Reporting "Live" from NOD at Stewart Gulch West

Given the course choices and nice sunny weather (instead of possible thunderstorms and lightning and all that), we had a solid turnout for National Orienteering Day.  It was duly noted, however, by more than one returning orienteer that it was hotter on the other side of the mountain that rises up steeply to the east...

Dondi got everyone going on time.

The Beginner course had two takers:  The Morgan brothers, fresh from the "advanced beginner" course with their dad, gave the short course their best legs and finished strong.  

Nikolai and Aleksi take it home.

Caelin Judd brought the family, and all caught their breath on the copse control.

The Judd family pauses in the shade at control #5.  (Photo: Ellen)

Beginner (1.22k, 5m climb)	Time
Nikolai and Aleksi Morgan	0:18
Caelin Judd and family	Hike

As it turned out, the special bonus course designed by scout Ethan Meade (awkwardly named by the meet director as "advanced beginner") was by far and away the most popular.  It neatly fit into the perfect niche of those wanting a little more challenge than the classic flat beginner but not too much sun and climb - a hard to find combination at our Stewart venue.  The Morgan family, who has more than a few meets to their name, handily took first and pronounced the course "just right" (which obviously left enough energy for Nikolai and Aleksi to burn up Beginner).

The Morgan brothers at hot control #2.  (Photo: Jay)

Mike B's mom Helga was in town from Seattle and they tackled the course with Oakley to cruise in with a sweet second.  I can only hope I am still briskly booking the peaks at age 86!  She commented "the hills only get steeper and taller every year...and this place is a desert, isn't it?"

Mike and Helga at the finish line.

The complete Johnson family (also with Ethan's troop) arrived to sample his course design and came back looking a little exhilarated.  Just two minutes behind Mike and Helga!

The Johnson's sprint to control #6.

Finishers!

John and Joel Weers made great time and came in just minutes behind to round out 4th place.

John and Joel Weers through the trees to #2.  (Photo: Ellen)

Michael Judd and his family took on this course first, but they lost two members getting up the slippery cheatgrass hill on the way up to control 2.  They reunited to accomplish the beginner course.  The Corlett's and Olson's heard rumors of the merit badge work taking place and came to see how it was all came together - and snag a few maps!

Adv Beginner (2.15k, 125m climb)	Time
Jay, Nikolai, and Aleksi Morgan	0:44
Mike Bading and Helga Byhre	1:01
Zach, Amy, Kyle, Eric Johnson	1:03
John and Joel Weers	1:09
The Judd family	Hike
Greg and Tyler Corlett	Hike
Daren and Lauren Olson	Hike

The intermediate proved to be a challenging take given the considerable climb involved.  The meet director made it a notch harder than "normal" (if there is such a thing) given the advanced beginner option, but climb was formidable with the map whittled down in the lower elevations with new road construction.  (#1 turned out to be more visible than anticipated but that meant the telephoto could be leveraged from the start triangle.)  Russ Pilcher, with only minutes remaining in Boise before signing papers to load up and move down to northern Arizona, sprinted like we've never seen him before to take first place.  It's also possible all the Rabbit O hats motivated him.  We wish him well in his new place!

Russ catches his breath at #1 before the next sprint.

Russ leaps into action with control #10.  (Photo:  Ellen)

Ethan Meade took on the intermediate course to capture his third and final meet for the merit badge requirements, despite the ominous climb and heat involved.  It was either then and there or face the vampires next month, in the dark.  Roy managed to keep up with Ethan along the way and reported the race directors' name was rather ill considered after control #5 (shared by advanced), buried deep in a re-entrant perhaps best accessed by climbing harness.  Congrats to both of them for finishing a challenging course - and thanks to Ethan on his easier course design for everyone else!

Ethan Meade finds a higher gear to the last control.  (Photo: Dondi)

More scouts from the other troop also took on the intermediate course as a hiking mode and seemed to get a good sense of what harder was like...hopefully they will be back!

