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Event
Director's Notes
Silva 2003
by Evan Custer
Welcome to the Silva 2003 US Orienteering Individual Championships! I hope you enjoy the event. A lot of work has been done by a lot of people to provide a high quality enjoyable event for you.
The event is a two
day combined time classic distance event and will be held on
Terrain and Map
This year's event will be on a new map of
Assembly Area
The assembly area for both competition days and for the model event is the
Taylor Creek SnoPark, on Cathedral Road, just south of Route 89, about 5 miles
northwest of the "Y" intersection of US 50 and Route 89 in South Lake
Tahoe. Parking, registration, toilets,
and vendors will be located at the assembly area.
The event center
will be
Registration and Packet Pick-up
Registration and packet pick-up will be available at the Sno-Park assembly
area from
Friday, Sept. 12th, 12 noon to 4:00 pm and
Saturday, Sept. 13th,
Sunday, Sept. 14th,
Model Event
A model event will be available for all registrants at no additional charge
on Friday, Sept. 12th, from
Start
and Finish Locations
There are two start areas on Saturday, one for the red and blue courses
(start 1), and one for the white, yellow, orange, brown, and green courses, and
all of the recreational courses (start 2).
The start area 1 for the red and blue courses is about 2.8 km. from the
assembly area. Start 2 area is about 2.0 km from the assembly area. Free bus shuttle will be provided from the
assembly area to drop off points on
You may run to the
start if you desire. Leave the assembly
area, turn right onto
On Sunday, there
also will be two start areas. Start 1
will be for the orange and advanced courses.
Start 2 will be for the white and yellow courses. Both starts are less than a 5 minute walk
from the assembly area. The warm up area
is on
The finish for Day
1 will be about 750 meter walk back to the assembly area. The finish for Day 2 will be at
Start Procedure
For A meet competitors, you will be called up 4 minutes before your start
time. Your name will be checked off and
an official will use the Check unit to double check your finger stick. At two minutes before your start, you will
advance to the start line. When the horn
sounds and you are told to start, punch the Start unit, and start running to
the remote start triangle, which is 60
meters away for the Day 1 red and blue courses and 100 meters for all other
courses on Saturday, except white, and all courses on Sunday, except white and
yellow. At the start triangle, pick up
the appropriate map from the map box and begin navigating to your first
control. It is your responsibility to
pick up the correct map.
Loose control description sheets will be available at the start area prior to being called up to the start line. The control descriptions are also printed on the map.
Recreational participants will not have pre-assigned start times. After registration, proceed to the start area and request a start time from the start official. When your start time is indicated on the display clock and the horn sounds, take your map out of the map tray, proceed to the start triangle, and begin navigating to the first control.
Electronic Punching
SportIdent electronic punching will be used for all classes on both days of
the A meet and the model event. Each competitor must have his or her own SI
card.
To use the SportIdent electronic punching system, you put the SI card (also called a finger-stick or dipper) on your finger, typically your index finger of your dominant hand. It is a good idea to attach a string or lanyard through the hole in the base of the finger stick and tie it around your wrist because the finger sticks sometimes get pulled off and lost in the forest. The replacement cost for a rental finger stick is $30.00.
Be sure and insert your finger stick in the Clear unit before starting the event. It takes about 6 seconds to clear the card of its previous data. Then put the card in the Check unit to be sure it has been cleared properly. You will also be asked to put your finger stick in the Check unit carried by one of the start officials to double check that you have cleared your card, and also to serve as a backup for who actually started.
When the start official tells you to start, insert your finger stick in the Start unit and then follow the streamers to the remote start triangle at which point you will pick up your map and start navigating to the first control. It does not matter if you have to wait a few seconds to punch the Start unit, as your time does not begin until after you punch.
When you get to the control, check the code, and then insert your finger stick into the hole on the top of the unit and wait for it to beep and flash, usually in about 1 second. If the unit fails to respond, use the manual punch and punch your map to document that you visited the control.
If you take a
control out of order or punch a control that is not on your course, this will
not cause a problem if you eventually punch all of your controls in the proper
sequence. Thus if you find
At the finish, be sure and punch the Finish unit. Once you punch the finish unit, you may not reenter the competition area, so be sure you have all of the controls before you punch the finish unit.
After finishing, proceed as soon as possible to the Download station, which is located near the finish area. Download your card into the computer. You will receive a print out of your splits after you download.
Be sure and go to the download station and download your finger stick, even if you do not finish your course. Telling the finish crew that you retired from the course is not sufficient, as the computer will not know you have returned unless you download your card. If you do not download, we will have to assume you are lost or injured, and may have to send out a search party for you.
If you are renting a finger stick, you may keep the finger stick if you are returning the following day to compete. All rental finger sticks must be returned on Sunday. If you do not return your rental finger stick, you will be charged $30.00.
Winning Times
The following estimated winning times are: White, 25-30 min; Yellow, 35-40 min;
Orange, 50-55 min; Brown, 45-50 min; Green, 50-55 min; Red, 60-65 min; Blue,
75-80 min. The courses are on the long
side, so the winning times will probably be at the upper limits of these
guidelines.
Course Closure
All A meet competitors will have the full three hours to complete their
courses. Therefore, the courses will
probably close about
Hazards
The biggest hazard at this event is probably the altitude. You will be competing at 6200 to 7000
feet. One of the best ways to decrease
some of the effects of high altitude is to stay hydrated throughout the
competition. Start drinking water about
1 hour before your start, and drink water at all of the water stops. If it is warm, it is even more important to
stay hydrated. There are no rattlesnakes
or poison oak.. Bears are occasionally
seen but they usually are not aggressive.
