2024 Choose Your Adventure Series #2 – SummerFEST!
CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE
Saturday, July 20 at Fort Steilacoom – main entrance in Lakewood, WA
Meet Director: Patrick Nuss
The Choose Your Adventure series is designed to be extra fun, social, and friendly for beginners, yet interesting for seasoned veterans.
At Choose Your Adventure events, everyone gets the same map with checkpoints marked all over it. Find as many checkpoints as you want, in whichever order you want!
Choose Your Adventure is especially good for beginners, since if you can’t find a checkpoint, you can just skip it and keep going. Veterans are challenged by trying to identify the most efficient route to find all the checkpoints.
Come join the fun!
COURSES
Course designer(s):
There are two options: one full-length throughout the entire park, and mini maze !
- There is a one-size-fits-all course for beginners through advanced runners. Everyone will receive one map with 24 checkpoints scattered throughout Fort Steilacoom Park, and you may visit as many or as few as you want, in any order you want! There’s a time limit of 75 minutes. Since we’ll be there all day, we’ll allow people to start anytime between 11:00am and 4:30pm. Standard entry fees apply.
- There are two FREE mini-maze courses, each of which is an extremely short point-to-point course within a maze made of stakes and tape. Complete a course and we’ll stamp your SummerFEST “Passport to Sports”, which you can pick up for free at the SummerFEST headquarters tent. Receive passport stamps at each of the sports activities, which enter you for raffle prizes! There is no time limit.
How does the scoring work?
For the full Choose Your Adventure course, all checkpoints are worth the same amount: 1 point per checkpoint. The maximum score is 24 points. There’s a time limit of 75 minutes, and for every minute late, there’s a 1 point penalty.
For the FREE mini maze course, you’ll need to complete either of the two courses to have your “Passport to Sports” stamped. There is no time limit.
SCHEDULE
SummerFEST activities will be going on all day at the park! There’s a LOT of stuff going on, including a car show, yoga, live music, food trucks, dog contests, trapeze & trampoline shows, an international festival, children’s activities, sports, a movie on the big screen, and more! Check the link for a detailed schedule!
For orienteering, come find the Cascade Orienteering tent in baseball/soccer fields, approximately 100m northwest of the playground.
For the Choose Your Adventure course (24 checkpoints, 75-minute time limit):
11:00am: Registration, instruction, and starts open.
4:30pm: Registration, instruction, and starts close.
6:00pm: Course closes.
For the FREE Mini Maze courses (point-to-point, no time limit):
11:00am: Instruction and starts open.
5:45pm: Instruction and starts close.
6:00pm: Course closes. No passport stamps will be given after 6:00pm
PRICES
PRE-REGISTRATION PRICES
$17 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
DAY-OF-EVENT REGISTRATION
$20 base price
– subtract $5 for CascadeOC members
Participating as a group? Just $5 for each additional adult (16+) group member, no cost for additional minors.
This full Choose Your Adventure course will feature old-school paper punching, no electronic scoring.
The FREE mini maze courses will feature electronic punching (no need to bring your own).
SIGN UP
Online pre-registration closes: 9pm on Thursday, 7/18.
Day-of-event registration is available by cash or check, made payable to Cascade Orienteering Club
LOCATION
PARKING
SummerFEST is a big event drawing thousands of people. There will be parking in the parking lots and fields in the park. Follow signage to SummerFEST parking. There is no specific parking for orienteers, and we won’t have our usual signage in the park.
Pro tip: If the 2024 event is anything like previous years, parking in the designated SummerFEST parking areas in the park can be a MAJOR HASSLE. If you’re willing to walk, you can park at Pierce College and skip the hassle.
For orienteering, come find the Cascade Orienteering tent in the Passport to Sports area, which should be near the baseball fields.
CARPOOL
Looking for a carpool? Join the club email group and share your request to find a ride.
THE MAP
While Fort Steilacoom is not rugged or remote, it can be fairly challenging for a city park. There are many criss-crossing trails here, both in open grass and in forest. However, there are also many distinct features such as buildings, roads, ballfields, and a small lake, that are great navigational aids.
Part of the park is very flat, while part of the park is quite steep. How steep your course is depends on which course you choose and how nice the course designer decided to be.
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.
