2012 Season Report

Like other Nordic ski sports the 2011/2012 ski orienteering season was challenging. The necessity for more rigorous planning than other Nordic disciplines, makes this past season more frustrating. Of a dozen events scheduled only six were held and one of those ended up an un-scoreable foot orienteering event.

Gleaning basics from the site map in the practice area.

The Empire State Winter Games were earlier in the season than they have been historically. The successful event at Dewey Mountain, Saranac Lake became a “regular season” event with a festival atmosphere thanks to the Lake Placid Visitor and Convention Bureau and ORDA.

Achievements – With all the disappointments of the season we had some great achievements only dreamed of in the past:

• There were some new faces in the sport, especially in the youth classes.
• We have a new map: Pine Ridge Nordic Ski Center in the Capital District Area.
• The new competitive class system (consistent with OUSA) was well received.
• The NYSSRA – Nordic Championship included a well attended ski orienteering event.

The 2012 NYSSRA – Nordic Ski Orienteering Team was named (the green hats) from season points list leaders:

Points Leaders Sarah Duclos, Amy Duclos, Brian Chrzan, David Hunter (behind), Ellie George, Len Cormier, Phil Hawkes-Teeter, Sue Hawkes-Teeter and Janet Findlay. Photo by Mary Duclos

Len Cormier (M70+)
Sue Hawkes-Teeter (F55+)
Phil Hawkes-Teeter (M55+)
Ellie George (F40+)
Doug Swank (M40+)
Janet Findlay (F19+)
David Hunter (M19+)
Sarah Duclos (F-18)
Brian Chrzan (M-18)
Amy Duclos (F-16)
Tyler Koziol (M-16)

For next season I recommend:

• No change to the championship qualifying rules, competitive classes, points list, or the way we calendar the season. If ESWG can be later it could be a championship.
• Encourage more involvement:

1. Mapping new areas (a map of the Paul Smith’s VIC has high priority)
2. Hosting and officiating events
3. Participants (in all classes including youth)

• A prologue ski orienteering event for the Championships should be considered for late Friday afternoon, but this requires a second course setter and officials crew so not to jeopardize quality of the Championship event.
• A new NYSSRA Ski Orienteering chairman is needed to provide new, more imaginative ideas and more youthful enthusiasm.
• A $2 head tax should be collected at all events to offset championship costs.
• First event of the season will be at Lapland Lake on either Dec 15 or 16, 2012.
• January 2013 (preferably a Saturday) Ski O at Pine Ridge
• U S Ski Orienteering Championships a possibility in February 2014

I would like to thank everyone who helped out during the season planning events that did not happen; making things work in marginal conditions; helping with ESWG; and especially at the NYSSRA – Nordic Championships.

The floor is open for nominations for NYSSRA – Nordic Ski Orienteering chairman.

World Champ Ski Orienteering

Want to see some thrilling ski orienteering action?  This video was supplied by Will Frielinghaus from a friend he met at World Juniors.  Look at the width of some of these ski trails …and steep!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F35637592&h=8AQGJeaHTAQHaoETRA jr6y_6FkGJnZoU3Aa1fadbAPDf1dQ

Register for 2012 Empire State Games Ski Orienteering

Due to the early date for the Empire State Winter Games, February 4, 2012, the qualification rules are quite liberal and inclusive. Further, due to the weather conditions this year, let me open it up even further. Anyone who has experience orienteering and has any degree of confidence in their ability to navigation on cross country skis is eligible to compete at Empire State Winter Games.

The Ski Orienteering event will be at Dewey Mountain, Saranac Lake, Saturday, February 4. Check in any time after 10 AM. Pre-race meeting will be at 10:45 and the first start will be at 11 AM. This is a small compact network of trails so there will be more than one map for all but the very young and very grand masters. Open class will likely have three map swaps.

You must register for ESWG at https://www.empirestatewintergames.com/registration/general AND you must e-mail me the OUSA class you want to compete within and, if you have one, your dibbler/chip/stick number. If you do not have a dibbler/chip/stick we will make every effort to get you one for which you will be responsible to replace if lost.

When registering for ESWG you have three choices for class: scholastic, open and masters. Awards made at 2:30 PM, or as soon as possible thereafter, will be in the following OUSA age classes:

• 16 and under (-16) [scholastic]
• 18 and under (-18) [scholastic]
• 19 and over (19+) [open]
• 40 and over (40+) [masters]
• 55 and over (55+) [masters]
• 70 and over (70+) [masters]

Age is determined as of December 31, 2012.