Be alert for mountain bike riders and horses on the trails. The safety bearing is north until you hit
Route 89. There are two paved roads that
roughly run in a north south direction, and end at Route 89.
Whistles
Whistles must be carried by all competitors. If you do not have a whistle, ask for one at
registration at no charge. If you are
injured or hopelessly lost, give 3 short blasts on the whistle, and repeat
every 30-60 seconds. Any competitor who
hears the emergency whistle is required to come to the aid of an injured
orienteer, so please do not blow the whistle unless it is a true emergency.
Awards
The top three US Championship eligible finishers in all classes will
receive an award. In addition, USOF
medals will be awarded to the gold, silver and bronze age-group US
Champions. These medals will not be
awarded to the open classes. The
permanent Silva trophies will be inscribed with the M21 and F21 Champions and
given to them for the year. The US
Championship eligible winner of M21 and F21 will each receive a $1,000.00 cash
award. $500.00 will be given to the 2nd
place finishers in M21 and F21, and $250.00 to the third place finishers. The fastest person in each class regardless
of championship eligibility will also receive a medal. The award ceremony will begin as soon as the
top 3 places in each class is determined.
This will probably occur close to 1:00 pm on Sunday.
Plaques will also be awarded to the top 3 finishers of the WRE. The plaques are jointly funded by Scarborough Orienteering and BAOC. The WRE awards will be presented at the Saturday night dinner.
Childcare
Childcare will be available at Camp Concord for an additional fee with
pre-notification.
Saturday Night Dinner
A Saturday night dinner will available to participants at Camp Concord beginning at 6:00 pm. Reservations are necessary. If you do not have a reservation and would
like to go, please contact registration to see if there is still space
available. The cost is $15 for adults,
$7.00 for children 4-12, and free for children under 4. The menu will be tri-tip steak, cheese
tortellini, sautéed vegetables, rolls, salad, dessert, water and lemonade.
Course reviews will be offered. If the
fastest person on any course is willing to give the course review, his or her
dinner will be free. Because there is inadequate
parking at the camp, you will have to park in the Sno-Park assembly area and
take a camp operated shuttle van, or else walk 1.2 km down Cathedral Road to
the camp.
Important Dates and Times
Friday, Sept. 12th
12 noon to 4:00 pm. Registration,
packet pickup and model event.
6:00-10:00 pm. Packet pickup at assembly area.
Saturday, Sept. 13th
9:00 am-1:00 pm Registration and packet pickup at assembly area.
9:45 am. First start for WRE
participants
11:00 am First start for non-WRE participants
4:15 pm. Courses close.
6:00 pm. Saturday night dinner, Camp Concord.
Park at Sno-Park assembly area.
Sunday, Sept. 14th
8:00 am-11:00 am. Registration and
packet pick-up at assembly area.
9:00 am. First starts.
1:00 pm. Awards ceremony.
2:15 pm. Courses close.
Trail Orienteering Demonstration Course
David Irving and Karen Dennis are planning a Trail Orienteering demo at
Camp Concord in conjunction with the US Champs. There will be from three to
five demonstration controls, with varying degrees of technical challenge. The
demo will include 'answer sheets' posted after each control. The course will be
available all weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, so you can try it any time
it's convenient for you. There will be a do-it-yourself sign up and start,
located in the dining hall (somewhere). Please be sure to sign the registration
list so we can keep an accurate count of how many people try it out. We will
also have you keep your own score of how many you got correct. We'd like you to
record your score on the results form (anonymously, if you wish); it helps us
to analyze our course designs, so we can present better courses in the future.
Directions
The assembly area and parking for all events will be at the Taylor Creek
Sno-Park on Cathedral Road just south of Route 89, about 4 miles northwest of
the "Y" intersection of US 50 with Route 89 in South Lake Tahoe. The Sno-Park is just west of the Fallen Leaf
Campground. The event center will be at
Camp Concord, but parking for the Camp will be at the Sno-Park assembly area.
From the Bay Area and Sacramento,
take US 50 east from Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe. At the "Y" intersection of US 50
with Route 89, continue north on Route 89.
Go approximately 4 miles to Cathedral Road, and turn left.
From Reno and the east, take US 395 south towards Carson City. Turn west on US 50 and go through South Lake Tahoe. At the "Y" intersection of US 50 and Route 89, turn right onto Route 89 north, and go approximately 4 miles to Cathedral Road and turn left.
Event Officials:
Event Director: Evan Custer
Course setters: Hannu Haarma (blue, red, green, brown, model event), Evan Custer (orange and adventure race training), Jay Hann (white and yellow).
Vetter: Bob Cooley
Map production: Bob Cooley
Registrar: Steve Beuerman
Recreational Registration: Ev and Jean Beuerman
Camp Concord Lodging: Ev and Jean Beuerman
Start Assignments: Robert Lewis
Starts: Chuck Spalding
Finish: Dan Greene
Signage and Equipment: Mark Blair
Construction: George Minarik, Matthias Kohler
EP: Robert Lewis
Announcer: Vladimir Gusiatinikov
Event flyer: Tony Pinkham
Publicity: Nancy Lindeman
Webmaster: Ben Wahlstrand
Beginner's Clinics and greeters: Scott Aster
First Aid: Joan Roos
Search and Rescue: Wes Erck
Control pickup: Harold and Penny DeMoss