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Janet punches the finish with the help of twin daughters Katie and Sarah; Morgan Territory A-meet, October 2001 (Photo: Judy Koehler)

Monte Bello/Skyline
2004 BAOC Club Championships
Course Setter's Notes

Date: Sunday Nov 14, 2004
Location: Monte Bello & Skyline Open Space Preserves, West of Palo Alto, CA
Course Setter: - 408.524.2723
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Introduction

The Monte Bello and Skyline Open Space Preserves (OSP) sit on a ridge straddling Skyline Blvd. The area can be hot in the summer, so mid-November is an excellent time to visit. The recent rains have loosened up the ground a bit, and have made for enjoyable running.

Course Notes

The standard 7 courses will be offered. 

             Controls  Len(km)  Climb(m)  Navigation     Terrain
    White:   13        1.9      75        Beg            Trails
    Yellow:  12        2.5      125       Adv Beg        Trails/Grassy
    Orange:  13        3.3      220       Intermediate   Off Trail
    Brown:   9         2.8      190       Adv/Short      "
    Green:   12        3.6      230       Adv/Med        "
    Red:     17        4.7      355       Adv/Long       "
    Blue:    20        5.5      430       Adv/Longest    "

I anticipate White/Yellow will be printed at 1:7500/5m contour, and the rest at 1:10000/5m contour.

As of late-October, for all courses except white, the grass was still high and has star-thistle and stickers. I suggest gaiters and/or long pants. Duct tape works well for keeping stickers out of shoes, but be aware that tape residue may stick to socks or shoes.

The courses will be open by 10 am, last start at 12:30 pm. Courses close at 2:00 pm. Remember to check in at the finish line regardless of whether you finish your course.

Folks gather at 1997 Shoreline Egg-O

Out-Of-Bounds Areas

There are a number of areas which the rangers have asked we avoid. Some areas are undergoing restoration, others contain critters whose habitat is threatened. These areas are all mapped with red or black vertical lines, and the course design tries to keep you from venturing there. Please ask one of the meet officials if you don't know what an out-of-bounds area look like. Again, please do not enter these areas.

White Course

This course is perfect for first-timers or those with young children. Although the course is on trails, it can be sandy/rocky in spots and lightweight baby strollers might not be a wise choice.

The safety bearing is North to Skyline Blvd.

Yellow Course

The course starts easy to build confidence, but the controls get a bit more difficult as you proceed. This will be good training for preparing a move up to orange.

One leg passes through a restoration area. You may use the trail, but please do not go off-trail in the area marked as out-of-bounds (red or black parallel vertical lines).

The safety bearing is North to Skyline Blvd.

Sean Cody finishing the Bear Valley Ski-O in 2001
Intermediate/Advanced Courses

If you've ever been to Monte Bello, you know that the terrain can be hilly and quite varied. The small sections of nice runnable forest are literally scattered throughout the park. I've tried to hit several of these, while staying out of the monster reentrants. There is a fair amount of climb, but hopefully none that would be considered "gratuitous."

The map is pretty decent in the areas you'll be exploring, but the reentrants/streams can be steeper than they appear. Watch for cliffs at the edges of streams, as they can be deeply eroded without being marked.

All of these courses have a remote start, which is 1.5 miles (5 minutes) by road. Please catch one of the event-supplied shuttles, as there is no room for parking near the start. Since Skyline Blvd is a busy, curvy mountain road, we must insist you do not walk to the start. There are no restroom facilities at the start, so plan accordingly.

All intermediate and advanced courses will use E-punch. If you do not have an E-punch stick, rentals will be available at registration. Be sure to obtain one before leaving registration as none will be available at the start.

There was a small amount of poison oak present. It's late in the year, so you may see both the traditional red leaf and the less obvious twig variety. You may want to consider using a poison oak prophylaxis such as Technu if you are highly susceptible. I did notice a tick, so you should check yourself following the meet.

There is barbed wire in spots, I've streamered all I could find on the logical routes.

As mentioned earlier, the ground has been loosened a bit by the rain, so cleats are recommended.

The finishes are approximately 500 meters from the parking/registration area. Returning to the parking area requires crossing Skyline Blvd. We will make every effort to help your crossing, but please use caution as this road is heavily traveled on weekends.

The safety bearing is West to Page Mill Road.

A couple notes about the map and control descriptions.

  1. I used the IOF Control Descriptions dated 30 June 2003. A circle surrounded by an X (4.10) represents either a stump or root stock (with or without the trunk).
  2. 2. On the map, a green X is a stump. A brown X is a root stock.

There are two sections of private lands and 3 ponds which are out-of-bounds. Please keep 30 meters from all ponds.

Chris Taylor explains his route choices on the Red course to A-meet director Scott Aster; Morgan Territory, October 2001 (Photo: Judy Koehler)

Post-Run

If you haven't seen it yet, Tapio Karras has installed a new very cool tool called RouteGadget which allows people to compare races. RouteGadget not only shows routes, but linked with the e-punch results and the map, you can replay the race graphically, even simulating a mass start. You will actually see little squares run across the map. I found this tool to be extremely valuable, even learning things from events I couldn't attend. I'm really looking forward to seeing what routes people took on certain legs.

Please consider entering in your route as soon as the Monte Bello event is available.

Any Questions?

Please don't hesitate to ask.

Brad Wetmore
Course Setter