Corstorphine Hill

ESOC local event in Edinburgh and the Lothians

Sat 13th Feb 2016

Info updated: 18th Feb
Type of event: Local
Type of terrain: Parkland, Woodland

Results

Orienteering is not for the fainthearted!  This was decisively demonstrated today by Planners, Competitors and Club Helpers alike.  It wasn't easy to put out the controls in the cold sleet during the morning.  It certainly wasn't easy to even make your way to the Start through the muddy field, let alone find all your controls and keep your feet (mostly) out on the hill.  But everyone came back smiling; the younger runners, being the muddiest, perhaps smiling most of all. 
It definitely was not easy to man the Start and the Finish in the gathering snowstorm, or to stand in the cold tent and the even colder "lean-to" shelter, registering and downloading everyone.   And perhaps the hardest job of all was taking in the controls, undoing all the Gripples, in the gathering darkness. 
 
Well done and thank you very much to Planners, Competitors and Club Helpers alike for taking part in this memorable event.
 
Janet Clark 

The results from today's event are here. Winsplits for the event are here. 

Picture of the snowy start.

A few photos from the event are available in the Corstorphine Hill Feb 2016 album in ESOC's Google Album Archive.

General Information

Dress: Please check the weather forecast and dress appropriately. Corstorphine Hill, although in the city, can be very slippery and muddy if the weather in the weeks before the event have been wet or icy/snowy.   

Terrain:  City parkland with a mixture of open fields and woodland, with rock and contour detail; some steep slopes.

Other Users: Corstorphine Hill is very well used by the general public, especially dog walkers.  Please respect their right to be there at the same time as you are orienteering.

Dogs: The area is popular with dog walkers but we would prefer if you didn't take your dog with you on your course.

Course Closure Time: Please note that courses have a closure time of 4pm after which controls will start  to be brought in. 

Location

Nearest town: City of Edinburgh

• Grid Ref: NT204740
• Postcode: EH12 6UP
• Latitude: 55.95204
• Longitude: -3.27583
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

Park at the car park at the General Teaching Council for Scotland, Clerwood, 96 Clermiston Road, Edinburgh EH12 6UP.  The event will be signposted off the East side of Clermiston Road, towards the Soouth end of Corstorphine Hill.

Note: Coming to our event by bus is an option - check out Lothian Buses.

Registration & Start Times

REGISTRATION: This will be in a Club tent adjacent to the GTC building.

Registration will be from 1.30pm to 2.30pm for newcomers to orienteering and will run from 1.30pm to 3pm for experienced orienteers.

It is not necessary - or possible – to pre-enter for this event.  Everyone is very welcome, just to turn up.  Whether you are a newcomer or have been to a lot of events, please try to come and start early if you think you might take a long time over your course.

Registration Form - We know how time consuming, and occasionally frustrating, it can be for our competitors to have to complete the Registration Form outside in the cold and wet of a Scottish Saturday afternoon so we have produced an ESOC ADVANCE REGISTRATION FORM for you to complete and print off and bring with you to the event. This will save a lot of time and make the forms easier to read!!  Apologies to those experienced Saturday attendees who feel they don't need the sample at the top of the page but it will be very helpful to our newcomers - and properly completed, legible registration forms are a huge help to those manning our computers during and after the event. 

Thank you in advance for helping us by completing the form and bringing it with you. 

If you would like a little more advance information about the registration process at a local event why not read our QUICK GUIDE TO REGISTRATION?

NOTE: Current members of an orienteering club who have their own registered SI-Card can continue to come to Registration and go through the speedy entry system.  If in any doubt whether this applies to you then you could read the quick guide as above for more information about the registration process.

START AND FINISH: These will both be close to Registration. Start times will be from 1.30pm to 3pm.

COURSE CLOSURE TIME: 4pm.  Controls will start to be brought in from this time.  Please make sure you arrive in plenty of time to register, get to the start and complete your course before controls begin to be brought in.

Course Information

There will be White, Yellow and Orange courses for newcomers and improvers.  There will also be a Green course for more experienced orienteers.  Although this area is in the city of Edinburgh it is excellent for all orienteering skill levels.  

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

Seniors (born 1995 or earlier)
British Orienteering members - £3
Non-members - £5

Juniors (born 1996 or later)
British Orienteering members - £2
Non-members - £2.50

Students
British Orienteering members - £2
Non-members - £2.50

Groups (Adults + children)
British Orienteering members - £4
Non- members - £5

SportIdent (SI) electronic timing will be used.  If you have your own SI-Card (dibber) please bring it with you. We'll have SI-Cards for hire free of charge but there is a £30 charge if lost. If you would like to buy your own SI-Card then a variety are available directly from SportIdent UK   The choice may be confusing and it may help you to know that the SI-Cards which ESOC hires out are very similar to the most basic model shown on the linked page - the SI-Card 8.

Contacts / Officials

Phone Janet on 0131 225 7771

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.

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