Tahoe 2-Day "A" Meet at Spooner Lake State Park
Date: Jun. 24 - 25, 2006
Location: Between Incline Village, NV and South Lake Tahoe, CA
Event Directors: 
- 510.779.8808, - 510.681.6181
Course Setters: Thorsten Graeve, Dan Stoll-Hadayia
Type: A; 2 Days of Orienteering in the South Lake Tahoe Area
Related Information Start Times (pdf) Event Director's Notes Event Director's Notes (doc file) 2004 Event Results (http://baoc.org/results/r04/r040605.php)
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The Bay Area Orienteering Club invites you to the Lake Tahoe basin for two days of wonderful late-spring orienteering. This will be a "barebones" event, which means no T-shirt, no formal Saturday evening dinner, no model event, child care performed on a cooperative basis by the parents, no offical event motel, and modest awards. However, the event will live up to the traditional BAOC standards of interesting and challenging courses on good maps, in good terrain, with excellent event organization.
In addition to the competitive A-Meet courses, there will be Recreational courses for those who don't want to compete — including people who have never tried orienteering before. More information about these courses is provided throughout the material below.
Here's a link to a printable flyer (http://baoc.org/pdfs/2006_Tahoe_Two-Day_A-Meet.pdf) for the event, as well as start times (pdf file), and event director's notes (http://baoc.org/sched/s06/2006_Tahoe_2-Day_Event_Directors_Notes.html).
Terrain and Maps
Saturday's middle-distance event will be held on Forest Service land across the highway from Spooner Lake State Park, site of day 1 of the 1999 US Championships (and other events since then). Note: This is a change from previous information, which announced the event would be at Fallen Leaf Lake [29-May-2006].
Sunday's classic-distance event will be held at Spooner Lake State Park, site of day 2 of the 1999 US Championships. The northern part of the map (where the lake is) will be used. You will encounter more climb at Spooner, but the forest will be just as runnable. The map features areas of highly complex rock detail, which will present interesting navigational challenges. The map was field-checked and drafted by George Kirkov in 1998.
For all courses on both days, the map scale will be 1:10000 with 5-meter contours.
You may order the Spooner Lake map from the event registrar for $3 per map.
Climate and Hazards
The weather in late June will most likely be sunny, with chilly nights warming up quickly when the sun rises. Although weather in the Sierras can be unpredictable, and you should be prepared for anything, expect glorious warm weather, with no rain, and with afternoon highs in the 70s.
The biggest hazard at this event is likely to be the altitude. You will be competing at 6200 to 7000 feet. There was at least one case of altitude sickness at the 2003 U.S. Championships at Fallen Leaf Lake. The best strategy to cope with altitude is to stay hydrated. There is no poison oak, no rattlesnakes, and no ticks with Lyme disease. There are bears, but they are unlikely to be aggressive.
Whistles must be carried by all participants, both competitive and recreational. If you don't have a whistle, ask for one (they're free!) at registration.
Courses and Awards
This will not be a combined-total-time event. Awards will be presented at the end of each day. The standard 7 courses and 43 USOF classes will be offered on both days, along with recreational courses (see below). The estimated winning times on both days will follow USOF guidelines for middle-distance courses (on Saturday) and classic-length courses (on Sunday). The table below gives expected winning times on Sunday. The expected winning times on Saturday will be 15-30 minutes for all courses.
All standard USOF A-meet classes will be offered. Please refer to the table below (M = Male, F = Female, Gr = Group).
COURSE: WHITE YELLOW ORANGE BROWN GREEN RED BLUE
Level: Beginner Adv. Beginner Intermediate Advanced Advanced Advanced Advanced
Expected
winning
time
(Sunday): 25-30 min 35-40 min 50-55 min 45-50 min 50-55 min 60-65 min 75-80 min
Classes: F-10- F-14- F-16- F-18- F-20- F-21E M-21E
F-12- M-14- M-16- F-55+ F-35+ M-20-
M-10- F-Yellow F-Orange F-60+ F-40+ M-35+
M-12- M-Yellow M-Orange F-65+ F-45+ M-40+
MF-White Gr-Yellow Gr-Orange F-70+ F-50+ M-45+
Gr-White M-65+ M-18- M-Red
M-70+ M-50+
F-Brown M-55+
M-Brown M-60+
F-Green
M-Green
F21E and M21E are the open elite categories for women and men. They are open to competitors of any age. Categories with "+" are A-meet categories open to competitors of that age or greater (for example, "F-50+" is open to women of 50 years or older). Categories with "-" are A-meet categories open to competitors of that age or less (for example, "M-10-" is open to boys of 10 years or less). Categories with a course color (e.g., "M-Green") are open categories for any competitor, regardless of age. (Age is defined as the person's age as of December 31, 2006.)
In addition to the competitive courses, recreational White, Yellow, and Orange courses will be offered both days for non-competitive individuals, families, and groups.
