Bay Area Orienteering Club
408-255-8018
http://www.baoc.org
Event Director's Notes
Tahoe 3 Day
Memorial Day Weekend
May 24, 25, 26, 2003
Welcome
to the Tahoe 3 Day. We hope you have a
good time. I think the courses are
interesting and challenging, and the terrain and maps are good. It will be wetter this year, particularly at
Burton Creek, than in previous years because of the unusual late snow. However, except for the fact that you will
probably get your feet wet because of the higher streams, marshy ground, some
unmapped streams, and the occasional patch of snow, particularly in the higher
elevations of Burton Creek, you should encounter nice running conditions.
There
will be a two day cumulative time classic distance event on Saturday and
Sunday, with the first day at Spooner Lake and the second day at Burton Creek,
and then a 1 day short course event at Burton Creek on Monday. This is a "bare bones" A meet. There will be no formal dinner, although a
get together at the Blue Agave restaurant in Tahoe City at 6:00 pm on Saturday
has been arranged by Olivia Graeve, and a pot luck dinner on Sunday at the
Sugar Pine Point Campground has been organized by Nancy Lindeman. Also, there is no T-shirt, no model event,
the awards will be modest (ribbons), and child care will be performed on a
cooperative basis by the parents.
Terrain
On Saturday, the US Forest Service
portion of the Spooner Lake map west of highway 28 will be utilized. This area has not been used since August
2000. The central portion of the map is
a moderately hilly with runnable pine forest, but drops off steeply to the
west. There is complex rock detail in
the northern part of the map. The trail
network is relatively sparse except at the southern end of the map.
On
Sunday and Monday, the events will be at Burton Creek State Park. Burton Creek offers some of the most
interesting orienteering terrain in northern California. Terrain in California
is notoriously known as being very steep, but Burton Creek is significantly
flatter, with only mild to moderate climb, particularly in the northeastern
portion of the park which will be utilized for the short course event. Large areas
of the park are very runnable. The park is used as a cross-country ski area in
the winter. Vegetation varies from
meadow-like clearings covered with wildflowers, to pine forest, to brush and
chaparral. The density of rock features varies from sparse to moderate. Some
parts of the terrain have many boulders which vary in size from 0.5 m to 5.0 m,
with 1.0-2.0 m being the most common. The trail system ranges from moderate to
relatively dense in the northeastern part of the park. There are a number of small streams, which are unusually full for
this time in May. There also will be marshy areas and occasional snow patches.
The altitude ranges from about 6800 to 7100 feet. There is no poison oak in the
Lake Tahoe Basin.
Maps
George Kirkov mapped Spooner Lake in
1998, with revisions in 1999. The scale
is 1:10000 with a contour interval of 5 meters for the orange and advanced
courses and 1:7500 for the white and yellow courses. The Forest Service has done some clearing of
trees in an effort to decrease fire hazard, and so the vegetation boundaries
may have changed slightly since the map was made. This map also contains many small rough open
clearings which may be hard to discern in the field. Since the same mapper produced
both Spooner Lake and Burton Creek, one will get a good idea of his mapping
style at Spooner.
The
map scale for Burton Creek is 1:10000 with 5 meter contours. The map is generally quite good. George Kirkov did the original field checking
and cartography in 1999 and 2000 and Zoran Krivokapic did extensive
modifications in 2002. The contours are
very reliable. Most of the rock features
are well mapped. One source of confusion
may be the "boulder fields".
When the boulders became too numerous to be mapped individually, the
small black scalene triangle, the boulder field symbol, is utilized. This symbol appears to be less prominent than
the individual boulder (round black dot) and boulder cluster (relatively large
black equilateral triangle) symbols.
However, when the boulder field symbol is used it means that there are a
lot of boulders in the area, and each boulder is not mapped individually. Only the very large boulders or significant
boulder clusters are mapped in an area where the boulder field symbol is
utilized.
The
large clearings are quite reliable.
However, there are numerous small clearings which may be difficult to
discern, and you should not rely on them for navigation. Many of these have
been eliminated in the last field check and replaced with rough open with
scattered trees. Similarly, individual trees (green X's), small copses (green
O's), the brown X, which represents either a rootstock, a large stump or
standing dead tree, and a brown T or a
brown X with a line extending from it representing a downed tree (the long line
is in the direction of the trunk) are sometimes difficult to discern in the
field. Also, there are many stumps and downed trees that are not mapped.
Therefore, these symbols may not be the most reliable feature to use for
navigation.
There
are new unmapped logging tracks here and there. The park is implementing
a road to trail network and eliminating some roads and trails, but new ones
created by mountain bikers appear frequently.
