Corstorphine Hill

ESOC local event in Edinburgh and the Lothians

Sat 14th Mar 2020

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

Results

Results are here

Winsplits are here

LOST PROPERTY: A brand-new large Silva baseplate compass on a red string.  Contact  org.uk if you lost it.

General Information

Hot on the heels of the bigger event on 23rd February this event is especially for newcomers and improvers. There will however also be a course especially for experienced orienteers.

Dress: Please check the weather forecast and dress appropriately.  Even though this area is within the city of Edinburgh, it is can still be cold, even on a fine late Winter/early Spring afternoon. Much of the open land faces West and can be windy and cold.

Map: Recently re-surveyed and revised. Printed at 1:5000 scale for White, Yellow and Orange courses, and at 1:7500 for Green courses. All on A4 sheets.

Terrain:  City parkland with a mixture of open fields and wooded hillside, with plenty of rock and contour detail; some steep slopes and crags.  Note that for the small paths, boulders and crags only the most prominent have been mapped. The terrain can be wet/slippery/muddy depending on the weather in the weeks beforehand.

Other Users: This area is very well used by the general public including other runners and many dog walkers.  Please respect their right to be there at the same time as you are orienteering and slow down as necessary.

Dogs: Dogs are allowed and should be kept under close control at all times. 

Course Closure Time: Please note that all competitors should be back at download by 4pm at the latest. Controls will be brought in at 4pm.  

Safety: The area is currently very wet and muddy. Some paths descend quite steeply and have rocky sections, and can be very slippery when wet – take care!  Steep slopes in the forest can be very slippery with leaves over mud, whether you are climbing or descending. There are some high crags that are potentially dangerous.

Coronavirus:  No specific instructions from British Orienteering or Scottish Orienteering yet for small orienteering events, but please heed Government advice in terms of the precautions everyone can take to limit the spread of this virus.

MEDICAL CONDITIONS: You have the option of downloading and completing this Medical Form. It could be life saving if the organisers are aware of any existing medical conditions in the event of an incident. You can leave it at registration/enquires in a sealed envelope that will only be opened if required and destroyed after the event.

Location

Nearest town: City of Edinburgh

• Grid Ref: NT203746
• Postcode: EH4 7BL
• Latitude: 55.958472
• Longitude: -3.27947
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

Head for Clermiston Road North in the city of Edinburgh.  There is a small public car park on the east side of Clermiston Road North. There will be a kite at the entrance to the car park.  Competitors should turn in at the kite and follow signs thereafter to the off road competitor only parking which within Barnton Quarry, (post code EH4 7BN). Please park as directed as space is limited.  Barnton Quarry is a disused stone quarry, later used as a military command centre. It is now being converted into a cold war museum and education centre. The surrounding quarry walls are steep and high and there is equipment stored around the parking space. Please ensure that none of your group climbs on the walls or interferes with any equipment.

It is possible to come to this event by public transport. Check Lothian Buses for information. The nearest are the stops “Clermiston Road North” (services 21 and 200), about 100m from Registration, and “Clermiston Crescent” (services 1 and 26) at 250m.  Other buses, mostly those heading towards the Forth Bridge, also pass along Queensferry Road reasonably close to this event.

Registration & Start Times

Registration and Starts from 1.30pm to 2.30pm for newcomers to orienteering and from 1.30pm to just before 3pm (sharp) for experienced orienteers.  Registration will be in/next to car parking and the Start and Finish will be a short easy walk from parking (in different directions). You should still leave enough time to arrive, park, register and pay and get to the start by 3pm.  

COURSE CLOSURE TIME: Please note that courses have a closure time of 4pm after which controls will be brought in.  You should be back at Registration/Download by 4pm.  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.

It is not necessary - or possible – to pre-enter for this event.  Everyone is very welcome, just to turn up.  You can however save time by printing off and completing the ESOC  ADVANCE REGISTRATION FORM and bring it with you to the event. This will save a lot of time and typed forms easier to read so we should get your name right on the results!!    

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 FOR CURRENT ORIENTEERING CLUB MEMBERS: If you are a current member of an orienteering club orienteering on your own and have your own SI registered in your own name you can to come to Registration and go through the speedy entry system.  If in any doubt whether this applies to you then it is best to complete the attached application form and bring it with you. 

DATA PROTECTION:  Completion of the Registration/Entry Form for this event confirms your agreement to have your entry details stored on a computer system and for your name and age class to appear in the results on the ESOC website and the British Orienteering website. More information about ESOC's Data Privacy Policy. 

Course Information

As usual for ESOC local events there will be White (1.2k) , Yellow (1.9k) and Orange (2.4k) courses.

There will also be a Green (3.8k) course with an extra option for ‘corridor’ training especially for experienced orienteers. For this corridor training you have only a narrow strip of the map, typically 50-100m wide, centred on the route between controls. So you have to navigate carefully to stay within the strip (or you’ll be off the map!). It’s a good exercise on an area with lots of paths, like Corstorphine Hill, because it’s very difficult to take an easier route going round the paths – the mapped strip will usually be away from the relevant paths.

NOTE: The courses have been planned to be very different to those offered at the bigger event held on Corstorphine Hill on 23rd February.

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 only.  ENTRY FEES are shown below.  Note that entry fees are lower for those who are members of orienteering clubs.  If you would like to join ESOC you can find out how to do so on our MEMBERSHIP PAGE.

Note that a Junior is a competitor who was born in 2000 or later and an Adult (Senior) is a competitor who was born in 1999 or earlier.

SportIdent (SI) electronic timing will be used.   If you would like to buy your own dibber (SI-Card/Timing Chip) 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

Early enquiries can be made by email to: org.uk 

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.