Delaware Valley Orienteering Association

Topic created by Steve on Sat Jul 1, 2023 at 12:28 pm

Steve
Num Posts: 402
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map: Paradise Farm
First O: 1993

Registration is now open. EventReg | Thomas Ironsite (orienteeringusa.org)

Reply by Steve on Mon Jul 10, 2023 at 6:29 am

Steve
Num Posts: 402
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map: Paradise Farm
First O: 1993

 Course descriptions are here

Sprint 1 - 1.8km, 20m climb, 10 controls

Sprint 2 - 2.5km, 45m climb, 13 controls

Reply by GlenT on Tue Jul 11, 2023 at 9:52 pm

GlenT
Num Posts: 35
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map:
First O: 0

Thomas Iron Site Course Notes

Two courses are available.  Sprint 1 (1.8k, 20m climb) is a straightforward advanced beginner course (a Yellow course) with only a few tricky spots.  Sprint 2 (2.5k, 45m climb) is set as an advanced level Sprint course, offering lots of route choice and some more challenging control placements.  There is very little paved area on the map and there are some steep areas with loose rock/gravel - orienteering shoes or aggressive trail shoes would be appropriate.

Thomas Iron Site offers some interesting terrain for orienteering, with a complex trail network, a wide range of vegetation, and ruins from the historic use of the site for iron production.  There is some nice contour detail, also a result of the site's previous use, due to dumping of slag (waste from the ironmaking process).  Petr Hartman has made an excellent map of the area.

Since it's summer the vegetation is thick, obscuring some contour detail, making some trails less obvious and discouraging off-trail route choices.  For judging runnability, the green is probably one shade darker than mapped.  There are some thorny areas, occasional poison ivy, and stinging nettles (mostly in white woods near the creek bordering the map to the west).  Courses are designed so that you should be on a trail if you need to pass through any areas where nettles may be.

Reply by JanetT on Wed Jul 12, 2023 at 9:55 pm

JanetT
Num Posts: 157
Primary Club: DVOA
Fav map:
First O: 1990

Since I can't attend on 7/22, I spent time today visiting controls on the courses, and took photos of some of the vegetation at the Thomas Iron Site. You can find the photos here. Hope people make the trek to Hellertown for this unique and different terrain!