Welcome to the Winter Series and School League (WIOL) Championships!  In addition to this being a league championship, this event will allow you to earn National Ranking Points from Orienteering USA!

**Complete Event Notes and Course Notes are posted HERE.**

 

What course should I register for?

If you are a recreational orienteer (ie: not running Long Advanced or Short Advanced) or a group participating together, check the table below to see what the best options are for you.  Pre-register or register at the event. You will not receive national ranking points.

If you are an adult (turning 21 or older in 2018) and want a competitive national ranking, read the complete event and course notes, which includes a table of what course each age/sex class is running (either Long Advanced or Short Advanced). If you normally compete on a shorter or less technical course than that of your competitive age group, you can still register for that course, but you will not be ranked competitively.

If you are a WIOL orienteer and want a competitive ranking, you should generally register for your WIOL competitive course, but please read the complete event and course notes for details and exceptions.

If you are a junior (turning 20 or younger in 2018) and are not registered for WIOL and want a competitive ranking, you MUST contact Kathy Forgrave AND pre-register on the CascadeOC website before noon, February 13th to be ranked.  You will receive assigned start times on WIOL courses, but you are not eligible for the WIOL Championship unless you register for WIOL.

If you are a junior in the Junior National Program or trying out for Team USA at the Junior World Orienteering Championship, Varsity results will be, in addition to earning ranking points in M-18 and F-18 classes, will also be converted to ranking points in M-20 and F-20 classes. You can count this race toward your quest for selection. Interested in Team USA?  See the event notes for more information.


What will be different on the day of the event?

Not much.  At the registration/check-in table, expect the registration team to verify your year of birth and your club affiliation.  We’ll need your birth year to ensure we rank you in the right class, and your club affiliation to link you to your club (if any) in the national rankings.  If you are a pre-registered non-WIOL youth, you’ll need to check in with Kathy Forgrave in the WIOL tent 15 minutes before your assigned start to pick up a card that gets you started at the right time on the right course.  And 1-2 weeks after the event, you’ll get to see your ranking score on the Orienteering USA website.  Otherwise, everything else should look and feel like a normal Winter Series & School League Championship.

Still have questions?  Email Tori Campbell at vjhcampb@post.harvard.edu

Warm up with a Micro O’ course!

As a training exercise, there is a short Micro O’ set up (similar to the ones at previous WIOL events this season). This will be a self-service activity and you will need to print your own maps and description sheets [2018-02-17 Fire Mtn Micro and 2018-02-17 Fire Mtn Micro-Descriptions] . There is also a brief write up on how to use Micro O’ to practice “flow” [Micro-O-How-To 20180214]. The course was not field checked so there might be minor discrepancies. Be careful running along the road!
The areas north and northeast of the Micro O’ (on the other side of the road) are the competition terrain for the meet and participants are not allowed to enter these areas before competing.

COURSES

Course Controls Length Climb Expected Winning Time
Beginner (White) 11 2.0 km 25 m 15-20 min
Middle School (Yellow) 11 2.3 km 70 m 15-20 min
Intermediate / JV Girls (Orange) 10 2.6 km 60 m 20-25 min
JV Boys (Orange) 12 2.5 km 75 m 20-25 min
Varsity (Green/female, Red/male) 15 3.1 km 115 m 25-30 min
Short Advanced (Brown/Green) 15 3.3 km 110 m 25-30 min
Long Advanced (Red/Blue) 16 4.3 km 150 m 40-50 min

How are courses measured?

Courses are measured as the crow flies, in a direct line from control to control. Unless you have wings, you will travel farther than this distance! Courses are measured in kilometers, so a good rule of thumb is to simply round up to miles to estimate how far you will go. So in a 5 kilometer race, you’ll likely travel up to 5 miles.

Course Notes:           

All courses conform to WIOL/Winter O’ Series winning time goals and are set in a Middle distance style, with an emphasis on technical orienteering, changes in tempo and direction, and, for Middle School and above, route choice.  You will experience a variety of terrain, from typical Pacific Northwest trails, to numerous small cabin clusters, to forested hillsides with up to waist-high undergrowth.  Rock features are generally larger than what we’ve seen during the rest of the season.  Cliffs and boulders 2m and higher are well-defined, but smaller rock features may have significant moss or vegetation growing on them, making them difficult to distinguish from stumps and knolls.  Contour features are generally quite reliable.  Having good attackpoints when you leave trails, measuring distance, using your compass to keep you on track as you navigate thick vegetation, and staying in touch with the map will be important to success.  The map is currently undergoing an update; check back for map notes in February.

Expect to go off trail, and dress accordingly.  Full leg cover is essential, as sword ferns, Devil’s Club and blackberry brambles are common in the area.  Expect to encounter some areas with deadfall, although we have done our best to route courses through the most passable areas.  Cleated shoes or orienteering spikes are recommended as most courses will visit the steeper hillside on the east of the map.  Bring a full change of clothes and shoes so you’re comfortable while waiting for the end-of-season awards ceremony.