Intermediate (3.28k, 305m climb)	Time
Russ Pilcher	1:23
Roy and Ethan Meade	2:14
Cameron Bybee, Jared and Jeffrey	Hike

Finally, the advanced course naturally attracted many of the club's usual suspects.  Given that this is Stewart Gulch and the lowlands are being swept away by the flood of houses, the climb was double that of the intermediate.  As expected, Sergey took first, but he actually came in two controls early a little dazed from the blazing afternoon sun.  He duly noted his glitch and promptly headed out to finish his course.  His route choice is included below.  (Control #6, a rather fuzzy part of the map these days, used the old faded ZZ control for security and was on a distinct tree.  Sergey noted he spent 2 minutes+ on the control, far from optimal.)

Sergey's route choice, advanced course.

John Murray, after making some of his usual positive observations about the highly visible first control and ridiculous amount of climb on the course ("This is not an ultramarathon race, you know."), turned in a very respectable second place for being a sprinter type guy.  Probably faster than the race director would have given how slow he has become on these shorter races...

John Murray leaps concrete with a single stride.

Christine Kollar, fresh from a 100 mile victory the weekend before in McCall (speaking of ultrarunning), let Tim do the navigating and big climbs on the course, which he did admirably.  They finished the course little worse for the heat and wondered where everyone was?  Christine knew exactly where Russ was moving to and had some good recommendations to boot.

Tim and Christine cruise down the big hill for the round the school sprint.

Bill Leahy and Jim Byrne also gave the course a solid go but eventually had to bail as the heat and fluid requirements got the better of them.  We were glad to see them relaxed and casual at the finish line waiting for everyone to get in!

Advanced (7.18k, 625m climb)	Time
Sergey Velichko	1:17
John Murray	1:49
Tim and Christine	2:10
Bill Leahy	DNF
Jim Byrne	DNF

Prizes from Shu's running company were distributed among various participants and...age group winners, much to their delight.  Special thanks go to Dondi, my codirector who kept the starts and finishes straight while I ate and took photos.  Many thanks go to those who assisted with control pickup - John Murray, Russ Pilcher, Mike Bading (who picked up the far east controls), and the Meade men (who also set up their course!).  More photos from Ellen can be found on the yahoogroups site too.

Stay tuned to this channel for news on next month's meet, when the air gets chilly, the skies grow dark, and the vampire returns - he wants your completed map!

Jeff Black

It's almost here! National Orienteering Day! (Or week!)

At National Orienteering Day 2012.

If you had any hesitation to try out the sport of orienteering this year, our September meet is one of the best times to try it.  Our club event for National Orienteering week focuses on showing how much fun plain old map and compass work can really be, no matter if you take it slow or fast.

Day:  September 14, 2013
Location:  Stewart Gulch, west (Hillside Junior High)
Start times:  11am to 12:30pm (courses close at 2pm!)
Courses:  classic format, 4 levels ranging from beginner to advanced.
Cost:  usual $5, unless you are a CTOC member (in which case it's free!)
Included goodies:  souvenir topographic map, a complementary copy of Orienteering North America (while they last), and special awards provided by Shu's Idaho Running Company for this event (thanks Mike!)

This year we will have an extra course level of difficulty between beginner and intermediate, thanks to Ethan Meade who has planned out a 2km course as part of completing his orienteering merit badge.  So for those who try the beginner on their first time out and are looking for just a bit more challenge but not too much distance, it should be "just right".

Bring water for the course (although for the intermediate and advanced courses there will probably be a water control), sunscreen, hat, good shoes for the grassy foothills, and gaitors if you have them to keep some of the cheatgrass out of your shoes.  And of course - a compass if you have one, or you can rent/borrow one of the club models.

Course details:
Beginner:  1.2km, 5m climb
Advanced Beginner:  2.15km, 125m climb
Intermediate:  3.3km, 305m climb
Advanced:  7.2km, 625m climb

Our club waiver will be available on the day of the meet.

See you out there!

Jeff Black, meet director

Herrick Hills Results 8/25/2013




Advanced #8

 





The air might not have been as clear and cool as hoped for, yet some folks made the hour drive from Boise to experience the Herrick Hills courses.  A shower the night before settled the dust a bit.  Ole, Jeff, and John

Advanced Course

fought out the advanced course with Ole edging out Jeff by a mere 18 seconds and John not far behind!  I routed the advanced course over to the southeast so they could have a look at the state owned land around Herrick reservoir, however the map for that area was straight from the USGS map with inaccurate 40 ft. contours. Number 7 gave most of the people some problems, showing why we go to so much trouble to use good accurate maps for the most part.  Both the intermediate and advanced course participants got to enjoy a control at the base of a tall rock pillar.  Roy and Ethan did very well on a difficult intermediate course until the last control stumped them.



