West Point having A event
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Topic created by markwalsh on Mon Mar 28, 2011 at 2:00 pmWest Point O Club is sponsoring an A event on 4-30-11 and 5-1-11.
It's listed on HVO website and I'm sure some of you DVOA'ers will want to trek up there for a rugged terrain challenage.
Mark -
Reply by WindWalker on Tue Mar 29, 2011 at 9:46 pmI have a few questions about this, I'm new to all this and still learning so...
Can anyone do an A event?
It looks like at my age of 44 I would have to do the red course?
How do these compare to the local events?
Looks like you do one race on each day?
I just purchased an e-punch thingy on Sunday at Warwick, does this thing work at all events or just DVOA?
Anything else I should know? I'm thinking of setting my sights on trying this.
Thanks, Mike
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Reply by o-maps on Tue Mar 29, 2011 at 9:51 pmAnyone can do an A event.
You can run any course you wnat, although your "age" category is Red. I've never run my age category...
One race per day is typical.
E-punch works at all epunch meets in the US and many elsewhere.
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Reply by Orienteeringmom on Tue Mar 29, 2011 at 10:07 pmIf you are not running red successfully and with total confidence I would NOT run Red at West Point. West Point is very, very physcial and the courses are set by young cadets that are used to the physical aspect of their woods. Though they have been getting better in the last few years about the physical difficult of their courses.
Also I believe that there are 3 races this year at Weat Point. On Saturday there is a sprint and a short course one in the AM and one in the afternoon and then a classic lenght course on Sunday. At least I think it is a classic length not sure without checking their website.
It is a fun weekend and not that far away from our area.
I will be there selling food on Saturday as a fundraiser for the College O fund.
Hope to see you there.
Janet -
Reply by furlong47 on Wed Mar 30, 2011 at 0:32 amAnyone can go to an A-meet - even the championship ones
Even though I am not super competitive I love to travel and go orienteering in different areas and new terrain. It is fun to meet other orienteers from all over the country (and often the world).
They tend to be held on more difficult/technical maps and the course design and meet organization are at a higher standard than many local meets - although DVOA does a pretty good job of having even local events live up to a very high standard. Your Sportident E-punch is pretty standard for the US. If you eventually get to the point of going to Europe then you may need a different type, but nothing to worry about now. You don't need any other special equipment to start - whatever clothes and compass you use for local events are fine to start with. If you stick with it, you may eventually want a special orienteering suit and shoes and a thumb compass and clue sheet holder and all the accessories
Most people do run in their age class (and you have to in order to be eligible for championship events) but there are also open classes available. For example if your age class is on red but you wanted to run orange or green, you'd sign up for M-Orange open or M-Green open (or F-Orange, F-Green if you are female). Or you can run up to a higher course if you want - a lot of elite orienteers stay in M-21+ and F-21+ classes even when they could move down based on age.
As Janet said, West Point is pretty physical terrain and can be tricky. Some people do run down a course there, and it is certainly not the place to move up a course!
There is usually one race per day, but sometimes there will be 2 sprints or a sprint and a middle distance on the same day.
You need to register in advance for A-meets and fees typically increase as the event date gets closer. I believe the first price cutoff for West Point is April 15. -
Reply by Trazy on Wed Mar 30, 2011 at 9:17 amAwesome! It's fantastic to see more people getting enthused and excited about this sport! You found the right place to ask your questions, Mike. That's how I got started too and I don't think too many people will forget my name from all the questions & comments I've made on this e-board when I started out. LOL!
Anyway, I've registered online yesterday to go to the West Point A-Meet a month away from now. I believe that Julie (Furlong) has answered most of your questions. I want to add one other thing regarding 'one event a day' or what. For the West Point A-meet, it's apparent that on Saturday, they will run 2 events, starting with the classic or middle-distance event in the morning, then sprint event in the afternoon, then the long event courses will take place Sunday morning.
I also support Julie for you to register for M-orange or M-green if you are not ready for Red courses. A lot of people do this if they do not want to run in their age-category courses. Courses at West Point can be pretty challenging. I'll never forget the first time I went there in 2008. Oh my, oh my! It was foggy on the mountains the first morning I ran in an event, and I accidently went the opposite direction and ran off the map, which took me approx 3 hours to get back and I never made it to the first control. LOL! What a memory that was! I was so excited & nervous. It's easy to make mistakes when attending your first few A-meets 'cuz the pressure is on. But now I try to treat it like a normal event course and keep the pressure off, which allows me to do better.
Good luck to you and the others, who go for their 1st time, 5th time or 20th. Each experience is unique and quite memorable. -
Reply by edscott on Wed Mar 30, 2011 at 10:02 amYes, West Point terrain can be really unforgiving if you loose map contact. Until you've had some more experience on advanced courses I'd suggest running Orange or a shorter advanced course. To see examples of the terrain enter "Orienteering maps West Point NY" into Google and select image files from the menu in the upper left of the page. You'll see lots or rocks and contours.
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Reply by WindWalker on Wed Mar 30, 2011 at 8:25 pmThanks to all for the information and advice.
I got a few more events to practice with until then, so I'll see how I'm doing till early Reg. deadline.
Looking at the class list I wasn't sure if I HAD to do red, I didn't really want to, with only a few events under my belt.
Mike
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Reply by WindWalker on Fri Apr 8, 2011 at 8:18 pmNoticed there is a Green X and a Green Y class, what is the difference?
Thanks, Mike -
Reply by edscott on Fri Apr 8, 2011 at 9:07 pmY is normally a bit shorter.. often just a couple hundred meters, but you are assigned by your age and sex.From the OUSA site: Red X (M-20, M35+, M40+), Red Y (F-21+, M45+), Green X (M-18, M50+, M55+), Green Y (F-20, F35+, M60+, F40+, F45+, F50+, F55+)
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Reply by Steve on Sat Apr 9, 2011 at 1:16 pmthere should not be a significant difference between X and Y courses. The high number of competitors on red and green make it better if we split you up. As Ed said, you will be assigned by your age class (including F and M open) so that the people you are competing against are doing the same course you are.
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Reply by Guy-O on Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 6:01 pmUnfortunately, the West Point A-event website is often not very forthcoming with which classes are on GreenX and which are on GreenY. The 2011 version is no exception.
While one could assume that USMAOC will follow the OUSA guidelines, since they are not rules, one could end up being incorrect. I seem to recall one year when the X and Y distinctions were the opposite of the guidelines! -
Reply by WindWalker on Thu Apr 14, 2011 at 8:51 pmWell it doesn't seem like much difference between the two so It really doesn't much matter to me, I just didn't know if I had to pick one.
Anyone camping at Round Pond? Want to share a tent site? Two tents and 6 people per site, per the rules -- Camp sites are designed to accommodate 2 tents or one camper and no more than two vehicles. Up to six people are allowed at each campsite, unless an exception is authorized by management. Limit of 2 sites per reservation.
Let me know, Mike