Ecologically sensitive streams that are off-limits to wet foot crossings are marked as out of bounds using purple cross-hatch.  You must use a bridge to cross these streams or be disqualified. Bridge crossings will be obvious for Beginner/Elementary orienteers. For Middle School and higher courses that go off trail, bridges are marked as mandatory or optional crossing points on the maps.

  1. Mandatory Crossing Point: shown by the line between controls bending to pass through a crossing point symbol (denoting a bridge). You must use this bridge.
  2. Optional Crossing Point: shown with the crossing point symbol. If the line between controls crosses a cross-hatched stream, but is not bent to pass through a crossing point symbol, you may choose which crossing point to use. However, you MUST use a crossing point noted on your map; you may not cross a cross-hatched stream at any other location.  Crossing the stream at a location other than a bridge is not allowed, so don’t plan to run the straight line between controls if there’s a cross-hatched stream to cross.

Note that bridges are wooden and tend to be slippery, especially when a lot of muddy orienteers have passed that way before you.  Slow down and use caution when crossing bridges and boardwalks.

The competition area is bounded by powerlines to the west, the East Fork of the Nookachamps Creek to the north, and the road you drove in on to the south and east.  Vegetation to the east of the entry road is very thick – you won’t want to cross it.  If you get misoriented, the safety bearing is southwest.  This will bring you to a major trail or to the powerlines.  Follow the trail or powerlines to the south until you reach the event center, the parking lot, or a trail leading east from the powerlines that will bring you to the event center.

SCHEDULE

9:30am – Registration opens & Newcomer instruction available
10:00am – Start opens
11:00am – Newcomer instruction ends
11:30am – Registration closes
Noon – Start closes
2:30pm – Course closes

 

Why is there a start window?

This event uses an interval start, which means that participants are started in waves instead of all at once. When you arrive at the start tent, find the chute for your course and follow the start volunteer’s instructions.

PRICES

PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES
$17 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch

DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
$20 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch

Become a member for $5-20

Buy your own e-punch for $38

What’s an e-punch?

An e-punch records your race. At each control, you’ll dip the e-punch into an electronic box, which will beep and flash as confirmation. After you finish, you’ll download the e-punch at the download tent and get a receipt that show which controls you visited and how long you took between each; these are your “splits.”

Part of the fun of orienteering is comparing your splits with people who completed the same course, and discussing the routes you took!

SIGN UP

Online pre-registration closes at 9pm on Thursday, February 16th.

Day-of-event registration is available by cash or check, made payable to Cascade Orienteering Club.

SCHOOL LEAGUE (WIOL)

For information on registration for the School League, visit the School League (WIOL) page.

Learn more about volunteering

Volunteers make these events happen! You can volunteer and participate on the same day, plus earn volunteer points to earn a free meet.

LOCATION

PARKING

Follow the directional signs to the parking lot. Parking attendants will park you in the new parking areas on your right as you enter the camp.  Buses will park on the south edge of the parking lot.

CARPOOL

Looking for a carpool? Join the Yahoo listserv and share your request to find a ride.

THE MAP

Fire Mountain Scout Camp map sample

Fire Mountain Scout Camp is rugged terrain with some buildings, a lake, and a power line. Much of the accessible part of this map is hashed green (difficult run) which often translates into “acres of sword ferns”–you can lope through them, but it’s not quite running. And there’s a lot to see in there, including knolls, boulders and rootstocks. There is even a small cave on the property.

Closer in to civilization are a variety of small buildings, clustered in groups. You know you’re at a scout cabin, but which one? Mowed grassy areas are good year-round, but unmowed grass in the open field near the stream tends to get a bit swampy in winter–still traversable, but bring a spare pair of shoes!

Read more on the map page

Navigational Challenge: 7/10

Physical Challenge: 6/10

EMBARGO NOTICE

To ensure a fair competition among all student league participants, participants are not allowed to visit each event venue for the two weeks prior to the event being held there. In orienteering, this is known as an “embargo”.

SAFETY & ETIQUETTE

Return to the Finish
All participants MUST return to the finish and download their e-punch or turn in their punch card.

Even if you have not finished your course, you must still return to the the finish and confirm with event staff that you have returned safely.

Out of Bounds
Some areas may be marked out of bounds. It is imperative to respect these boundaries to maintain our relationships with land managers. Participants MUST NOT go out of bounds. Any participant caught going out of bounds will be disqualified.

Course Closure
All participants MUST return to the finish by course closure time. If a participant does not return by course closure, event volunteers will begin coordinating a search party.

If you need a long time on the course, start as early in the start window as possible, wear a watch, and be prepared to cut your course short to make it back by the course closure time.

Whistle
All participants MUST carry a whistle on the course. Complimentary whistles are available at the start tent (please only take one).

If you are injured on the course and need assistance, blow three long blasts to call for help.

If you hear a call for help, abandon your course to find the person in distress.

Voices
Part of the fun and fairness of orienteering is navigating your own course, so please be polite when you find a checkpoint and don’t holler that you’ve found it.