We'll sure miss Russ' exotic post meet snacks after he moves to Arizona this Fall.

Thanks to the control pickup crew: Ole, Jeff, John, Russ, Ken, and Jerry!



Advanced Course 6.9km.255m. climb






Ole Bergset           1:58:52

Jeff Black              1:59:10

John Murray          2:08:30

Melanie Wright         dnf



Intermediate Course 4.1km.185m.climb

Russ Pilcher           1:25:23



Ken Karcher &

Jerry Stewart          3:24:20

Roy & Ethan Meade  (recreational)





Novice 2km.60m.climb

no takers

See you next time at Stewart Gulch, Sept. 14 for National Orienteering Day!
- Karin Didisse, Meet Director











Upcoming meet info: Herrick Hills Sunday August 25

Herrick Hills Sunday August 25
Located north of Boise on Hwy. 55 between Smith's Ferry and Clear Creek (Cascade), Starts 11-1pm

Where: Hwy. 55 between Milepost 105 and 106, East side

Herrick Hills Subdivision
 Lovely hilly wooded terrain that has been thinned and prepared for sale. There will be three courses: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced. The map is still in development and hasn't been thoroughly field checked, but the 5m. contours provided by the surveyor are excellent. There are interesting rock outcrops, mountain meadows, marshes and small streams. Footing can be a bit tricky, but there is very little brush. Lower leg protection is recommended for the int. and adv. courses because of deadfall and low shrubs.

Hope to see you there! Karin Didisse, Meet Director (208)315-4826

Redefining Downhill at Bogus Basin - Results July 20, 2013

Our unusually large turnout can be attributed to the efforts of our club president, Jeff Black. Last week he conducted orienteering training for what he described as an unusually enthusiastic group of Boy Scouts. The father of one of the Scouts told Jeff that his son described orienteering as geocaching on steroids. All of the Scouts who came up to Bogus on Saturday opted for the beginners' course which offers useful practice in handling a map and compass, but seems to fall short of the "steroids" description. We hope we will see them again on one of our intermediate courses where we can deliver a challenge to fully meet the expectation.


The Morgan family closing in on one of
Sergey's cleverly placed controls.

Bogus Basin was a little cooler than downtown, but not much. And even though the courses were designed to minimize uphill routes, the terrain proved challenging. It doesn't seem like 5.7K downhill should consume much energy and time for our exceptionally fit advanced orienteers. One look at the winning times and you know there is some rugged terrain and challenging navigation out there. Add in the summer heat and you have a course to be approached with respect. Ben Brock once again demonstrated his excellence with a winning time of 1:27:30. Greg Davidson acquitted himself very well and seemed quite pleased with his performance, as indeed he should have been. We were pleased to have Joseph Burkhead and his family join us. Joseph is from Michigan, where he is a regular at orienteering meets and has competed around the USA. As for the two guys on the tail end, you know it's a tough course when Jeff and Bill pull up the rear.

 

Check out the father and son team of Jeff and Ian Mullens taking first place in the Intermediate Division. They are relatively new to this sport, but they are advancing quickly. We won't be seeing the Mullens family during the winter. They are avid Alpine skiers and Ian is a top competitor. It seems they are making the most of the summer version of their winter turf, which must seem largely unrecognizable in July--an alien planet, huh guys? We are highly impressed by the watermelon they brought, second only to Ian's improvised gaiters. Karen Didisse, a seasoned orienteer who can be counted on to claim she's out of shape, followed closely on the Mullens' heels. What should we expect when she is in shape? And Kerry Davis, who's done most of her orienteering in Kansas before moving to Boise last year reminds us how lucky we are. In Kansas they stop orienteering before the summer arrives. No, Dorothy, it's not tornadoes. It's ticks and poison ivy. We understand now why all of that benign Bogus brush doesn't phase her. Thanks, Kerry, for giving us perspective and the gratitude that comes with it.

