Come and join us on "Opening Day" of the summer-time orienteering courses. There will be a free clinic by National Team member Patrick Goeres to start off the day, a free training clinic, the first day of racing on the new summer-time orienteering courses, and a post-event social with course comparisons and some small awards to the top performers.
The permanent courses at the Nordic Center are designed to give groups and individuals the opportunity to develop their navigation and map reading skills at their own pace using a series of increasingly challenging orienteering courses. Three courses of increasing technical challenge are available - Green, Blue, and Black. In addition a forth course for Mountain Bike orienteering provides an interesting new way to ride the park's many great bike trails. The permanent courses are changed three times each year - in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. This event marks the first day of the Summer courses.
Before the race, National Team member Patrick Goeres will give a talk about his path from elite Adventure Racer to world-class orienteer - showing photos and maps from many of his international orienteering competitions. In addition, for those new to the sport, a short clinic will explain the basics of navigation using the orienteering map and simple racing strategies. The clinic and race courses are designed for first time and intermediate level orienteers. All fitness levels welcome. Individuals, teams, and family entries invited. This event is a "come and try it" event, it is open to all levels of skiing ability, fitness, and orienteering experience.
Race fees include clinic, presentation, race course map for you to keep, rental timing stick, and rental compass.
An optional afternoon training session will be organized if enough interest is shown. Express interest by registering online.
News
| June 18 | Preliminary information |
Results
Results are available at the Trail Sports website (click logo below). These results will be continuously updated over the following weeks as more people try the courses, so keep an eye out for new fastest times!
Event Schedule
| Sunday July 12th | ||
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| 10:00am - 10:30am | Presentation | Nordic Center Day Lodge |
| 10:30am - 11:00am | Clinic | Nordic Center Day Lodge |
| 11:00am | Race start | Nordic Center Stadium |
| 12:00pm | Lunch | Bring your own or buy lunch at the Nordic Center Cafe |
| 12:30pm | Awards | Nordic Center Day Lodge |
| 2:00pm | Training | Possible training session to be organized in the afternoon, if enough interest is shown. |
Registration
Click here to register online.
Entry fee is $5/person ($3/person if you have you own SI timing stick) and is paid on race day at Trail Sports. Pre-registration is required only for the clinics - to ensure we have a large enough room booked and enough hand-out materials and so you can have a vote in what topics will be covered in the clinics.
Race Info
Kids Race
A free, fun run around the stadium area designed for kids under 10. Very simple orienteering, suitable for tots being led around by their parents. This course will also be available to adults before 11:00am so they can warm-up and practice the basic mechanics of orienteering. No pre-registration required.
Adults Race
An interval start event. Everyone will start at approximately 1 minute intervals, starting at 11:00am. We expect very fast running times from the winners but even walkers will have plenty of time to complete the course.
Social
Following the race we encourage runners to compare their route choices with each other at the Day Lodge. Lunch is available at the Nordic Center's Cafe. Some fun awards will be presented at around 12:30pm.
What to wear
- Sturdy running shoes or hiking boots. They will get dirty, so don't wear your favorite new shoes.
- Tights or long running pants. Keep in mind that you might want to take shortcuts through the forest, so your clothes might get snagged or torn - so wear old stuff.
- Long sleeve shirt - an old technical shirt is a good choice.
- Bring a change of clothes (including socks!) to switch into after the race.
Maps
Plastic bags will be available to protect your maps. The maps are yours to keep after the race.
Event details
| Map |
Canmore Nordic Centre (new in 2007) Scale: 1:10,000 with 5m contours |
| Entry fees | $5/person - includes clinic, race map, rental compass, rental SI stick. Kids race is free. |
| Directions |
Park at the Canmore Nordic Centre Day lodge. The clinic will be held inside the Day Lodge. Following the clinic, head to Trail Sports to pay the race entry fee, get your map. The race Start / Finish are near Trail Sports. |
Courses
| Green Course 2.3km |
All on trails, with simple navigation and limited route choices. A great course for families and walkers. |
| Blue Course 2.5km |
Controls close to trails, short-cuts through the forest possible, some
tricky navigation. Expected winning time of around 25 - 30 minutes. |
| Black Course 3.8km |
Technically challenging. with lots of off-trail navigation. Expect winning times of around 35 minutes of very hard running and very accurate navigation. |
Note: these distances are the straight-line distance between control points. You will actually run a bit further than this, depending on your route-choices (and propensity to make navigation mistakes ;-). We expect the winner of the black course will take around 30-35 minutes, given the distance and amount of climb and the nature of the forest.
