SOL 5 – 2013Ardchattan, 15 September
The first Scottish Orienteering League event after the summer was organised by Loch Eck Orienteers, and there were some impressive ESOC results, despite appalling weather.
Ardchattan is on the north shore of Loch Etive, near Connel Bridge, north of Oban, and was the scene of the final event at the 2011 Scottish 6 Days. It’s a large area, mainly open hillside, with tussock and bog myrtle, bracken on the lower slopes, and some patches of gorse. There are trees along the streams, some of which are in deep gorges.
Although Saturday had fine weather, the forecast for Sunday was very bad and it was even feared that the event might have to be cancelled, but in the end it did go ahead. Heavy rain and strong winds overnight continued in the morning, so cagoules were compulsory, it was very wet underfoot, and the streams were all in spate. Some courses were modified to avoid the worst stream crossings, but several were still exciting enough to cause delays to some of us. Later starts enjoyed a brief sunny interval, though all too soon the next squall swept in. However, everyone seemed to enjoy their courses, and gained great satisfaction from finishing at all.
ESOC members in the top half of the results were:
Brown (13 competitors) – Andrew Lindsay 2nd
Short Brown (24) – Claire Ward 1st
Blue (29) – Crawford Lindsay 10th, Heather Thomson 13th
Short Blue (19) – Keith Brown 2nd
Green (21) – Janice Nisbet 4th, Margaret Dalgleish 10th
Short Green (9) – Jim Clark 4th, Brian Yates 5th
Orange (23) – Kerry Wood 9th
Yellow (8) – Rachel Brown 2nd
White (5) – Megan Brown 1st
Results, Routegadget and other details about the event are available on the SOL 5 event page of the EckO website.
Other entries categorised under: Event Reports