2013 Sierra Ski-O Tour and WRE
2013 Sierra Ski-O Tour and WRE

2014 Sierra Ski-Orienteering Tour

Date: Feb. 1 - 9, 2014 CANCELED
Location: Lake Tahoe/Truckee and Bear Valley areas
Event Director: - 650.793.8764
Type: Ski-O; Several Ski-O events over nine days

Please note that fees and time limits apply. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.
Table of contents


January 25 Update

Regretfully, we've had to also cancel the Bear Valley events due to a lack of snow on the ground and in the long-range forecast. That means that, for the time being, the 2014 Sierra Ski-O Tour is cancelled. Some of the course setters remain committed to salvaging our ski-O events so they are watching the forecasts and they continue their snow dances each day. Hopefully, there will be some snow soon and maybe we can schedule a few events later in the season. Stay tuned.
For those who preregistered, we will be sending full refunds. Thank you for your early registering. As soon as we have a schedule set up for 2015, we will repurpose the registration web site for that event.
Don't forget that the U.S. Ski-O Championships will be happening in March in Vermont. They've got lots of snow (probably all of our snow!) and lots of great people to compete against. I highly recommend making plans to attend their events. Go here (https://orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/index.php) to preregister.
Tony

January 15 Update

We have canceled the events planned in the Lake Tahoe area (February 1 to 6), but are still hopeful that we can do our events at Bear Valley (February 8 and 9). The Truckee area has little or now snow on the ground nor in the forecast, three of five venues are closed until there is more snow, and we have run out of the needed time to let a storm drop the needed snow and make courses. Our apologies to everyone, but we remain hopeful for our Bear Valley events (we'll decide about those events on or about January 24). Of course, we will refund any registration monies sent to us for cancelled events.
Tony


Online registration (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a31/register/?event_id=72) is open through January 24, 2014. Register early for discounts. If you are not a member of an orienteering club, join BAOC or GCO (http://www.goldcountryorienteers.org/membership.html) now to save more money. Members can save more than enough on event fees to pay for their annual memberships.

Schedule

The tentative 2014 Sierra Ski-Orienteering Tour schedule is as follows (there will likely be changes to the order of events):

Date Day Venue Format
 February 1  Saturday Stage 1 at Royal Gorge Point-to-point
February 2 Sunday Stage 2 at Tahoe XC Point-to-point
February 3 Monday Stage 3 at Tahoe Donner XC Point-to-point
February 4 Tuesday Rest day
February 5  Wednesday  Stage 4 at Northstar-at-Tahoe XC Point-to-point
February 6 Thursday Stage 5 at Auburn Ski Club Sprints
February 7 Friday Rest day
February 8 Saturday Stage 6 at Bear Valley Cross Country  Point-to-point 
February 9 Sunday  Stage 7 at Bear Valley Cross Country  Point-to-point

Start Times

All events have first-come-first-serve starts (no pre-assigned starts). Just show up when you are able, and start between 10:00 AM and 12:30 PM. Occasionally, we can even start some people before 10:00 AM if everything is ready.

Volunteers

Can you help plan or run the 2014 Tour? We need people (often multiple people) to handle each of the following tasks:

If you can help, please contact .

To see who has already volunteered, go to the 2014 Sierra Ski-O Volunteers (http://baoc.org/wiki/Schedule/2014/Ski-O_Tour/Volunteers) page.

Registration

Preregistration is recommended for discounts and it helps us plan our map printing (and find volunteers). Please preregister here (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a31/register/?event_id=72) if you can​—​it really helps event planning.

Preregistration closes January 24th at 11 PM Pacific time. After January 24th, you may register only at the event. Registration isn't complete until fees have been received. Fees must be received by January 28th at 5 PM PST.

White course registration is available only on the day of the event (no discounts for preregistering​—​the White course is already discounted at all times for beginners).

You can see who has preregistered at this site (https://www.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/a31/reglist/?event_id=72).

