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Tilden Regional Park

Date: (Sun.) Jan. 11, 2015
Location: Berkeley, CA
Event Director: - 510.525.1574
Course Setters: Graham Brew, Christine Brew
Type: B; Standard 7-course event for beginners through advanced

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


Late Update (Thurs., Jan. 8)

We have quite a day set up for you at Tilden this Sunday. Time to brush the cobwebs off those compasses and partake in some real Bay Area Orienteering. The weather prognosticators are calling for clear and cool weather. On the ground, the conditions are ideal with soft hillsides, firm trails, and no budding of the PO.

We still need a volunteer or two to give beginner’s clinics between 9:30 and 10:30. Even if you haven’t given one before we can help you through it. Please help us out.


The hills of Tilden are a brilliant green and soon to be sprinkled with those orange and white markers. This scene awaits you at BAOC's first event of the year, which will feature the standard seven courses from beginner to advanced. Graham & Christine Brew have meticulously designed the courses. Their forthcoming course notes will supply more information regarding the courses.

What is Orienteering?

An adventure! Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! Navigate to checkpoints in Tilden Park using a specially-produced map. Participants may enter individually or in teams of up to five people.

Schedule

Here's the event schedule:

  9:00 AM to noon – Registration open
  9:30 to 10:30 – Beginner's clinics/instruction (free)
10:00 to 12:30 – Starts open
  2:00 PM – Courses close, checkpoint control pick-up begins

Note that you can register and start on courses any time between the open and close times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" at 9:00 (but you can if you want).

Beginner's clinics are short, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner (White) course.

Please check in at the Finish by 2:00 PM even if you don't complete your course, thank you, so we can have everyone accounted for and start checkpoint pick-up on time so those volunteers can get home.

After you finish, enjoy snacks and refreshments, and socialize with other participants!

Courses

Here are the final details of the courses:

                                         Navigational  Physical  
    Course   Distance   Climb  Controls  Difficulty    Difficulty
    White     1.7 km     55 m     11     Easy          Easy  
    Yellow    1.9 km     85 m     13     Easy          Easy
    Orange    3.6 km    155 m     14     Moderate      Moderate
    Brown     3.4 km    135 m     14     Hard          Harder
    Green     4.7 km    205 m     19     Hard          Harder
    Red       6.2 km    495 m     21     Hard          Hard
    Blue      7.1 km    610 m     27     Hard          Hard

The White course is for beginner's and young children. It's a great warmup if you're trying orienteering for the first time. You get to see the map before the start and experience how everything works.

The Yellow course is considered an advanced beginner's course. It's suitable for somebody with some orienteering experience, or who is comfortable reading topographic maps.

The intermediate (Orange) and advanced (BrownBlue) courses are for more experienced participants. Those courses explore the forests, meadows, hilltops, and valleys for a fun, challenging navigation experience.

Be sure to read the Course Setters' Notes for more information.

What to Bring

For beginners' courses, comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

For intermediate and advanced courses, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well shoes with some extra grip on the sole.

A compass is not necessary, but can be helpful. We have compasses available for a $1 rental fee.

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so a SPORTident fingerstick rents for $3. (Use of the "E-punch" system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Venue Facilities

There are restrooms and water available, and (free) light refreshments will be served.

Parking will be in the Lake Anza Parking lot. This lot will be reserved for orienteers only and will close at 4:00 PM. The Park Manager does not want non-orienteers to park in the lot. Thus, we must supply monitors at the entrance. Please step up and volunteer for a 45-minute shift!

Hazards

For participants on the intermediate and advanced courses, the park has some poison oak which you will want to avoid. It looks like this. Washing clothes and shoes and bathing exposed areas with dishwashing soap (which removes the irritant oil) or a commercial product such as Tecnu is recommended.

Costs

  $3 for juniors on beginner's and advanced beginner's courses
  $6 for beginner's and advanced beginner's courses (members & non-members)
  $5 for juniors on intermediate and advanced courses  
$10 member price for intermediate and advanced courses
$15 non-member price for intermediate and advanced courses
$15 for the lowest-cost individual 1-year BAOC membership (optional) 
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)
  $3 for an electronic fingerstick rental (if you don't own one, you'll need it to complete the course.)

For extra people on a team, add $3 per person on beginner’s courses or $5 per person for intermediate and advanced courses.

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ.

Location Within the Park

Registration will be at Lake Anza. There's a map here that shows the location.

Request for Volunteers

This event, like other BAOC events, do not happen without many volunteers. Please shoot an email or a call or text to 510-229-2185 informing me of what job you can help with. Here is a list of the helpers needed:

Driving Directions

Note:

You can use this Google map (https://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=Lake+Anza+Rd,+Berkeley,+CA+94708&hl=en&sll=37.897665,-122.254121&sspn=0.006341,0.013068&geocode=CcC-lckPzNKFFb9FQgId3Iy2-CkphdAKCHyFgDEP_AK5PLtN0Q&mra=mift&t=m&z=17) to obtain directions from your house to Lake Anza Road, which terminates at the event parking lot.

Also, there's a map here that shows the location of the event.

From San Jose, Oakland, & San Francisco:

From the East:

From the North:

Please Carpool

There is limited parking capacity at Lake Anza. Please consider car-pooling. The BayONet list can be used to identify potential car-pools in your area.

Public Transit

AC Transit bus #67 is a very convenient way to get to and from Lake Anza. Catch the bus a half-block from the Downtown Berkeley BART station; buses leave at 8:45 AM, 9:30 AM, and 10:15 AM. The trip takes just under 20 minutes. Coming to Tilden Park, tell the driver you want the next-to-last stop. From the stop, find Selby Trail just downhill from you and take the trail downhill for about 300 m to the grassy area by the lake. Registration is there.

For the return trip, catch the bus at the same stop going in the same direction; it loops and returns to Downtown Berkeley BART.