Orienteering Events

WPOC Orienteering Events

Introduction:

An orienteering event is an opportunity for people to participate in the sport of orienteering. WPOC hosts 10-12 orienteering events each year; all are open to the public. At these events, WPOC offers one or more courses (see below) and participants choose which course they want to try. Generally, there is a map fee collected to participate in a course. We call it a map fee because we collect based on the number of maps used, not by the number of participants. For example: an individual will use only one map at a time (one map fee); a group of people may share a single map (one map fee) or get multiple maps for members of the group (multiple map fees).

How it Works:

These are the steps a participant goes through at an orienteering event. There are three stations at every event (Registration, Start and Finish); there are always signs marking where these are.

When you arrive, you go to Registration to sign a waiver, pay your map fee, choose your course and get a map for the course you are going to do.
If you are a total newcomer, the folks at Registration will then direct you to Instruction.
After Instruction (or if you don't need it), you go to the Start area to get a start time. This is NOT OPTIONAL. We record everyone's time on a course whether they care about their speed or not. We do this so that we know at all times who is still out on the courses and who is back. We usually do interval starts; this means that you can start on a course any time in a 3-hour window of time, usually 11 am to 2 pm.
When your start time is reached, the folks at Start will tell you to start on your course.
Then, at whatever pace you want (as long as you return by the deadline for all courses - usually 3:30 pm), you go around the course you have selected, "punching" (see below) at each control as well as at the Start and Finish.
After you complete your course, you MUST go to the Finish and report in.
Afterward, if you are inclined and there is still time in the start window, you may start on a second course. Otherwise, you can have refreshments and compare what you did on the course with others who have finished.

Waivers:

WPOC carries liability insurance for all of our events through the national organization (Orienteering USA). One of the requirements of the insurance agents is that every participant at every event sign a waiver at least once a year. The waiver essentially says that you won't sue WPOC, the volunteers at the event, and the people/organizations that own the area we are using for the event. The waiver also causes the participant to be covered by the liability insurance that WPOC carries. We normally structure the waiver text so that once a person signs it for an event, s/he is covered for all WPOC events for the rest of that calendar year. This saves a little time at the Registration table.

Instruction:

We expect the orienteering skill level of our participants to vary widely. We provide instruction regarding use of the map and compass and the whole process of orienteering during the first hour at every regular event.

Cost:

Participation in one of our events usually costs $6 per map. If a group of people want to go on a course together and one map is enough, the cost is $6 total. If each individual wants a map, it is $6 each. For any individual or group that does a second course an event, we reduce the map fee to $3 per map. Club members (of any OUSA or IOF club) who participate get a $1 discount on their first map fee at an event.

Maps:

We try to provide pre-printed, 5-color maps for participants for all events. The pre-printing shows the day's course already on the map. If we run out of pre-printed, participants may have to copy the course onto their map (this is done off the clock).

Types of Courses:

WPOC uses a variety of course structures at its events. In addition, sometimes the courses are a bit different because of the mode of transportation or the time of day. Participants are always timed while on their course and for most structures, the fastest person on a course is the winner for that day. However, there is no requirement to run; if you don't care about the time; just go at your own pace.

Cross-Country Courses:
This is by far the course structure that WPOC uses most frequently. These courses require the participant to go to a sequence of markers (controls) in a specific order. On the map, the controls are connected by lines to show the sequence that must be followed. Each participant chooses which course s/he wants to try. Cross-country courses are color coded to indicate their approximate difficulty. In the United States, the color coding follows this sequence from easiest to hardest: White (Beginner) - Yellow (Novice) - Orange (Intermediate) - Brown (Advanced Short) - Green (Advanced Medium) - Red (Advanced Long) - Blue (Advanced Very Long). Beginner and Novice courses accommodate orienteers who are new to the sport; those with some experience may choose the intermediate course; and those with substantial experience do one of the Advanced courses. At WPOC events, we normally use only Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Adv Short and Adv Long courses; this is because we do not get many participants who can do the most difficult courses. As the courses become more difficult, they get longer and the trails and other "linear features" become less useful. Placement in the results is based on the time it takes an orienteer to complete his/her chosen course.