If you want to compete in ESWG register now, send me the needed extra information, and e-mail me with questions about eligibility. We will all assume that you will make every effort to do one of the ski O events between now and February 4 to get in a practice event. Several are being rescheduled at present. Season points you garner at the ESWG will be doubled for the NYSSRA – Nordic team ranking system. Also, consider this a qualifier for the NYSSRA – Nordic Championship Ski O in Lake Placid the weekend of March 2 – 4, 2012.

Please pass the word.

If you see Len Cormier between now and February 4 please thank him.  He is feverishly trying to update the map to be consistent with grooming plans for the event. Now a test for all of our faithful followers: what year was the US Ski O Championships held on this map hosted by the Cambridge Sports Union?

Anyone competing in the ESWG Ski Orienteering may NOT ski at Dewey Mountain between now and February 4, except as a part of a scheduled competitive event and then only on the course of the scheduled event. Anyone who chooses to ignore this rule will NOT be eligible for an ESWG medal.

Season Opener 2012

The New Years Day ski orienteering meet at Garnet Hill is on. They may only have marginally better snow than anywhere else, but it is Nordic skiing. See the latest conditions at https://sites.google.com/site/esgskio/current-conditions
…and register between 10:30 and 12:30 Sunday, January 1, 2012, at Garnet Hill to start the New Year off right!

Here’s the latest message from meet director Aims Coney,

Skied Garnet Hill today to see if there’s enough for a ski-o and the answer is yes. It isn’t going to be their best skiing and you should leave your new race skis at home, but I can vouch that it feels awfully good to glide. There’s a good chance for more snow and improved conditions between now and New Year’s Day.

“You may have heard that Garnet Hill has enthusiastic new owners. That’s good news for skiers. And in another positive, Jay, last year’s superb ski center manager, is back. I talked to Jay today and he is so excited that we’re holding a ski-o that in addition to reduced cost trail passes for our meet he is also donating two free passes to award to the first male and female in the Open class.”

The only thing I can add is when Aims says don’t bring your best skis take him seriously.

Get Youth Involved

As a coach one of my season’s objectives over the past several years is to get more youth excited about ski orienteering.  As a parent one of the greatest thrills was seeing my son in his early teens win a medal at the Empire State Winter Games.  That was over 20 years ago.  I guarantee that this year there will be more than one scholastic division medal that will go unclaimed at ESGs.  That’s a failure that I take personally.

Rewards are not the only thing that attract young athletes.  Attention from someone that they can look up to is another.  Our sport has an unlimited number of role models, even if communication skills, particularly with youth, is not always our best attributes.

The biggest challenge for youth is to be able to translate familiar things around them (three dimensions) into a two dimensional representation (a map) and vice versa.  Like all skills some are good at this, others are not.  One of the early signs that an individual has it is a doodle or drawing (a map?) of his or her room or back yard or the path to school.  Early recognition of this skill can signal abilities and interests in more than just orienteering, but that’s another story.

Fostering a love of the out-of-doors is another need here.  Getting out of doors some days is a challenge for me.  Putting on that extra layer of magical polyester fabric and remembering toe warmers is a royal pain.  But getting a 10 year old out the door, too, adds another dimension especially when kids will only want to be out for 20 minutes to an hour at the most.  There is a whole movement and support out there in such organizations as “no child left inside”.

I have seen some successes over the years.  One success was by Ruth Hayes in the Rochester, NY area.  Each year she would have a pre-holiday youth ski practice in a local park.  She and Carol Moran would distribute a map of the park with locations where they had placed a supply of tree decorations.  Each kid was expected to collect one ornament from each location and return to the central location.  At this central location would be a pine tree on which they all hung their trophies, a community Christmas tree!   A whole generation of area youth grew up with a background of orienteering.  Many are still ROC members.

Memorable was the year that Kati Christoffel and two of her friends swept all three medals at Empire State Winter Games.  Then there was the year that Sandy (Stripp) Tetreault had a whole field, actually a biathlon penalty loop, full of eager youth and their families each with a map ready to venture off into the woods in search of controls.  It was at a Mid Atlantic Bill Koch Festival in Old Forge.  I also remember struggling to get myself and a pulk with my 3 year old grandson back on a ski trail after a navigational lapse at this event.  My question is how did these people do it?  How can we duplicate these successes to assure that this facet of Nordic ski sport will continue?

Season Starts Well

Martin Donnelly-Heg e-punches .

