Discussion: USA Clubs

Hey, I have been able to much orienteering over the past 4 years due to college but am currently applying to jobs all over the United States. I completed my Aerospace Degree (Minor in computer science) at Georgia Tech and wish to understand what communities are the most active when it comes to selecting where to move. What are some of the most active clubs in the US?

Quantico Orienteering Club - Washington, DC area
Delaware Valley Orienteering Association - Philadelphia area
Cascade Orienteering Club - Seattle, WA area
New England Orienteering Club - Boston, MA area
Orienteering Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH area
Georgia Orienteering - Atlanta, GA area

Would BAOC (Bay Area) be worth adding to that list?

If you mostly want maps, Colorado has quite a few west of Colorado Springs, and about two dozen events a year. The Springs has aerospace, I believe.

There are quite a few maps within range of New York City as well (Westchester, Hudson Highlands, northern Jersey, western Connecticut, Delaware Water Gap, etc.).

Oops, yeah, meant to include BAOC too.

Within a 2 hour drive of Cincinnati are three more active clubs: Indiana Crossroads Orienteering (ICO) based in Indianapolis, Orienteering Louisville (OLOU), and Miami Valley Orienteering (MVOC) in Dayton, OH. We often have multiple meets to select from throughout the year.

What we need is a global orienteering-activity density heat map. Something like the Strava heat map, but for orienteering.

World of O has a pretty good heat map. Not sure how good it is for the US, though.

You'd certainly be welcome in Michigan. Lots of maps and glacial terrain.

I started a heatmap for DVOA on tableau public, needs some work still

I'm a bit biased because I live here (and originally moved here when I was your age because of the aerospace industry), but Seattle seems like a great fit for you. Seattle has aerospace (Boeing & suppliers, Stratolaunch, etc.) and technology (Microsoft, Amazon, etc).

As far as orienteering goes, CascadeOC is a pretty active club (averaging 4000+ annual starts since 2011, 30+ annual event days). And also a handful of urban orienteering events (Street Scramble).

That said, despite being a pretty active club, the terrain in western Washington is generally terrible. Anything off-trail is a slugfest. But, there's a bunch of sweet, sweet terrain on the east side of the Cascades that we use in the summer (open pine forest, scablands, sand dunes). And we're slowly building up a catalog of sprint maps in the city.

As far as aerospace, Cincinnati / Dayton has Wright-Patterson Air Base which has many civilian employees working in areas such as jet engine design, drones, and signature technology (stealth), and a GE jet engine plant. Also, relatively low living and housing costs compared to the coasts.

OJoy could add 2 more clubs within 2 hours drive from Cin-Day: Central Ohio Orienteers and O-Blue (Lexington, KY). There are also a couple other groups in the area that put on lots of trail runs, adventure races, mini-rogaines and rogaines. We don't have as much terrain variety as some areas, but we do have many events year-round.

Adding to the above: Pink Socks is establishing Seattle as a pretty good sprint locale if you enjoy that. It's also pretty close to Vancouver BC which is also home to some great sprinting events/maps.

Yes, greater Cincinnati definitely should be included.

Austin and NTOA (DFW) are both striving to promote the sport in Texas. Meets appear to regularly have 150+ competitors and the competition needs to be strengthened. The terrain is often a fight but beautiful.

Talk to Greg

Canada has aerospace industry as well. It is a civilized county, with a flavor of Western Europe. Canada is rich in natural resources (oil, gas, timber), and that is what will matter for survival very soon.

I suppose you want to stay in English-speaking environment?

Tho Aerospace majors at Georgia Tech seem to have a bit of trouble with the language...what was that OP - Original Post on this thread trying to ask?

Another consideration is the TYPE of terrain you prefer. A very active club's maps could be less-than ideal for O. Altho not too active at present, SLOC used to be the #1 club in the US, and has a huge inventory of maps of the Missouri Ozarks' Ridge-and-Valley terrain. And all 'White Woods' so you can run for miles without encountering unpleasant vegetation, cliffs, or impassable waterways.

And St Louis is near the geographical center of the US. So you can fly east, west or south from Lambert Airport which connects to their expanding MetroLink transit system. And also be within a couple hours drive of local events in Chicago (CAOC), Indianapolis(ICO), Kansas City (PTOC), or Cincinnati (OCIN).

Re the list of clubs on top and the issue of preferred terrain.
You want to go to the North East, aka "New England". Terrain is top class,
and lots of rich smart people, they tend to be more open-minded and welcoming.
Second best is DVOA. They have excellent terrain, and O'ring people there have a taste for good maps, and generally are careful of course setting
Speaking of QOC, it is the same thing as GAOC, only bigger. So you've seen it. Enough said.
The best terrain is in the interior West, but you may end up the only orienteer in the radius of 200 miles. Do not go to the West Coast, for god's sake.

PS: It's a pity orienteering almost died in Missouri. Ozark Plateau terrain is gorgeous.