April 16, at Holt Lodge
(starting between noon and 2 p.m.). Holt Lodge is on the east side of
Holt Road, just south of Lake Road (this is essentially right across
Holt Road from Parkview Lodge, the more typical starting venue at
Webster Park). This will allow people on the White and Yellow courses
to experience the terrain on the east side of Holt Road, which was
added to our map a year ago.
The area that has been added this year is the Whiting Road nature trail
area, on the west side of Whiting Road. The Green and Red courses will
venture into this area.
Courses are still being fine-tuned as of this
writing, but approximate course lengths are: White 1.3 km; Yellow 2.1
km; Orange 4.3 km; Brown 4.0 km; Green 6.6 km; and Red 8.3 km.
We would like to encourage as many people as possible to pre-register on
our new site set up by Tyler Borden.
If you have any problems or comments please contact Tyler at tpb6816@rit.edu.
Beginner Snowshoe Photo-O in the Island Cottage Woods, Greece, NY
The object of a Photo-O is to determine the location of controls on the map by looking at the photos.
The title of the photo gives the angle that the camera was facing when the picture was taken.
Click this link
to see the map and photos. Print out a copy of the map to record your answers.
The solution will be posted at the end of the month.
Sorry that the N lines are slanted but it fit better
on the page. The actual scale is about 1:4500 or somewhere
thereabouts...it's a really small area. Controls are set for a random
snowshoe event, some may be quite close. Remember that setting the
control necessitates making tracks...not to be confused with actual
trails which are tramped down.
Address questions to Linda at wornerkohn@aol.com. Have fun!
PS. There are no prizes, just bragging rights.
February 1, 2011
We have a ski-orienteering event this Sunday at Cavalry
Lodge in Mendon Ponds Park. Starts are from 12 to 1:30. This is a
qualifier for the Empire State Games for this who wish to compete. The
tentative courses and ESG classes are:
blue 8.9K MO
red 6.2K FO, MM, MG
green 5.3K FM, FG, Scholastic
white 3.1K recreational.
Recreational skiers may do any course. Fees are $3
for members of ROC or other orienteering clubs, $6 for non-members.
There should be plenty of snow, but the state of grooming is uncertain.
Ski conditions are posted on the RXCSF website. (You have to join
(free) to see conditions.)
For this event we will be using e-punching and Pre-Registration. You can Pre-Register by going here
and filling out the form. You can always register at the event but
pre-registering allows you to skip the lines and forms (saving both you
and the volunteers a lot of time), simply head to the pre-reg check-in,
pay entry fee, sign the waiver and collect your SI-card if you need to
rent one, and head to the start.
Polish up your skiis and come out, one and all, and enjoy a great ski O event!
Rick and Dayle Lavine, meet directors
January 19, 2011
Results from the Mendon Pond Ski-O event are
now available on the results page.
January 14, 2011
We have an orienteering event scheduled this Sunday,
Jan 16, as part of Winterfest at Hopkins Point lodge in Mendon Ponds
Park. In keeping with the policy of Winterfest, there will be no
charge.
It is snowing nicely at present, so skiing should be OK
at least. Most of the trails we will be using are not groomed for
skating, and some are narrow. Ski-o courses will be offered for ESG
classes: male and female scholastic, elite, masters and veterans, as
well as recreational. There will also be a score-o for snowshoers.
Starts are 12-1:30, with registration from 11-1:30.
Controls will be picked up at 3:30, so start early if you think you may
take a long time!
To get to Hopkins Point Lodge, from Clover Street
(65) take the northern entrance and then take the first right turn.
(The second entrance is closed in winter.)
Membership