If you are curious  how a world class orienteer would run the Advanced Course, you can read Sergey's comments and enlarge his map to view his route selection. Or, for the more discerning, Melanie graced us with a touch of class too often missing from our ranks. Thanks, Melanie.

Melanie models Orienteer chic.

 

 For those who are interested I logged 1:00:02 for advanced course. That included taking controls out and carrying them in my bag so should be close enough to compensate my intimate knowledge of the map and course J I only stopped watch once for a minute or 2  at the water control to collect all the staff.

  

My splits:

1:21 1:17 1:39 1:25 2:14 2:45 4:39 4:01 1:51 2:14 2:12 3:19 5:45 2:27 2:43 3:15 0:39 2:28 5:44 2:52 1:25 2:47 0:49

 

Please click on the image of advanced course with best route as I saw and ran it. So mostly it should have been nice and easy trail/road run with short 100-200m attacks for controls.

 

 Karen Didisse directs our
next meet on Sunday, August 25 at Herrick Hills. 


All Golden!

The latest installment on the Gold Rush map saga started out both sunny and damp.   It had been raining off and on the previous evening, but the day dawned with clear blue skies.   However, by the time of the first starts, dark clouds overhead threatened to wet things down again.   Luckily, although the clouds stayed around for most of the day, the rain itself never materialized, leaving instead excellent running conditions.

The beginner course, a standard loop, only had one taker this time, with Alden Koenig blazing through the course with an excellent time.

The second course was a 21 control score course.   Controls could be visited in any order, each was worth 10 points a piece, time limit was three hours, and there was a 10 point per minute overtime penalty.    Three competitors were able to snag all 21, and two others missed out on 21 only due to not seeing the control (code 37) on the upper-right corner of the map.   A number of other competitors had difficulties on control code #42 due to an unmapped logging track on the ridge just to the west of the ridge that the control was on.   And, of course, John Murray pointed out (correctly) that control #43 was placed 20 meters south of the control circle.    Even with these problems, everyone had a great day.   Jerry Stewart enjoyed it so much, he even stayed out on the course for smidge more than his allotted three hours!

Special thanks to my co-director Jeff Black for helping with both pre-meet control placement, setup, and post-meet pickup.  And thanks to Bill Leahy for helping with setup and post-meet pickup.   And thanks to both for keeping me company at the delicious post-race meal and bull session at Trudy’s.

Jeff also posted a bit of his photography from the meet on the ctoc-boise yahoogroup . Enjoy!

Next month we return to the mountains with a meet at Bogus Basin.  See you there!

And last but not least, the results…

Andy Hill

BEGINNER      (2.69 km, 60 m climb)
Name	Time
Alden Koenig	33:25

 

Score (optimal route: 8.680 km, 350 m climb)
Name	Time	Controls	Score
Sergey Velichko	78:12	21	210
Jason Quinn	100:17	21	210
Greg Davidson	115:13	21	210
John Murray	149:30	20	200
Bill Leahy	168:05	20	200
Melanie Schuster	173:01	19	190
Nellie Pryor & Company	176:04	12	120
Shanda Doughman	177:50	12	120
Kerry Davis	135:02	11	110
Zack Clayton	121:00	10	10
Mikayla & Chris Rose	94:34	9	90
Jerry Stewart	183:02	12	90

  

Redefining Downhill at Bogus Basin -- Saturday, July 20 -- Downhill Course on an Expanded Map

Join us for our second orienteering adventure at Bogus Basin. This year's Bogus Basin Meet features all downhill courses on an expanded map. Well, if you are an advanced orienteer you might find a little uphill, but not very much. Advanced and intermediate orienteers will encounter obstacles and terrain where the best route choice will call for some uphill travel instead of following the contours. 

All three courses (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) begin in the southwest corner of the Pioneer Lodge parking lot, the same location as last year. The finish will be at the Nordic Lodge. That's a net drop of more than 150 meters. Please consider volunteering before or after your run to help shuttle participants to the start.

The map includes most of Bitterroot Basin, all of the terrain serviced by the Morning Star (#2).  This location provides a mix of timber, meadows, and various other vegetation on mountainous terrain familiar to Alpine skiers. If you plan to tackle either the intermediate or advanced course, be sure to bring gaiters or some other protection for your legs. Bogus Basin has brush. Full leg cover will prevent a lot of otherwise difficult to avoid scratches or worse. Also, because cut branches on the ground often make the footing unstable, you should bring sturdy shoes and good judgment about when to be cautious.

