Clunie, SOL

Scottish Orienteering League

Sun 28th Apr 2013

Info updated: 18th Feb
Type of event: National
Type of terrain: Moorland, Woodland

Results

Results and Splits

Winsplits

RouteGadget

British Orienteering rankings

String Results

Apologies for all the rubbish course names, having not been at the event I failed to notice while putting results live online in a short time frame last night. If it was easy to change this retrospectively I would, but it's not. Boo.

General Information

Comments

Mary Williams (Organiser)

I had many expressions of thanks from the fit competitors, who really enjoyed the Event.   Clunie is a great runnable area, for the confident and fit orienteer. The not so fit orienteers appreciated the scenic route to the start and enjoyed the pre O (thanks Roger), as well as their course.
Thank you:

• Mark Wood for making the courses so enjoyable for everyone and all the time spent in the snow trying to find the control sites and putting out controls.
• Terry O’Brien, the initial controller who helped Mark and myself decide the basic shape of the event and supported me with the Risk Assessment and Event Details. We were very sorry to hear of Terry’s mum’s illness and subsequent death.  I am sure that everybody will send Terry are condolences.
• Davie Frame for taking over from Terry at such short notice and doing so much in such a short time frame.
• ESOC and STAG club members for helping, especially appreciated was the help from the Team Leaders, who were able to make the entries, registration, start, finish, signage, SI timing and car parking all run so smoothly. 
• Janet Clark for putting me straight on many O matters. This was the first Event that I have organised after many years of working away.  Janet was responsible for the much appreciated Mushi Monster string course.
• Red Cross for acting as first aiders
• The Land Owners and the SSE Plc for letting us access their land.

Terry O'Brien (Controller, STAG)

As Mary has indicated, I resigned from the Controller's role in early April due to my Mother's sudden illness and subsequent passing. It was an absolute pleasure to assist Mark with this event and I was pleased to hear that the day went well. My personal thanks to Davie for stepping in with less than a fortnight to go and not to forget the input from Mary and Janet which all contributed to a successful venture.
This was STAG's first joint mapping & event project with ESOC and we look forward to further strengthening our close ties over the coming years.

Davie Frame (Controller, TAY)

Standing in with less than 2 weeks to go meant minimal input from myself.
Mark had been extremely thorough with all his planning and map preparation, so it was a fairly simple task to check all the controls and give the maps and control descriptions a once over. It wouldnt have been so simple a couple of weeks earlier when the area was still covered in deep snow.
The nature of the terrain and the limited parking options were always going to limit the planning options available, but Mark brought out the best of the area, producing a challenging set of courses for all standards.
Mary and her ESOC/STAG team just appeared to get on with making the day run smoothly, but it should always be remembered that a huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes to make orienteering events as organised as they are.

Pre-O

Results
Solutions

Numbers participating were lower than usual, but there were plenty of reasons why the take –up would be down on this occasion and we are not too disappointed.
The results suggest that the problems were all relatively easy, with 100% correct answers at #2, which featured the boulder fields that many of us will have encountered out on the hill.  Provided you were accurately positioned at the viewing/decision point the choice of kite would have been relatively easy.
Apologies for the missing kite at #3.  I was aware that the wind from the west was gusting through the gap between the hills and fixed the canes very firmly, but the kite at E, the right-most position, became detached from the cane, leaving the cane still firmly anchored.  However, nobody seemed to suffer as a result of this: C was the correct answer.  The B answers probably came from not spotting the two kites in the re-entrant occupied by the pylon.
There are three returned maps without names (because I forgot to write on the names when handing them out).  I hope the three sets of answers can be recognised by their owners.
Many thanks to everyone for participating, and next time I’ll make it a wee bit harder.  It is intended to have a PreO course at SOL 4.

Roger Scrutton (PreO Planner)

Lost Property

The following items were found at SOL 3 :

• Thumb compass
• Black thermal top
• Stainless steel dog bowl

If you think they are yours you can pick them up at the enquiry tent at the Scottish Championships.

Pre Event info

Final Details and Start Lists now available.

Terrain

Mostly open hillside with heather, bracken, crags, rock features and scattered birch trees with some larger areas of woodland. The area is crossed by steep sided ravines with streams at the bottom. Take care when crossing them as they can be slippery and surprisingly deep in places. In addition there are many dangerous crags in the area. Courses do not go near them, but please take care.

Assembly

Registration, download and first aid will be in the Power Station Car Park area. There will be no catering vans or traders but ScotJos tea and cakes stall will be available and maybe Neil McLean’s “O” stall selling compasses and other essential orienteering equipment.

