What is Orienteering?

Events

Maps

About Us

BAOC Ski-O Championships

Date: (Sun.) Mar. 2, 2008
Location: near Arnold, CA
Event Director: - 650.793.8764
Course Setters: Julie Raymond, Neil Hunt
Type: White, Orange, Green, Red, and Blue Ski-O courses

Skip to the Results

Event Write-Up

By Tony Pinkham

Julie Raymond, back from competing in Russia and the 2008 Sierra Avalanche Ski-O Champs, had quite a few ideas for how to liven up our Ski-O courses. She and Neil Hunt went to work on course designs for the Bear Valley event. Fortunately, they had plenty of snow to deal with, so there were no closed or rerouted trails.

They began by designing courses that used the main area of the resort in ways that provided multiple ski routes to each control for each course. The shorter courses used easier trails and the longer courses tested both skiing ability and strength without over using the hills. Thanks to the use of E-punching equipment, they were able to have the longer courses criss cross the main valley.

To make things more interesting, they added a maze of secondary trails through the relatively flat area known as Bloods Creek. In the maze, they placed a number of controls to be used by the various courses. Once participants entered the maze, they had to carefully navigate their way to controls through a forest and meandering secondary trails that were also shown on their maps (and confirmed with a GPS system).

For E-punch, we decided to experiment with the GeBe printer, which operates without our usual monitored computer system. All we needed was the small printer with which participants downloaded their times and printed their results. That enabled us to operate without an E-punch person and have everyone out skiing at the same time. The simpler setup worked very nicely, but it did require that each participant print out three results (one for the results string, one for our filing system to verify they had returned, and one for themselves).

As we approached the event, we found out that Julie Raymond wouldn't be able to be at the event, because she had a long ski race to compete in Alaska. Neil Hunt, however, was able to be there, so I helped him set up the courses the day before the event.

The event day turned out to be extremely windy, so windy that the nearby downhill resort was closed when the winds exceeded 100 MPH. Our cross-country resort, however, remained open, so our event went on even though we had strong winds. We just learned to put everything in boxes or under weights. The winds seemed to have affected our attendance though, as only 25 people attended the event. Those who did attend were treated to some terrific courses and the new maze system that I hope will become a standard for future events.

The 19.5-km, 375-m Blue course had only one competitor, and he did not finish the course because he had a flight to Europe that he had to drive off to. Neil Hunt did the course as well, to see how long it took, but his work as course setter disqualified him from placement.

The 14.4-km, 310-m Red course had five male competitors. Matthias Kohler finished first in just 1:24:08. Tapio Karras finished second, and Kent Ohlund finished third.

The 10.7-km, 225-m Green course had two female compeitors and five male competitors. Trinka Gillis finished first for women with a time of 2:01:48. Bjorn Widerstrom finished first for men with a time of 1:46:48, while John Barclay came in second and Bob Cooley came in third.

The 8.0-km, 100-m Orange course had two finishers and two teams that did not finish the course. Patty Clemo finished first for women with a time of 2:07:29. Alan Houser finished first for men with a time of 2:49:10.

The 2.6-km, 25-m White course had two female finishers (sisters). Katie Petersen (shadowed by her father, Mark) finished first with a time of 1:01:39. Sarah Petersen (shadowed by her mother, Janet) finished second with a time of 1:07:22.

Because we had so few people at the event, we decided to switch away from using gender/age classes to just gender/course classes. Medals could not be handed out at the event and were delayed by my being extremely busy at work, but they have been sent to the winners. In future years, we will have a formula for when we use gender/age or gender/course classes.

As always, the staff for Bear Valley Cross Country was enormously helpful. It's always a pleasure dealing with Paul Peterson and his staff. We also appreciate the discount they give us for our trail passes and the discounts often given to course setters.

Our only regret was that one of our regular skiers, Nancy Lindeman, slipped on an icy downhill the day before the event and broke her arm just below the shoulder. She was in a lot of pain that night, but well tended at the Sierra Hosipital, which was an hour drive away from the resort. Regretfully, she had to sit out the event in her hotel room. We missed her presence and look forward to her speedy recovery.

Results

BAOC Ski-O Championships

Arnold, CA
Sunday, March 2, 2008

  Pl  Name(s)                              Class      Time

White Course   (2.3/2.6 km, 25 m climb, 6 controls)

   1  Katie Petersen (Mark shadow)        F-White    1:01:39
   2  Sarah Petersen (Janet shadow)       F-White    1:07:22

      Emily Hann (Jay shadow)             F-White      DNF


Orange Course  (5.3/8.0 km, 98 m climb, 9 controls)

   1  Patty Clemo                         F-Orange   2:07:29
   2  Alan Houser                         M-Orange   2:49:10

      Britta & Kristina Sinks             F-Orange     OVT
      Jane Ferguson, Katrina Gherinston   F-Orange     OVT


Green Course   (7.8/10.7 km, 222 m climb, 13 controls)

   1  Bjorn Widerstrom                    M-Green    1:46:48
   2  Trinka Gillis                       F-Green    2:01:48
   3  John Barclay                        M-Green    2:06:08
   4  Bob Cooley                          M-Green    2:10:01

      Patty Jo Struve                     F-Green      DNF
      Rod & Mark Sinks                    M-Green      OVT


Red Course     (10.0/14.4 km, 310 m climb, 17 controls)

   1  Matthias Kohler                     M-Red      1:24:08
   2  Tapio Karras                        M-Red      1:45:33
   3  Kent Ohlund                         M-Red      1:54:47
   4  Shura Krechetov                     M-Red      3:20:07
   5  Toby Ferguson                       M-Red      4:05:22


Blue Course    (13.1/19.5 km, 372 m climb, 19 controls)

   1  Neil Hunt (course setter)           M-Blue     1:48:18

      Leandro Ribela                      M-Blue       DNF

_______________

Indicated distances are straight-line/optimum.
DNF = Did not finish (missed one or more controls)
OVT = Overtime (finished after course-closing time)