We will make map corrections for the ones you are likely to encounter,
but don't be surprised if you see a short but obvious unmapped track to a
clearing just off a main logging
road.
Course
Statistics
Note: The distances below include the distance from
the start line to the remote start triangle.
However, this distance may not be included in the course descriptions
printed on the maps.
Saturday, Spooner Lake |
|||
Course |
Length |
Climb |
No. Controls |
White |
2.18 |
95 |
9 |
Yellow |
2.65 |
150 |
8 |
Orange |
4.55 |
160 |
9 |
Brown |
3.98 |
130 |
9 |
Green |
5.0 |
190 |
12 |
Red |
6.15 |
270 |
14 |
Blue |
7.88 |
300 |
19 |
re |
|||
Rec
White |
1.85 |
70 |
8 |
Rec
Yellow |
2.55 |
125 |
8 |
Rec
Orange |
4.65 |
150 |
9 |
Sunday, Burton Creek |
|||
Course |
Length |
Climb |
No. Controls |
White
(A meet & Rec.) |
3.5 |
75 |
13 |
Yellow
(A meet & Rec.) |
3.7 |
70 |
11 |
Orange
(A meet & Rec.) |
4.43 |
85 |
11 |
Brown |
3.63 |
75 |
11 |
Green |
5.1 |
140 |
13 |
Red |
6.7 |
130 |
20 |
Blue |
9.4 |
240 |
24 |
Adventure
Racer |
6.34 |
125 |
15 |
Monday, Short Course, Burton Creek |
|||
Course |
Length |
Climb |
No. Controls |
White |
2.55 |
30 |
11 |
Yellow |
3.45 |
50 |
13 |
Orange |
2.75 |
45 |
11 |
Brown |
2.05 |
45 |
12 |
Green |
2.83 |
60 |
16 |
Red |
3.78 |
55 |
16 |
Blue |
4.7 |
80 |
21 |
Winning Times
On Saturday and Sunday, there will be
classic distance events with the following estimated winning times: 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.
For
Monday, the short course winning times will be 25-30 minutes for the orange and
advanced courses. Yellow and white will
be "classic distance" and the winning times will be those listed in the previous paragraph.
Course
Closure
All A meet competitors will have the
full three hours to complete Saturday's and Sunday's classic distance
courses. Therefore, the courses will
probably close about 2:30 to 3:00 o'clock on those days. However, on Monday, because of the short
course format, the time limit for completion of the course is 90 minutes. Therefore, the courses will probably close
about 12:30-1:00 p.m.
Electronic Punching
SportIdent electronic punching will
be used for all classes on all three days of the A meet. 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 they 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 5 before 4 and punch 5 and
then 4, you must revisit 5 and punch it again.
The unit writes the code number and the time of punch on your finger
stick, and the controls must be taken in sequential order to count.
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
Monday. If you do not return your rental
finger stick, you will be charged $30.00.
Start Locations and Procedure
The start for A-meet competitors for Saturday is about 150 meter walk
and 25 meter climb. Allow about 5-10
minutes to get to the start. The start
for the recreational courses on Saturday is about 350 meter walk and 50 meters
climb up a very steep hill.
The start for Sunday for all courses is about 150 meter walk with no
climb. Allow about 5 minutes to walk to the start.
The start for Monday is about a 150 meter walk with no climb. Allow about 5 minutes to walk to the start.
For A meet competitors, you will be called up 6 minutes before your start
time. Your name will be checked
off. At 4 minutes before your start
time, you will advance to the holding line.
At that point 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, about 50 meters away on
Saturday, and 100 meters away on Sunday and Monday. 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.
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.
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 on the trails. The
safety bearing is east at Spooner Lake to Highway 28 and at Burton Creek south
until you reach a residential area or Highway 28.
Whistles
Whistles must be carried by all
competitors. If you do not have a
whistle, ask for one at registration at no charge.
Awards
Separate awards will be given to the
top 3 finishers in all classes for the combined time 2 day classic distance
event and also for the short event. The
awards ceremony will begin as close to 2:00 pm on Sunday, May 25th, and 12:00 p.m. on Monday, May 26th as possible.
The awards will be ribbons.
Childcare
Childcare will be provided as a
parent cooperative effort. We will provide a childcare coordinator. No formal paid childcare will be available.
Dinner and Potluck
Olivia Graeve is organizing a get
together for dinner on Saturday, May 24th at the Blue Agave - a great Mexican
restaurant in Tahoe City (425 N. Lake Blvd., Tahoe City, CA). It should be a fun evening with orienteering
friends. The restaurant has reserved a table for us. Everyone will pay for
their own meal, drinks, etc... There will be no course reviews, but do bring
your maps so that you can discuss your courses with other sympathetic ears
around the table. As informal as it
sounds, the maitre de wants to know how many people will be showing up, so that
she can organize the waiters appropriately.