The advanced and intermediate courses are shorter than our usual offerings. Nevertheless, we are estimating best performances on both the advanced and intermediate courses to be around 90 minutes. The beginners’ course is truly downhill on two-tracks and trails. At 2.06K it’s a little longer than the typical beginners’ course.

Who: Orienteers of all ages and abilities (beginners to advanced)

When: Saturday, July 20. Registration begins at 9:30am and continues to 12. Courses will be open for starts from 10 am – 12. Courses close at 2 pm. You may arrive within this window to try a course, as participants start separately a few minutes apart.

Finish and Parking Location: Nordic Lodge parking lot.  http://goo.gl/maps/ZdCNi

Restrooms available at the Simplot Lodge.

 Format: Classic

Entry fees: $5.00 per map for non-members (individual or group). Free to members of the City of Trees Orienteering Club.

You may want to bring: a watch, a compass, a snack, a whistle and a cell phone. (Some compasses will be available to borrow)

Directors: Sergey Velichko/John Murray

Time for the Gold Rush!

Just a reminder, it’s time for the annual Idaho City Gold Rush – this upcoming Saturday, June 15th!   Start times will be from 11-1, but, given the current forecast I would recommend getting there as early as possible – the woods warm up quickly!   Format will be “classic” orienteering, with the usual Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced courses (at 8.5km, the Advanced course is a bit short, but it still has 20 controls of orienteering goodness).

Courses are set, maps are being printed, and I’ve been doing my “no sheep” dance (although the woolly locusts have been spotted at various locations on the map).  The woods are green and beautiful, and flowers are in abundance.   Come on up and enjoy!

Start will be about two and a half miles up Bear Run Road (note: this is not the start area by Highway 21).   From Hwy 21 in Idaho City, turn left on Main Street, go three blocks, turn right on Bear Run Road, and follow the road to the meet site.   Leave the sports cars at home – there’s a few ruts and potholes along the way.

U.S. Championships: Congratulations to Sergey!

Congratulations go to Sergey Velichko who won some heavy metal at the U.S Championships in the Adirondacks.  He took silver with third in the Sprint (M45+ class) with a time of 15:48,  and an amazing first place gold in the Long (M45+ class) with a time of 1:25:53!  He also took fifth in the middle distance with a time of 45:13.  In this class there is no lack of competition to be had, and so we can certainly be pleased to have such a skilled orienteer in our club.

U.S. Champs web site here, with Sprint and Long results.  Several sets of photos also there to peruse, including at least one of Sergey in Vlad's set, looks like one from the start line.

Rabbit Creek-O 2013 Results

Many of our regulars didn't make it to Rabbit Creek this year, but we still had a great meet and a good turnout to tackle the new format on the advanced course. This year the course was run on the traditional 1:10,000 map but 30 controls were placed throughout the course and it was up to the competitor to choose their own route. There was 1 point per control. Three hours was allowed. Over three hours was a disqualification resulting in 0 pts.

 

Advanced Course

 

Twelve runners attempted the advanced course but only two were able to get all 30 controls in the time allotted.

 

30pts

John Murray      2:42

Ole Bergset      2:47

 

29pts

Michael Bading and Merrill Hayden  2:51

 

28pts

Russ Pilcher    2:59

 

25pts

Greg Davidson  2:53

Tim Birch and Christine Kollar 3:00

 

23pts

Brad Mcintosh and Jereme Richardson 3:00

 

21pts

Melanie Schuster 2:41

 

18pts

Kerry Davis  2:20

 

15pts

Ian Mulleus  2:13

 

 

Beginner Course

 

Camden and Nicole with Jeff Mulleus tackled the course in 45 minutes.

Michael and Caelin Judd also made it through the course in 45 minutes!

Britany Lau and Niki Elings strolled unofficially through the course while carrying their Blue Moons without spilling a drop!

 

For more photos, comments, maps etc

check out our new facebook page!!

 

www.facebook.com/RabbitCreekOrienteering

Race Director Bill Pilcher