2025-26 Winter League #6 – Putney Woods
WINTER LEAGUE
Saturday, January 24 at Putney Woods in Whidbey Island, WA
Meet Director: Michelle Kastner
- Pre-registration is required for ALL Winter League Events. There is NO day-of-event registration.
- Public Reg will close 1/21/26 at 11:59 pm for this meet.
- PUBLIC start time sign-ups are now part of the Public registration site (see under your Current Registrations). Sign-ups are open from January 10th at 3 pm to January 21st at 11:59 pm.
- ALL runners will be called to enter the start procedure line 8 minutes prior to their assigned/picked start time. Please be race-ready when your name is called.
- 2025-26 Start Procedures are here.
- 2025-26 WIOL Rules are here and the 2025-26 Public Rules are here.
- Site map is here.
- Start list is here.
Winter League is the Pacific Northwest’s premier competitive orienteering series for all ages.
- Elementary, Middle School, High School and College students compete under the banner of the Washington Interscholastic Orienteering League (WIOL).
- Winter League public courses offer a range of categories from a competitive long advanced category to non-competitive beginner-friendly categories at every event!
COURSES
Course designer(s): Brett Aniballi & Stuart Bradshaw
PUBLIC COURSES
| Controls | Length | Climb | |
| Beginner | 8 | 1.4 km | 12 m |
| Advanced Beginner | 9 | 3.1 km | 35 m |
| Intermediate | 11 | 3.7 km | 40 m |
| Short Advanced | 14 | 4.3 km | 66 m |
| Long Advanced | 14 | 5.4 km | 71 m |
WIOL COURSES
| Controls | Length | Climb | |
| Elementary | 8 | 1.4 km | 12 m |
| Middle School | 9 | 2.2 km | 28 m |
| Rookie-Female | 9 | 3.1 km | 35 m |
| Rookie-Male | 10 | 3.0 km | 27 m |
| JV Female / Collegiate JV | 11 | 3.7 km | 40 m |
| JV Male | 10 | 3.4 km | 36 m |
| Varsity | 13 | 4.3 km | 37 m |
| Collegiate Varsity | 14 | 5.4 km | 68 m |
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.
Give yourself plenty of time to travel to Putney Woods as you’ll need to take the Mukilteo Ferry to Whidbey Island. The park is 15 minutes from the Clinton Ferry Terminal.
Parking will be tight as it’s a small parking lot, so please try to carpool if you can. You may park on the side of the road before the entrance of the park, please watch traffic. Do not walk on any trails if you end up parking outside the park.
To stay up to date on the latest ferry schedules, click here: online.
Take some time and enjoy the day while visiting beautiful Whidbey Island! There are plenty of small towns to enjoy with numerous restaurants, shops, cideries, and tap houses/breweries, etc.
COURSE NOTES
Off-trail choices are allowed in Putney Woods except for areas marked as private property on the map where one must stay on the trails.
Putney Woods has some areas that are “runnable”, but most areas have either heavy undergrowth or have a lot of fallen trees and debris, which often makes the trails the most attractive route choice.
Over the years, the park has developed more rootstocks, depressions, knolls, and stumps. The map has been updated (again) and more of these point features have been added. In the out of bounds area in south-central part of map, a formerly open trail in north-east corner is now closed; there is now a new trail east.
Vegetation as shown on this map can be quite mixed as represented. Some light green is easily passable while others not so much. Use your eyes more than the map to judge vegetation as you move along. Medium green intensifies due to more deadfall and other less friendly brush (tangling vines, prickly bushes). Dark green should generally be avoided.
Some controls are close together in some areas, so check that the feature and the control code match your course.
A green X on the map is a stump and a brown triangle on the map is a rootstock. These are both represented by an X in a circle on the control descriptions.
At this time of the year, the dense forest gets darker early in the afternoon, so if you think that you need extra time, please sign up for an early start time, if possible, so that you will finish before course closure at 2:30 pm, which is greatly appreciated by the control pickup team. (If needed, return to Finish by 2:30 pm even if you have not finished your course.)
Safety bearing is west or south.
SCHEDULE
This event is Pre-Registration Only.
9:00 am – Info tent and newcomer instruction opens
9:34 am – Start process begins
9:42 am – First start
12:30 pm – Last start
2:30 pm – Course closure
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
$22 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
– subtract $5 for using your own e-punch
Participating as a group? Just $5 for each additional adult (18+) group
member, no cost for additional minors. Max group size is 4 participants.
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
There is no Day-of-Event registration. Pre-registration will close Wednesday 1/21/26 at 11:59:00 PM.
Remember to also sign up for a start time for public runners. Start time sign-ups for WL #6 will be open from January 10th at 3 pm to Jan 21st at 11:59 pm.
LOCATION
PARKING
Parking will be in the Putney Woods County Park lot until it is full then on the east side of Lone Lake Road. Carpooling is highly recommended. Please follow the parking attendant’s instructions. Busses and oversize vehicles are NOT allowed in the parking lot. See site map here.
CARPOOL
Looking for a carpool? Join the club email group and share your request to find a ride.
THE MAP
The Putney Woods map is all woodsy trails, with widespread underbrush alongside, reminiscent of Bridle Trails. But there are several key differences. First, there are areas of lighter vegetation in light-green areas that are accessible off-trail, offering a wider degree of navigational options, especially for more advanced navigators.
Novice orienteers should be aware that the northern part of the map doe not have a street border; it is directly adjacent to Saratoga Woods park, making it possible to end up off-map with a single turn onto the (one and only) wrong trail. (Note to course-setters: This is a good place for an out-of-bounds sign during the event).
Many trails follow an almost grid-like patterns, making parallel feature errors possible, while others in hilly areas wind almost randomly up and down terrain. There are plenty of areas to practice contour recognition. One area to watch out for is the center-south part of the map; several trails lead into this open, appealing navigational area–but it is private property and should be avoided! (Note to course setters: Another good place for out-of-bounds signs).
Read more on the map pageSAFETY & 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.