Prices and Fees

For each event, there are two prices. There is an orienteering fee (cheaper for club members) and, if you need a trail pass, there is a discounted trail pass fee for our competitors and for people who shadow underage competitors. Everybody who skis or snowshoes on the snow needs a trail pass, but some people have annual passes or special multi-day passes that they buy separately. If you don't already have a trail pass, get one through us​—​it is often cheaper with our preregistration than buying it on the day of the event.

Members of any orienteering club receive a $5 discount per race. Information on joining BAOC is posted here.

Orienteering event fees (not trail pass fees) are as follows:

Embargoed Areas

We embargo the course areas the day before the event so that competitors do not have a chance to see the courses before competing on them. We typically have an area off to the side that you can train in at the venue. Talk to us if you are skiing there the day before the event.

Sierra Ski-O Championships

Everyone who completes a course for their gender/age class is automatically included in the Sierra Ski-O Championships. Your total championship score is the sum of all your scores for the week. Points are given as follows:

If you have the best finish time on a point-to-point course, you get 100 points. If someone else finishes a couple of seconds slower than you, he or she might get 99.5 points, but if that person takes twice as long as you, he or she gets only 50 points.

Minimal points are awarded to competitors who do not complete their courses for reasons of not finding controls, mispunching, minor or unavoidable overtime, or equipment failure. This rewards competitors for at least attempting to do a course with good sportsmanship, but places them in last place for not completing the course. The only way that you get 0 points is if you purposely have a negative impact on the sport.

Training Areas

You can train at any cross country resort that we have already finished a competition at. If a competition has yet to happen at a resort, you are restricted to using the area specified by the embargo rules for that facility (see that event page). Other places that you can ski at that offer groomed trails include Spooner Lake and the Van Norden Lakes area of Royal Gorge.

Transportation

Typically, the most convenient and fastest way to the ski resort is by car. Because winter conditions can make driving dangerous, you must carry chains or have all-wheel drive. If you have all-wheel drive, be warned that chains are sometimes required in addition to all-wheel drive in severe storms. Do not consider driving a car if you do not have all-wheel drive or chains​—​this is for your safety and for the safety of everyone else on the road.

Other forms of transportation to the Tahoe area include trains and buses. The Amtrak Zepher train leaves Emeryville in the Bay Area once a day and stops possibly in Truckee and definitely in Reno. There are a couple of Amtrak buses that leave from Sacramento to Truckee each day.

If you are flying to this area, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose Airports handle North American and some international traffic. Sacramento and Reno airports handle more local traffic but are closer to the events.

Lodging

For Lake Tahoe/Truckee, consider the following:1

For Bear Valley, consider calling one of the following:1

Google Map

Map Legend

San Francisco Airport (SFO)
Oakland Airport (OAK)
Sacramento Airport (SMF)
Reno Airport (RNO)
Sat., Feb. 1, Royal Gorge Cross Country
Sun., Feb. 2, Tahoe Cross Country
Mon., Feb. 3, Tahoe Donner Cross Country
Wed., Feb. 5, Northstar-At-Tahoe Cross Country
Thurs., Feb. 6, Auburn Ski Club
Sat.–Sun., Feb. 8–9, Bear Valley Cross Country

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1 Orienteering USA has discount programs with Hertz Rent-a-Car (http://link.hertz.com/link.html?id=25721&LinkType=HZLK&TargetType=Offers_overview) (CDP 1916601) and Choice Hotels (http://choicesportstravel.com/%C2%A0) (CP 00228560). Anyone (members and non-members) can use these discounts at any time, for any travel whatsoever​—​for orienteering and non-orienteering personal use, and on business. Choice Hotels include these chains: Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, Econo Lodge, and Rodeway Inn. (In addition to the discount you receive, there's a benefit to Orienteering USA.) The previous Motel 6 discount program is no longer in effect.