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
Related Event Information
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 |
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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:
- Registration (preregistration and event-day registration—we hope to pre-register nearly everyone, but we still need someone on hand to register those who didn't preregister)
- E-punch
- Championship Results (awards and tracking)
- Publicity
- Equipment (equipment to each event, directional signage, etc.)
- Starts
- Control Pick-up
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:
- Preregistration course fees are as follows (except for the White course):
- $5 for Junior club members
- $10 for Adult club members
- Non-members (all ages) pay $5 more per race
- Day-of-event course fees are $2 higher after January 24th
- White course fees are as follows (discounted for beginners; day-of-event registration only)
- $3 for juniors (same for members and non-members)
- $6 for adults (same for members and non-members)
- Groups have the standard fees listed above for their oldest member, plus $2 extra for each additional member (Extra group members register on the day-of-event, or can preregister individually at the full price with a rebate given at the event—See Tony Pinkham if you have questions about this.)
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:
- For international competition (WREs, World Cup, or World Championship), IOF rules apply. For U.S. championships, OUSA rules apply. For North American Championships, OUSA and COF rules apply. Otherwise, use the following rules for the Sierra Ski-O Championships.
- For a point-to-point event, we divide your time by the winner's time and multiply by 100.
- For a Score-O event, we divide the number of controls found by you (less one control) by the number of controls found by the winner and then give you a percentage of your last control based on the winner's time divided by your time.
- If you volunteer all day as a course setter or event director, we apply your top competitive score to that day (volunteer a second day and we apply your second best competitive score for the second day). At the event director's or event coordinator's discretion, other all-day volunteers providing vital functions can qualify for this credit (it is not given if you are just taking a rest day).
- If you miss a day of competition, we take your average competitive score and multiply that by 0.9 for that day. This enables people who have to work during the mid week to remain in the competition, but gives a slight advantage to competitors who compete every day.
- You get only one score per day and it is given for the first course that you ski (not counting a course that you ski to shadow a small child on only the White course). For any other exceptions, see the event director or the ski-O event coordinator (Tony Pinkham).
- You can do different classes on different days, but that might not work in your overall favor. If you compete in multiple classes and have volunteer or absence credits, the event coordinator will assign your credits to your gender/age class or other class that you specify (or at the event coordinator's discretion if you do not specify anything).
- You cannot have more volunteer or absence credits than competitive credits (maximum of 3 credits allowed for 7 competitive events).
- In order to place and get a medal for a class, you must complete at least one course for that class.
- To complete a course, you must have your ski or snowshoe equipment with you at all times. You may take skis off for steep hills or bare ground (or other reasons), but you must always have your equipment with you at all times. You may have replacement equipment or clothing and refreshments at the Start, Finish, or other location designated by the course setter. You may also repair equipment while you are on the course so long as you do not confer with anyone about your course. (You may return to your repair station to fix something yourself, but you cannot talk with others about your course. We recommend that you tell others that you cannot talk with them at that time.)
- If there is a tie in the championship, we compare the last common day for the competitors to break the tie. If they do not have a common competition day, we compare each person's last score or last two scores. The winner of a two-person tie gets a trivial additional score (typically 0.1 points to differentiate their scores without changing any other placings).
- If you quit your course to perform an emergency function (to help an injured skier), you can be given a sporting withdrawal by the event director or event coordinator. For minor emergencies, you will be given an absence credit. For major emergencies, you can be given a volunteer credit (this rarely happens).
- For championship points, volunteer credits are counted before absence credits. For example, if you compete in three events, have two volunteer credits, and are absent two days, then you get three competitive scores, two volunteer credits, and one absence credit.
- If you do not finish for a technical reason (didn't get to all the controls, minor overtime, mispunch, equipment failure), you will get points equal to 5 points less than the lowest competitive score (30 points maximum) for the day on your course. Overtime occurs for anyone not finishing their course by 2:30 PM. The event director may waive this designation for people finishing within a few minutes of 2:30, but this should not be assumed to be the case by competitors—finish by 2:30 or risk an overtime, or if way overtime, risk a no score—do not upset the volunteers by staying out too late.
- If you break the embargo, the event director or event coordinator can change your status to "Did Not Finish" (DNF—typically for unintended and minor offense) or disqualification (DSQ—typically for an intended or major offense) as they see appropriate. An absence credit cannot be used for an embargo offense.
- If you are disqualified for cheating, for being disruptive to the event or ski facility, for unsportsmanship, or for knowingly being way overtime when you could have returned to the Finish before the closing time (2:30 PM), you can receive 0 points for the day at the discretion of the event director or event coordinator. This rule is to encourage everyone to be cooperative with the organizers, volunteers, and other competitors. If the offense is disruptive in a major way, the event coordinator can opt to remove the competitor from the championship.
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
- BAOC cabin—we have over 8 openings going for $30 a night, or less if we get enough people
- For cabins, contact a Truckee real estate company for rentals
- Other places to consider include the following:
- Norden or Soda Springs for relatively inexpensive cabins
- Tahoe City for motels and cabins
- Kings Beach for motels and cabins
- Reno for very inexpensive hotels (but a long drive)
For Bear Valley, consider calling one of the following:1
- For hotel rooms, the Bear Valley Lodge
- For cabins or condos at Bear Valley, see Bear Valley Real Estate
- For cabins or condos in Arnold, find any local real estate company
- For hotels in Arnold, search for "Arnold hotels"
- Other towns along Highway 4 also have motels and hotels
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.