The Empire State Games qualifier event at Lapland Lake on December 19, 2009 was a success. At 8:30 AM the temperature was still below zero.  During the competition moderating temperatures were in the mid teens.  The mapped ski trails were immaculately groomed with up to a foot of icy base and up to 8 inches of lake effect snow well machined into the surface.  Excellent conditions for skating.

Courses were set so a major route choice would favor using one or more rides, old ski trails, logging trails or a snowshoe trail.  There are enough of them on the map.  The start was in a location that I have never used before.  And each of the courses used an area of gradual slopes before proceeding into more challenging terrain.

The competition went smoothly.  Ann Christoffel helped with registration. Phil Hawkes-Teeter provided invaluable assistance running the SportsIdent and computer system.  I even had the luxury of time to get out on the courses with a camera.

This is an unprecedented third year in a row that we have been able to hold the season opener ski orienteering at Lapland Lake.  Further we had 28 competitors.  We also picked up a new scholastic female who is well on her way to qualifying for Empire State Games.  We need more youth to assure sustained interest in this facet of Nordic ski sport.

As a course setter I find it interesting to pick up controls after a ski orienteering event.  Even though I tend to favor groomed trails as a route choice, it always amazes me what different route choices participants make.    With help from Sue Hawkes-Teeter, Alison Crocker, Frank Boscoe and Doug Swank I only had four of the 20 controls to retrieve, but the loop I took through the midsection of the tight trail network reveled much about the route choices taken.  Most of the old un-groomed trails and the snowshoe trails on the map were well skied in, attesting to the creativity of those who competed.  I also think that this must have brought with it a real challenge to keep track of where you were as you navigated from one control to the next.  Were you really on a one way trail or not?

Another mark of success for a local orienteering event is to have each course designed so the winning time is about an hour.  This was the case in all but the the male scholastic where Will Frielinghaus broke the mold.  For complete results visit…

http://empo.us.orienteering.org/results/091219-laplandlake/

We are fortunate to have access to such a fine venue and the cooperation and support of Ann and Olavi Hirvonen.   I am most grateful for all the team who helped out.  Many hands make light work and many skilled hands make an event like this a pleasure!

Phil Hawkes-Teeter downloads from Verna Engstrom Heg's chip as George Nadorff and Pavel Korniliev discuss route choices.

Summary of a Successful Season

It has been many years since we had such favorable conditions from mid December into early March.  We had 13 Empire State Games qualifiers scheduled and only one of these had to be scrubbed because of poor conditions (mud rather than snow). We had five scholastic competitors at the Empire State Games finals.  I was disappointed that we didn’t attract more youth.  If we don’t get youth into our sport… and loving the experience our sport will die a slow and agonizing death.  Am I being overly dramatic?  Just look at our demographics!

The difference between us and our other Nordic ski sport brethren came home very dramatically at the end of the season.  In cross country and biathlon competition it is the competitor’s responsibility to know the course. (emphasize period!)  In Ski Orienteering the competitor is to navigate in unfamiliar territory. (emphasize period!)  With so few venues available where we hold ski orienteering events the later is nearly impossible.

The rule said, “Ski Orienteering competitors who intend to qualify for the 2009 Empire State Winter Games may not ski at Mt. Van Hoevenburg and/or Cascade Ski Center after January 31, 2009, other than in a scheduled competition event staying on the course for that specific event.”  Even though this embargo was more liberal than the U S Orienteering Federation rules its importance was not understood by those from other Nordic disciplines.

I liked the concept of having all the Nordic disciplines in one place for a championship weekend.  However, with what I have said above I would recommend that a championship ski O event should come off FIRST in the weekend schedule (rather than last).  That way we could, conceivably, ski in “unfamiliar territory” and no one would see even one control in a previous competition.  This could be followed by a short sprint event on a second day (say between X C and biathlon events).
Bottom line: I think if we want to grow the sport we have to lighten up and try to be more inclusive at least through the ESG qualifiers and finals.
If we want to have a gut busting, navigationally challenging championship for those who survived the ESG Ski Orienteering finals then, fine.
This is a summary of my report to the NYSSRA – Nordic meeting:

• Great season: 12 of 13 scheduled qualifiers actually held.
• We need to encourage more “-18″ participation in ski O.
• We liked being with the Championship weekend, but ski O should be the first event.
• There will be no embargo next season other than that imposed by the individual meet director.  The intent here is to be fair to all, but avoid having ski orienteering competitors skiing a venue AFTER controls have been hung.

For next season look forward to an early season opener at Lapland Lake and a Championship at McCauley Mt, Old Forge.  Bids are being accepted to fill in between the two with another great season of Ski orienteering.