Welcome to Cascade's Signature Events

The Cascade Orienteering Club hosts or participates in dozens of meets each year. Here are several "must do" events, eagerly anticipated every year:

National Orienteering Day is celebrated in September at orienteering clubs across the country as an opportunity to introduce newcomers to the sport. Expect an open park, chosen for its ease of navigation, and easy availability of beginner instruction.  If you'd like to show a friend what orienteering is about, this is a great place to start.

In October, we honor Cascade's founders with our annual Founders Day event, typically on Whidbey Island. Make a day of it: enjoy a scenic ferry ride, a relaxing day in an island park, and maybe even a picnic lunch. This also is a good event for inviting new people.

The Vampire-O, held the weekend before Halloween, is orienteering with a double twist; it kicks off with a mass start at dusk, and the goal is to complete as much of the course as you can in an hour of darkness before being caught by a vampire—another orienteer with a red flashlight.  If you get caught, you must trade your punch card documenting all your progress for the vampire’s red flashlight. Now it's your turn to go chase down someone and "bite" them for their punchcard!  This is a great event to bring newcomers to, as long as you stick together. Dress in black to help your chances of warding off vampires!

The Bog Slog, typically held between Christmas and New Year’s Day, is orienteering at its winter sloppiest. The weather usually cooperates, with lots of cold or buckets of rain—sometimes even snow. The event has a reputation for insanely difficult courses, huge changes in elevation, memorably remote controls, and lots of mud. Not for the faint of heart, but a must for anyone seeking maximum challenge. And most years you can maximize your mud-collecting opportunities by trying a mountain bike orienteering course.

MoboGoGlobo! is probably the only time you'll see a park full of orienteers running without maps! Hosted each March, this "mobile phone-o" meet is done in teams of two. One teammate runs the course without a map, while the other, with a map, directs him or her via telephone. If both teammates are onsite, they take turns being talked though a course by their partners. But the phone partner could be anywhere else in the world, in which case the onsite teammate does all the running! You'll learn a lot about how your partner thinks!