First Aid and Emergency
- Medical services are available in Canmore. Dialing 911 will contact emergency services.
Presentation - Patrick Goeres
Patrick Goeres, currently North America's top orienteer, will give a free presentation about some of his most memorable moments at international orienteering competitions and will give some insights into orienteering at the very top level, against the very best runners in the world.
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World Champs, 2008 Sprint Final |
Training at Canmore Nordic Center, 2009 |
Athlete Profile: Patrick Goeres. I am a 24-year old,
orienteering athlete competing for Canada. My dream is to medal at the World
Orienteering Championships, Canada�s best ever result. I began orienteering 7
years ago in high school as I did lots of outdoor sports like running, climbing,
canoeing and skiing. At the time, I was getting into Adventure Racing, but when
I discovered orienteering, I quickly found my new passion! I worked hard to
improve steadily over the next few years. I competed at the 2005 Junior World
Champs in Switzerland and the next year's senior World Champs in Denmark. Both
were invaluable experiences to lead me towards an 8th place Qualification finish
in the 2008 World Championships in Czech Republic. Having graduating from my
undergrad degree at the University of Winnipeg, I am currently living the dream
of a full-time athlete and training hard for the 2009 World Championships in
Hungary!
Clinic - vote for the topic you want
Free clinic in the Day Lodge immediately following Patrick's presentation. The clinic topics will be decided by popular demand. Topics may cover the rules, the map, navigation, route selection, safety, logistics of the race, including the start, what to do when you arrive at a control, what to do at the finish, and proper use of the timing equipment. No previous orienteering experience necessary. Register online to vote for the topic(s) you would most like to be covered in the clinic.
Afternoon training
In the afternoon the club will be holding a technical training event and everyone is welcome to attend. The training will be either at the Nordic Center or at Mount Laurie (Yamnuska) depending on demand. When you pre-register for the morning race you can vote for which training you would prefer. You must be a club member to take part in the training, for insurance purposes. Club membership is cheap - check here for membership details.
About the Permanent Courses
The Canmore Nordic Center in partnership with Trail Sports and the Foothills Wanderers Orienteering Club have installed a set of permanent orienteering courses. There are four courses, three for orienteering on foot (FOOT-O) and the fourth for mountain bike orienteering (MTBO). The FOOT-O courses will be called "Green", "Blue", and "Black" to represent difficulty level. The MTBO course will be at the intermediate ("Blue") skill level. To encourage participants to make multiple visits, the four courses will be changed for the spring, summer, and fall seasons. 88 permanent control posts are being installed at the Nordic Center and about 30 � 35 will be used in each �season�.
The permanent courses will be available to individuals or groups to use at their convenience. For a small fee anyone will be able to get a map, a �how to� brochure, and a rental SI punch at Trail Sports. At the end of their course, participants will get a print out of their splits, and their splits will be uploaded to the permanent course website. The Permanent Courses are expected to be popular with adventure racers, hiking groups, school groups, birthday parties, summer camp groups, scouts, cadets, and the casual park visitors too. Groups wanting instruction or tailored orienteering events should contact Trail Sports.
Links
- Orienteering Lingo
- Foothills Wanderers Orienteering Club - local orienteering club's "intro to orienteering" page.
- Barebones - greatest event in all Canada! Held in Canmore September 5 - 7, 2009
- Alberta Orienteering - news and schedule of events in Alberta & neighboring areas
- Canadian Orienteering Federation - many Orienteering resources and links