ACT Champs karst spell on orienteers

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 04 September 2019 12:35

The ACT Middle Champs offered a rarity in Australian orienteering - karst terrain - at the weekend.

Karst is noted for its complexity of rock and difficulty in navigating, which was a challenge for many competitors on Saturday. It is more common in eastern Europe where the erosion of limestone creates large depressions.

This was the debut of the Carey's Caves map near Wee Jasper and it was warmly received. You were either in the rock, or running across paddocks eaten down by sheep to a fine carpet.

Sunday's Long Champs at Jerangle near Cooma featured a frosty start then superb orienteering in rocky outcrops and more farmland.

When all the results were tallied, NSW reclaimed the Bennelong Trophy, contested over the NSW and ACT Long Champs, 46-32.5.

A bumper turnout of more than 250 on each day made for a great weekend.

We noted two good wins by Andrew McDonald (Big Foot) in M55AS, and a strong win by Robyn Pallas (Central Coast) in W65A on Sunday.

Our next State League weekend is this weekend in Mittagong, in conjunction with the NSW schools champs.

And a reminder that our final SL event for 2019 will be the NSW Sprint Champs at Sydney Uni on Sunday November 10, hosted by Big Foot.