Note there are 2 Starts, which will be signposted from Assembly, & 2 Finishes 
The Near Start is for White, Yellow & Orange Courses and is located on the west side of the Foss Road, 300m back up the access road to The CLUNIE ARCHWAY then approximately 100m due south across the Foss Road. Take care crossing this road. From the Car Park please walk on the pavement.
The Near Finish is located 600m west from The CLUNIE ARCHWAY on the west side of the Foss Road.

A marshal will supervise the crossing at the finish across the Foss Road.

All other Courses use The Far Start, which is located an approximate distance of 2.5k west from The CLUNIE ARCHWAY. Competitors using this start do pass the Far Finish after 2.0k along the Foss Road just before they pass through terrain – 500m distance & 100m climb to the Start.

Clothing: Clothing may be left at the Finish as you pass.

Dogs: Please keep all dogs on leads at all times.

Tents: Due to the compact nature of the car parking there will be no space for club tents in the assembly area.

Toilets: 4 Portaloos will available in the car parking area. There are no toilets en-route to the start.

Safety: Competitors take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety. Whistles should be carried. In the event of bad weather, cagoules may be compulsory and a notice will be placed at Enquiries.

Results: will be posted as quickly as possible after the event.

Location

Nearest town: Pitlochry

• Grid Ref: NN914595
• Postcode: PH16 5NF
• Latitude: 56.71655
• Longitude: -3.77749
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

From the South – Take the Pitlochry Bypass & turn RIGHT off the A9 500 m before reaching the bridge over Loch Faskally onto the road signed Foss Road.  This is a right hand turn so do take care as traffic travels very fast on this road!  The Foss Road soon turns west under the A9 towards the Linn of Tummel. Parking is at the Clunie Power Station (NN914595) 3km further on.
From the North – A9 – after crossing over Loch Faskally, turn LEFT off the A9 after 500 m onto the road signed Foss Road. The Foss Road soon turns west under the A9 towards the Linn of Tummel. Parking is at the Clunie Power Station (NN914595) 3km further on.
Car Parking: This will make use of a rough car park adjacent to the power station.  Car parking is free.  There is no assembly area. The majority of the competition area is on the West side of the Foss Road. Competitors who start from the Far Start shall also access the area between the Foss Road & the River Tummel.
There is a white gate at the far SE end of the car park that leads into the Scottish Hydro Electric wild garden of remembrance and we encourage you to take a stroll through this quiet area beside the river bank during your visit.

The postcode for those who need it is PH16 5NF

The Grid Reference is: NN914595

Registration & Start Times

Start Times are from 10:30 till 12:30 hours.

Call up will be at minus 3 minutes and courses close at 15.00. 

Control Descriptions are on the map and loose at the start. 

Course Information

There will also be a simple short “string or alternative” course on rough ground beside the car park – not suitable for buggies. 

Explanation of colour courses

• White are very easy with all controls on paths. They are mainly used by 6-10 year olds and family groups.
• Yellow use simple linear features like paths, walls and streams. They are mainly used by under 12’s and family groups.
• Orange progress to basic use of the compass and route choice. They are ideal for novice adults or experienced youngsters.
• Light Green are ideal for improvers as the navigational difficulty begins to increase and uses simple contours and point features.
• Green are used mostly by experienced under 18’s and adults wanting a short but challenging course with a very hard navigational difficulty.
• Blue are a longer, more physically demanding course in comparison to the green. The distances are more varied between controls and the course attracts experienced orienteers.
• Brown & Black are very physically demanding and have a very hard navigational difficulty. They are for experienced orienteers only.
• Score means visiting as many controls as possible in any order in a specific time, like 45mins.

Entry Details

Entry on the day will be available at Enquiries subject to map availability. This includes a £2/£1 surcharge for late entries.

Senior (BOF Member) - £12.00 £14.00
Senior (Non-BOF Member) - £14.00 £16.00
Senior (W, Y, O & LG Courses) - £6.00 £7.00

Junior/student - £6.00 £7.00
Junior/student - £4.00 £5.00 (W, Y, O & LG Courses)

Pre-entries now closed.

SI cards can be borrowed free of charge but the full price (£30) will be charged for any lost hired SI card.

Competitors on the White and Yellow courses should collect their maps from Registration before heading to the Near Start.

Contacts / Officials

Controller: Terry O’Brien (STAG)
Planner: Mark Wood (ESOC)
Organiser: Mary Williams (ESOC) - 01383 860389, 07724 109120

Safety and Risk

A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event.

Privacy: when entering our events your name may appear in the results section of this website or in newspaper reports.
Read our privacy policy to see how we look after your personal data.