WPOC - Keystone State Park

Derry, PA, US
Jun 10, 2012

Type: Orienteering - Local

event website

added by: sherpes

June 10 at Keystone State Park, pavilion #2, WPOC (Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club) will hold its first comprehensive orienteering workshop. Regardless of your skill level, this will be an opportunity for you to improve your skills or learn new ones. Details are available at www.wpoc.org/keystonepreview.htm or atwww.wpoc.org/keystonepreview.pdf

The activities run from 11 am to 2:30 pm; pay close attention to the timing information in the referenced files. Also, as it says at the beginning of the details files, "ALL PARTICIPANTS must wear appropriate clothing (shoes that cover the feet and long pants). There is a lot of poison ivy; and there are many ticks and biting insects. Using insect repellant is an exceptionally good idea."

The workshop is FREE.

Driving directions: From U.S. Route 22 in New Alexandria, take Route 981 south for 0.25 miles to Keystone Park Rd. Turn left onto Keystone Park Rd (SR 1018) and follow it 2.5 miles to the Keystone State Park. Turn right onto Slag Road (T-860) and follow it 0.6 miles to registration. Once you reach the park, look for red and white orienteering signs directing you to the parking and registration area. If you reach a beach on Keystone Park Rd, you missed the turnoff to Slag Rd, turn around.

Beginner Instruction:
There will be two identical sessions, one starting at 11 am, the other starting at 1 pm. In each session, there will be instruction on map reading, simple use of the compass (orienting the map) and how an orienteering course works. If time allows, there may be additional instruction topics. There will also be an exercise in which participants can put what they have learned into practice. Each session will last approximately 90 minutes. Compasses will be loaned to those who do not have them.

Intermediate Instruction:
There will be a single session that starts at 12 noon and will last 1 2 to 2 hours. The focus will be on off-trail navigation (following a bearing) and keeping track of distance. Instruction will be done through a series of exercises that go around a short orienteering course, much of it off trail. Compasses will be loaned to those who do not have them.

Advanced Exercises:
There will be four exercises to choose from. Each involves doing a short orienteering course in one way or another. The courses are kept short to allow participants to do more than one exercise: starting on an exercise may be done between 11 am and 2 pm. The four exercises are described on the following pages.

Pathless-O length: 2.67 km climb: 105 m

Activity: Find the controls in a normal cross-country orienteering course using a map in which most of the features that would be drawn in black have been removed. If you are thinking of doing more than one exercise, do this one first -the other exercises will show the trails, roads, etc. which would partly defeat the purpose of this exercise.
Purpose: To practice using contours and vegetation features in terrain association; also to practice using the compass and making distance measurements.

Map Simplification length: 3.08 km climb: 110 m

Activity: Given a map with a pre-marked cross-country orienteering course, draw your own version of the map, with controls, then find the controls on the course using your hand-drawn map. You will be provided a plain sheet of paper and pencils to draw the map. You are not allowed to change the map you have drawn after you start on the course, although you will be allowed to take the pre-marked map with you in case your map proves to be inadequate at some point. You are not permitted to write distances or angles or make any other sort of notes on the hand-drawn map; you must draw the features you need.
Purpose: To practice focusing on the key map elements that you will need to locate the controls and eliminating the distracting features. Also, to practice route planning because you will have to think about your approach to all controls on the course as you make your own map.

Line-O actual length: 3.33 km climb: 140 m

Activity: Follow the line marked on the map (counterclockwise from the start) and find the controls which have been placed "on" the line; the control locations are not shown on the map. Controls are on standard orienteering features; some controls from other courses are also near or on the line. To avoid hiding important information, the line is drawn next to (not on top of) the control feature and next to features like paths and streams. The control descriptions list only the control flag numbers in sequence order. This course is the same as the one for Corridor-O; so you should not do both Line-O and Corridor-O exercises.
Purpose: To practice precise terrain association and navigation.

Corridor-O actual length: 3.33 km climb: 140 m

Activity: Follow the serpentine corridor counterclockwise from the start and find the controls which are placed on standard orienteering features at or near the center of the corridor. Some controls from other courses are also in the middle of the corridor. The corridor is 50-100 m in width; only the map inside the corridor is shown. The control descriptions list only the control flag numbers in sequence order. This course is the same as the one for Line-O; so you should not do both Line-O and Corridor-O exercises.
Purpose: To practice precise terrain association and navigation.

Are you going?

Sign in to add this to your calendar

Attending:

sherpes