If you would like to attend and have not yet signed up, contact Olivia
at oagraevelanset.com or 408-439-4577.
Nancy Lindeman is also
organizing a pot luck dinner at the Sugar Pine Point Campground at 6:00 pm
Sunday evening. Bring your own eating
utensils and a dish to share. If
possible, bring some firewood for the campfire, and any musical instruments you
may have for an orienteering song-fest.
Sugar Pine Point is on the west side of Lake Tahoe, 10 miles south of
Tahoe City on Route 89. See Nancy for
details.
Important Dates and Times
May 24th—Day 1 or classic distance
event at Spooner Lake. Registration
opens 9:00 a.m. First starts at 10:00
a.m. Dinner at Blue Agave Restaurant, 6:00 p.m.
May 25th—Day 2 of classic
distance event at Burton Creek.
Registration opens at 8:30 a.m., first starts at 9:30 a.m. Awards
Ceremony for classic distance event at 2:00 p.m. Potluck dinner at Sugar Pine Point Campground
at 6:00 p.m.
May 26th—Short
Course event at Burton Creek. First
starts at 9:30 a.m. Awards ceremony at 12:00 noon.
Parking
On
Saturday, free parking is available at the Nevada Highway Department lot just
north of the intersection of US 50 and Route 28. Please follow the instructions of the parking
crew so that all of the cars can be parked in the lot. On Sunday and Monday, there is free parking
in the North Tahoe High School parking lot.
In addition, you may park on the streets near the school.
Directions
To Spooner Lake:
>From
the Bay Area, take I-80 east to Truckee.
In Truckee, take Route 267 south towards Kings Beach. At the T-intersection, turn left onto route
28 east. Go for another 18 miles past
the main entrance to the Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park at Spooner Lake. Go about another 500 meters and turn right
into the parking lot on the west (right hand) side of the highway, just before
the intersection with US-50.
Alternative
route from the Bay Area: Take I-80 east
towards Sacramento, then US 50 east towards South Lake Tahoe. Continue on US 50 through South Lake Tahoe,
and about 14 miles later, turn left onto Route 28 North. Make the first left into the parking lot.
From
Reno: Take US 395 south to Carson City,
and then U.S. 50 west towards South Lake Tahoe up Spooner Summit. After crossing the summit, turn right onto
Route 28 north towards Incline Village.
Make the first left into the parking lot.
To
Burton Creek:
From
the Bay Area: From I-80, turn south on
Route 89 towards Tahoe City. In Tahoe City,
at the Y-intersection, continue straight on Route 28, also known as North Lake
Boulevard. Go about 2 miles towards Dollar Point, turn left onto Fabian Way
(there is a 7-11 on the south side of the highway), then an immediate right
onto Village Road. Turn left at the 3rd intersection onto Polaris Drive, and go
to the end of the street and follow signs for parking at the North Tahoe High
School.
From Reno: Take
I-80 west to Truckee. Go south on Route
267 until you come to the T intersection with Route 28 in King's Beach. Turn right and go west until you come to
Dollar Point, then turn right onto Fabian Way and then an immediate right onto
Village Road. Turn left at the 3rd intersection onto Polaris Drive, and go to
the end of the street and follow signs for parking at the North Tahoe High
School.
Event
Officials
Event Director--Evan Custer,
1-925-254-5628, evancusterattbi.com
Course Setter--Saturday classic distance courses at Spooner Lake, Thorsten
Graeve
Course Setter--Sunday classic distance courses and Monday short courses at
Burton Creek, Dan Stoll-Hadayia.
Vetters--Bob Cooley, Thorsten Graeve
Mapping Director--Bob Cooley
Registrar--Steve Beuerman
Recreational Registration--Ev and Jean Beuerman
Start Crew Chief--George Minarik
Finish Crew Chief--Dan Greene
EP Crew Chief--Jeff Lanam
Signage and equipment--Mark Blair
First Aid--Joan Roos
Construction and Set-up--Matthias Kohler and Bill Pappendick
Search and Rescue--Bill Straka
Control Pickup Crew Chief--Peter Graube
Social--Olivia Graeve
Webmaster--Ben Wahlstrand
Parking--Rick and Dayle Lavine
Start Time Assignments--Marsha Jacobs
Publicity--Lucy duPertuis, Dan Stoll, Nancy Lindeman
Camping Coordinator--Nancy Lindeman
Flyer--Tony Pinkham