Table of contents
1 Location in the Park
2 What is Orienteering?
3 Schedule
4 Costs
5 Venue Facilities
6 What to Bring
7 Courses
8 Request for Volunteers
9 Directions to the Event

Shell Ridge Open Space

Date: (Sun.) Mar. 29, 2020 CANCELED
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
Event Director:
Course Setter: Martin Kunz
Type: B; Standard 7-course event for beginners through advanced

Related Event Information

2019 Shell Ridge Golden Goat 2018 Shell Ridge Event Attackpoint Event Page (http://www.attackpoint.org/eventdetail.jsp/event_48927)

Photo gallery image (click to enlarge)

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


This event has been canceled

Due to the Coronavirus, the park has canceled all events through March and April. Thus, the Shell Ridge orienteering event is canceled.
We intend to reschedule the event in the future.
Please stay healthy. We'll see you all after this epidemic.
– Siargey Pisarchyk, Event Director (March 14, 2020)


Invitation for Vetting

Anybody out there who can't run at the Shell Ridge event, but would be interested in helping vet the courses and possibly help setting controls on Saturday the 28th?
I have the courses ready on Condes, and would welcome comments. I plan to streamer them next weekend, so they could be field-vetted starting Monday, March 16.

(March 8, 2020)


Location in the Park

Note: The event will be at the west side of the park, far from the locations we have used in recent years.

Parking will be at Walnut Heights Elementary School (4064 Walnut Blvd, Walnut Creek, CA). The assembly area will be about a 600-meter walk from the parking lot. (See the directions below for details.)

Note: This is not the same place we used last year, and there is no parking at the assembly area.

Information about Shell Ridge Open Space is available here (https://www.walnut-creek.org/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/10/664).

What is Orienteering?

An adventure! Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! You can explore a course by yourself or go as a team with your friends. You will get a highly detailed orienteering map, probably unlike any map you have seen before. The map will have a lot of detail on it, such as fences, boulders, lone trees, vegetation boundaries, and anything else you might see. Your course will be printed on the map.

Orienteering is easy to learn, a challenge to master, and incredibly fun! You can read more about orienteering here.

Schedule

  9:00 AM – 11:59 AM: Registration open
  9:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Beginners’ clinic instruction (free)
  9:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts are open for all courses
                  2:00 PM: Courses close, checkpoint control pick-up begins

At registration, all juniors must be accompanied by parents or legal guardians, or bring with them a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian. (The registration form is available below.)

Note that you can register and start on the courses anytime during the open times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be “punctual” at 9:00 (but you can if you want, but please don’t show up earlier and expect to be served).

Beginners’ clinics are 15–20 minute, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner (White) course.

Note that you must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and then go to the download tent, even if you have not finished your course. Please do not leave without checking in! If there are unaccounted people after 2:00, we must initiate a search for them.

After you finish, enjoy free refreshments, and stick around and socialize with other participants!

Costs

The following fees apply at this event:

  $3 for each junior on beginner’s (White) and advanced beginner’s (Yellow) courses
  $8 for each adult on beginner’s and advanced beginner’s courses
  $5 for each junior on intermediate (Orange) and advanced (Brown–Blue) courses  
$15 for each member on intermediate and advanced courses
$20 for each non-member on intermediate and advanced courses
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an E-punch fingerstick rental (if you don’t own one; each group will need one to complete their course)
$15 (and up) for one-year BAOC membership (optional)  

More information about event pricing is available in the club FAQ. All the prices are also shown on the standard entry form (PDF/90KB), which you can print and fill out in advance to save some time at the event. (You will need one entry form for each group of people going on a course together.)

Notes:

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

Venue Facilities

There are no facilities near the Start: no tables, no water, and no restroom. (We hope to be able to rent some PortaPotty.)

What to Bring

For beginner courses (White and Yellow), comfortable outdoors attire and shoes are fine.

For intermediate (Orange) and advanced (Brown through Blue) courses, leg cover or gaiters are recommended, as well as shoes with some extra grip on the sole.

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

We time the courses with the SPORTident system, so each entry/team needs to have a SPORTident fingerstick. If you don’t have your own, you can rent one at registration for $5. (Use of the E-punch system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Courses

The course details will be posted here closer to the event. Be sure to read the Course Setter’s Notes after they are posted (they will be linked here).

Request for Volunteers

As usual, we need many volunteers at this event. In particular, we could use a few people for these tasks:

Please contact the Event Director, , to reserve your spot before they’re all taken! 😉

Directions to the Event

The approximate coordinates of the parking lot are 37.8941,-122.0375. The approximate coordinates of the assembly area are 37.8945,-122.0325.

Driving Directions to the Parking Lot

Parking will be at Walnut Heights Elementary School, 4064 Walnut Blvd, Walnut Creek, CA.

Note that the parking lot is on the west side of the park, far from where we've parked the past few years!

Please do not park on the city streets closer to the park entrance.

The following directions might not be the most efficient. For example, Google Maps would have you take different routes through Walnut Creek. However, those routes are too hard to describe. 🙂

Traveling north on I-680: 
Take the Ygnacio Valley Road exit (#46B, just north of the Hwy 24 interchange). Turn right onto Ygnacio Valley Road and go 0.8 miles to Walnut Blvd (not Walnut Ave as in past years). Turn right onto Walnut Blvd (not Walnut Ave), and continue about 1.4 miles to Walnut Heights Elementary School on your left. Turn left into the school and park.
Traveling south on I-680: 
Take the N Main Street exit (#47), and head south on N Main St. Turn left onto Ygnacio Valley Road and go 0.6 mile to Walnut Blvd (not Walnut Ave as in past years). Turn right onto Walnut Blvd (not Walnut Ave), and continue about 1.4 miles to Walnut Heights Elementary School on your left. Turn left into the school and park.
Coming from the east: 
Take Ygnacio Valley Rd to Walnut Blvd (not Walnut Ave as in past years). Turn left onto Walnut Blvd (not Walnut Ave), and continue about 1.4 miles to Walnut Heights Elementary School on your left. Turn left into the school and park.

There’s a map here that shows the location of the parking lot.

Walking Directions

You will have to walk about 600 meters from the parking lot to the Registration/Start area.

From the parking lot entrance, turn left onto Walnut Blvd and walk about 300 meters to Sutherland Dr. Turn left onto Sutherland Dr, and walk about 300 meters to the park entrance.