What is Orienteering?

Events

Maps

About Us

Evergreen Valley College

Event #2 of 6 in the BAOC 2024 Summer Series

Date: (Sat.) Jun. 15, 2024
Location: San Jose, CA
Event Director:
Course Setter: Werner Haag
Type: C; This is the second event of the 2024 Summer Series. Everyone is welcome, including beginners, with free short clinics to explain orienteering.

Course Setter's Notes

By Werner Haag, Mapper, Course Setter, Vetter

Loose Control Descriptions (aka Clue Sheets)

You might want to bring a clue-sheet holder for the Long course, because the clues will need to be printed rather small to fit them on the front of the map. Or, if you don’t have a clue-sheet holder, bring a 9"x14" map case, or tape the clue sheet to the back of the map.

The clue sheets for the Beginner and Short courses should fit on the map fronts.

The Map

The map scale is 1:5000. The map uses forest symbols, not conforming to any Sprint standard.

This is an open campus, and the courses will wind through the campus, the adjacent county park, and possibly urban development. About 2/3–3/4 of the Long course is on dirt paths or natural terrain.

School is not in session, so the campus should be mostly empty. Nevertheless, please be courteous to any pedestrians, and slow to a walk if you are in a building courtyard, hallway, or canopy.

Construction

There are some large fenced-off areas of construction marked out-of-bounds on the map. Courses might have leg lines drawn through these OB areas, but obviously you must treat them as obstacles not to be entered.

Roads

You will be crossing roads on campus on which there is generally very little traffic. Nevertheless, please use caution. Do not cross Yerba Buena Road on the east and south sides of campus, as it might be dangerous and there is no need to cross. It is, however, allowed to run on the sidewalk next to such a road, on the campus/park side. Using the residential roads to the north of campus is OK.

Courses

The basic design is similar to a Sprint, just longer, so this might be termed an Extended Sprint. It took me about an hour to vet the controls. I expect the winning time will be in the 35- to 45-minute range.

Here are the course details, with comments below:

    Course      Length    Climb  Controls
    Beginner   ~1.6 km    ~30 m      9  
    Short      ~3.3 km    ~45 m     14  
    Long       ~5.0 km   ~110 m     22

The Beginner course winds through the campus on easy-to-follow paths or open fields. Two controls involve canopies, so pay attention to the section below regarding buildings.

The Short course is Yellow/Orange level. The course is about half on campus and half off campus, in terrain with some grassy areas where I strongly recommend gaiters for protection from foxtails and burrs. There is a bit of poison oak you will come near — it's mostly not an issue, but pay attention if you are particularly sensitive.

The Long course, which is Orange/Brown level, has some typical "classical" orienteering terrain going into the county park, so ankle/leg protection against foxtails and burrs is recommended, and cleats or trail running shoes might be beneficial for a few legs. But note that you will also be going over asphalted areas and up stairs, so short rubberized cleats would be preferred. There are a few sections of poison oak that are easily avoided if you are vigilant. Six of the controls overlap with the Short course.

Special Map Symbols

I have used a green × for standing dead trees. In a few places near controls on advanced courses, I have used green-slashed areas for seasonal meter-tall grass/vegetation that would normally be mapped simply as yellow, because I felt that these could significantly affect navigation.

Buildings

Buildings are mapped as dark grey, and canopies that can be traveled under are light grey.

Note that in some cases it is possible to access the tops of canopies, and one or more controls have been placed on top of such canopies. An accessible canopy can be distinguished from an inaccessible one by virtue of having features mapped on it, such as a black × for a man-made feature or green dots for small trees or bushes in concrete planter pots. The figure below show various features for a clearer explanation.

Grey hallways/canopies can always be crossed under on the ground floor, and are generally accessible on the next floor up. Dotted black lines on top of grey canopy areas (see the figure above) can be passed across only on floors higher than the ground floor (usually the 2nd floor). To confound all this even further, the buildings with accessible canopies are built on a slope. Thus, if you enter on the apparent 1st floor from the uphill side, and walk straight through the hall towards the downhill side, you might find yourself on the 2nd or 3rd floor without having changed levels. Conversely, if you enter on the ground floor on the downhill side, you might need to go up two sets of stairs to get to the top of a canopy. Welcome to 3-D orienteering.

Doors

It is forbidden to open or pass through any doorway to enter a building. There is one doorway, which enters an asphalted area between buildings, that is allowed to pass through if it is unlocked and standing open.

Control Flags & E-Punches

Standard control flags and E-punch units will be used — either on the usual wire stands, or on orange cones, or in some cases hanging on a control string that goes through the hole in the E-punch unit. The string is thin enough to still allow insertion of a finger stick, but it might be necessary to hold the E-punch unit in your hand to stop it from swinging around.

Water

We will not set out water, since the expected fast finish times should not require it. Water fountains can be found on the campus, and you will likely run into one or two while on your course. If you are a slow competitor who likes to do the Long course, I’d recommend carrying a small bottle of water, since much of the course is unshaded.

Sun

There is some shade, but also a lot of open terrain. A hat and/or sunscreen is recommended.

Wildlife

There are large coyotes, and some birdlife, rabbits and ground squirrels, but generally wildlife is uncommon. Watch out for goose droppings around the amphitheater pond.

Hazards

Do not attempt to land your heavier-than-air, controlled, flying machine in the hills above the campus. John Montgomery died trying to do this.