Electronic Punching
SPORTident electronic punching will be used for all A-meet courses, including recreational. If you do not own an SI card, you may rent one for $3.00 per day. Please indicate on your entry form the number on your SI card (if you own one), or whether you need to rent one.
Trail-O Championship Event
The 2006 United States National Trail Orienteering Championships will be held on Saturday, June 24th. The start time, location, course closing time, etc. will be available at the Event Package Pickup location.
One course will be used for both the Paralympic and Open Classes (any ability). Participants will indicate their class designation on their Control Cards. The regular punching system will be used for this event.
Entrance fees may be paid in conjunction with other fees at Registration, or at the Trail-O Check-In Desk on the day of the event.
The courses will be set by Karen Dennis and David Irving, which means that great attention to detail will be taken, and the courses will be worthy of a championship event. You will be able to take part in the Trail-O in the mid to late afternoon, after competing in the middle-distance race earlier in the day.
Entry Fees
A-Meet Courses
Postmarked by May 27, 2006: Adult $24.00/day, Junior $12.00/day
Postmarked by June 10, 2006: Adult $30.00/day, Junior $18.00/day
Day-of-event entry: Adult $35.00/day, Junior $23.00/day
Trail-O Event: Adult $10.00, Junior $5.00
Adult members of USOF or another national federation belonging to IOF receive a $3.00 per day discount on A-Meet entry fees. Juniors (18 or younger) who are members of USOF receive a $1.50 per day discount on A-Meet entry fees.
Other fees:
SI Card rental: $ 3.00/day Loss of rental SI Card: $65.00 Compass rental: $ 1.00/day Loss of rental compass: $15.00 Map of Spooner Lake: $ 3.00 per map
Complete a standard USOF entry form (http://www.us.orienteering.org/Forms/standard.pdf), enclose a check payable to BAOC, and mail to:
Steve Beuerman 963F La Mesa Terrace Sunnyvale, CA 94086
If you prefer, online registration (https://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1315634) is also available via active.com.
Entry Fees for Recreational Orienteers
No preregistration is necessary — just show up and register at the event. Standard BAOC event fees apply: The White and Yellow courses cost $6.00 for the first person in a group, and $3.00 for each additional person. The Orange course costs $10.00 (BAOC member) or $15.00 (not a BAOC member) for the first person in a group, and $5.00 for each additional person. Juniors (18 and under) are about half price ($3, $2, $5, $5, and $3, respectively).
Lodging and Camping
Nancy Lindeman is making arrangements for group camping at Fallen Leaf Lake, which is not far from Spooner Lake State Park. If you are interested, send her , or make your own individual camping reservations at www.reserveusa.com.
For additional South Shore lodging information, call 1-800-AT-TAHOE, or go to www.tahoe.com. WARNING: June 24-25 is a peak vacation weekend in the Tahoe basin. Reserve early, as inexpensive lodging, in particular, will fill quickly!
The reservation supervisor at the packet-pickup motel (see below) says they still have (as of May 31) a few rooms available for the event weekend, so if you are still looking for lodging at the event, you might give them a call at 800-822-5953.
Directions and Schedule
To Friday night registration packet pickup:
Registration and packet pickup will be open Friday evening, June 24, from 7 PM to 10 PM (we might open earlier if we can), at the Best Western Station House Inn, 901 Park Ave, South Lake Tahoe.
To get to the motel from the Bay Area, head east on Highway 50 (Lake Tahoe Boulevard) through South Lake Tahoe. Four blocks before you reach the California/Nevada border, turn left on Park Avenue. The motel will be on your left. Here's a link to a map (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=901+Park+Avenue&city=South+Lake+Tahoe&state=CA&zipcode=96150).
To Spooner Lake on Saturday and Sunday:
Registration will be open Saturday, June 24, from 9 AM to noon, and Sunday, June 25, from 8 AM to noon. Parking will be at the Nevada Highway Department lot just north of the intersection of US 50 and Route 28. From South Lake Tahoe, go north on US 50. After about 14 miles, turn left onto Route 28. Make the first left into the parking lot. From Truckee, take Route 267 south to Kings Beach. Turn left onto Route 28 east. After about 18 miles you will see the entrance to Spooner Lake State Park on your left. The parking lot comes up shortly after that, on your right, before the intersection with US 50. Follow streamers from the parking lot to the registration area in the park, on the north side of Route 28.
Event Officials
Event Director: Steve Gregg 510-531-6697 steve.gregg@baoc.org
Assistant Event Director: Rex Winterbottom 510-681-6181
Course Setters: Thorsten Graeve (Saturday)
Dan Stoll-Hadayia (Sunday)
Mapping Director: Bob Cooley
Registrar: Steve Beuerman AMeetRegistrar@baoc.org
963F La Mesa Terrace
Sunnyvale, CA 94086