NSW Schools Championships 2023 Wrap
- Last Updated: Thursday, 31 August 2023 13:52
Well that was a BIG weekend and we are only just recovering now! We started out with 2 sprint races at The King's School. Being a new sprint map, there were plenty of eager orienteers, keen to see what the campus had in store. Over 200 competitors of ages 5 to 85 enjoyed the challenges set by Selwyn and Niamh.
Race 1 sent competitors weaving through the Senior School buildings and around well-manicured gardens, with a finish adjacent to the JS White Oval - a ground of SCG quality (but OOB for us!)
Race 2 was on the other side of the campus and included a little bit of climb, past the old stone church, before navigating the compact buildings of the Prep School. The early climb out of the start meant for a fast downhill finish.
It was great to see both very experienced and beginner orienteers out on the courses. The overall results were cumulative times from the two races. Results, splits and maps can be found here:
The following day we headed west to Mulgoa for a change of scenery. This section of the Blue Mountains National Park is on the East side of the Nepean River. It features quite a few contours and sandstone rock features amongst a variety of bush vegetation. The bush certainly holds a different sort of challenge from the man-made buildings of a school campus and this area with longish courses proved to be quite physical and technical. Consequently, many classes had new winners.
Results, splits and maps can be found here:
At the end of the day -
Sydney West were crowned as Champion Region. Seems fitting, as both maps were in the Sydney West Region!! Congratulations
NSW schools champs
- Last Updated: Friday, 18 August 2023 15:27
Our next NSW State League weekend after the ACT Champs on 19/20 August is the annual NSW Schools Champs on the 26th and 27th August in Sydney. Enter on the day is available.
Hosted by Western Hills Orienteers.
Venue: The King's School, North Parramatta (both races) on the Saturday and Blue Mountains National Park, North End of Fairlight Rd, Mulgoa on the Sunday.
Entries close Wednesday, August 16th at midnight for TryBooking.
You can attend Saturday, or Sunday, or both days. Details here.
Students must enter via Trybooking.
Parents and Adults enter in Eventor.
2023 NSW ACT Ski Orienteering Champs Wrap
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 15 August 2023 12:50
Ski orienteering has been on our bucket list for some time now and this year we decided to commit and got our entries in. We have alpine skied for many years and although I did some cross country skiing as a teenager, Rory and Euan have never worn the skinny ski’s before. Unfortunately school sport prevented us arriving early so instead we hired equipment and turned up on the morning of the event and spent an hour slipping and sliding around until we started to feel a bit of control about our technique!
Although the snow was a little thin in places, it was a gorgeous blue sky day with the temperature far exceeding those cold Easter carnival days and some of the competitors wearing t shirts. The 30 competitors ranged from seasoned cross country skiers with little orienteering experience to seasoned orienteers with little (to zero) cross country skiing experience to those who only had a little of one or the other! Fortunately Marina and Fedor Iskhakova who had planned and organised the event and were on hand at the start to provide some guidance and help as required.
Due to the limited snow conditions the long course had a couple of loops and I found it reminded me of MTBO in that I couldn’t read my map whilst skiing so I had to use a bit of map memory to recall my route choices. It was absolutely stunning when out at the further parts of the map when there was nobody else around and just blue sky, snow and my own huffing and puffing!
The event was incredibly social with it all based out of the welcoming Nordic Shelter with big smiles, hot chocolates, lollies and oranges for all the finishers and big bars of chocolate for the prize getters! Rory and Euan enjoyed it so much we then went and covered another 10km afterwards which included playing in snow holes and meeting many of the other competitors who were exploring the trials they either didn’t cover or checking out where they made mistakes maybe!
If you’re like us and have thought about giving ski orienteering a go then I’d thoroughly recommend it and we will definitely be returning.
Angus Shedden
Goldseekers 30th
- Last Updated: Friday, 11 August 2023 21:59
Media coverage as Goldseekers Orienteers hold a "pairs" event in their 30th YearGoldseekers Orienteers recently held at a fun pairs event at Gosling Creek, on the southern outskirts of Orange.
Celebrating their 30th year as a Club, it was a great opportunity to get some local news coverage.
7News attended and the news footage can be enjoyed at this Youtube link.
https://youtu.be/4LBHhhOwr8U?t=1069
Goldseekers, well done on the media coverage, and congratulations on your 30th Birthday.