Score Courses:
These courses let each participant choose from a group of controls which to go to and in what order; however, there is a time limit. The time limit is usually 60 or 90 minutes and the number of controls from which the orienteer can choose is often set so that participants cannot go to all controls in the specified time. Score courses generally have some easy-to-get-to controls and some that are more difficult. A number of "points" are associated with each control; the person who returns with the highest number of points is the winner for the day. Points may be assigned to controls in several ways; sometimes all controls are assigned the same point value (perhaps 5 or 10 points); sometimes the assigned point value varies with controls that are easy to reach having a lower point value than those that are harder to get to (perhaps 5 points for easy ones, 10 points for a little more difficult ones and 20 points for hard ones). There is also a penalty associated with score courses: for each minute an orienteer is late (over the time limit). Placement in the results is based on the number of points accumulated by visiting controls (less any penalty). Ties are broken based on fastest time to accumulate the points.

Mini-Rogaines:
Rogaining is an endurance form of orienteering on Score courses. Time limits may be as large as 24 hours. WPOC offers only mini-rogaines with time limits of 3 hours and 6 hours. These courses are on maps that cover a much larger area than typical score courses; but the scoring with points and penalties is essentially the same.

Scatter Courses:
Like score, these courses let each participant choose from a group of controls which to go to and in what order; however, instead of a time limit, there is a specified number of controls that must be visited. The orienteer who visits the correct number of controls and returns in the fastest time is the winner for the day. The required number of controls to visit is normally 3 to 6 fewer than the number of controls available. There are no points associated with the controls and there is no lateness penalty. Placement in the results is like cross-country, fastest time wins regardless of which subset of the controls are visited. Scatter courses are also like cross-country in that the orienteer chooses from several courses that have controls placed at different skill levels. Example: An Intermediate scatter course may have 15 controls; the orienteer may be required to go to any 10 of these.

Scramble Courses:
These courses are similar to cross-country but with a twist. The orienteer must go to one or two controls in sequence; then there are several controls with a box drawn around them. The orienteer must go to all controls in the box in any order that s/he chooses; then, follow the line to the next control in sequence. On a course, there may be several boxes with intervening sequences of controls; in each case, all controls in the box must be visited but the orienteer decides the order. The fastest person on the course is the winner for the day.

Sprint Courses:
The name may suggest that you need to run; but you don't. Sprint courses are short versions of cross-country courses and often take place in the open sections of parks or even on city streets. The courses may be partly in the forest but are generally designed to encourage running. Course lengths are typically half or less of the corresponding cross-country course length. Because the courses are short, at a typical WPOC event, participants are allowed to do two sprint courses for a single entry fee.

Night Orienteering:
As the name implies, this orienteering activities occurs in the dark. The courses involved may have a cross-country or score format. Controls have reflective markers on them to make them more visible in the dark.

Ski Orienteering:
Here the orienteering activity occurs in a cross-country ski area. The courses usually have a cross-country format and typically have most controls on or very close to ski trails.

Bike Orienteering:
Participants use a bike to go around the course, instead of being on foot. WPOC occasionally offers a bike course at some of its cross-country events; it does not offer events that are devoted to bike orienteering.

Course Descriptions:

The course descriptions sheet (clue sheet) that we use normally contains English text descriptions of the control features for Beginner (White) courses. We use international symbolic descriptions for the Advanced courses (Brown, Green, and Red) and for Score courses. We provide both English text and symbolic descriptions for the Novice and Intermediate (Yellow and Orange) courses as these are transition points in skill level.

Punching

"Punching" is the act of proving that you have reached a control; it may be done manually or electronically. With manual punching, there is a red punch at each control; it is used to punch a pattern of holes in a paper that the participant carries around the course. With electronic punching, there is an electronic box at each control that keeps time; when the participant reaches the control, s/he puts a SI-card (also called a "finger stick") into the box and has the time and a code recorded on the card.

Equipment:

A compass - the club will loan you a compass if you do not have one.
The map you will use will be provided at event registration.
Appropriate footwear - generally sneakers or running shoes. Many courses will cause you to get your shoes wet or muddy.
We recommend carrying a whistle - for safety.
If the weather is rainy, either plan to get wet or bring a raincoat.
If it is night orienteering, a light with extra batteries is essential.

Cancellations:

Orienteering is generally an all-weather sport. Short of tornadoes, floods, hail, lightning and snow storms, the event will go on as scheduled. In the rare case that an event must be canceled, every attempt will be made to notify participants who are known to be coming to the event.