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Posted by Grant on 8. October 2009 18:16
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We're excited to have 4 -- yes, 4 -- orienteering maps to combine together for our November event here in Switzerland. It adds up to over 8 linear miles of detailed 1:10,000 scale maps, all updated in the last couple years, and brings together work from a couple of different orienteering clubs in the region south of Zurich. We'll provide a 1:25,000 scale overview map with all the checkpoints printed on it, and let participants mark up the orienteering maps as they see fit. For example, somebody planning to just hike for the 5 hours won't care about the areas furthest away from the brewery, and they could choose to ignore all but the mapped areas closest to the start/finish.
This is a "score" event meaning each checkpoint is worth a certain amount of points (10 pts, 20 pts, etc) and the winner is determined by who got the most amount of points in the alloted time. If a racer exceeds the time limit, we have some stiff time penalties that deduct from their point totals, so coming back within the allotted 5 hours is key. You also don't want to come back late and miss all the beer and pizza at the Spiffing Ales brewery!
In another interesting twist, we're going to permit mountain bikers to get in on the fun. I have to give careful thought to how to balance the points for bikers vs the non-bikers; I will probably start all racers on foot with a base of 200 points, for example, and then the bikers will start with a sizeable deficit to overcome. I need to do some number crunching and see what will work best -- but I do want to favor those on foot so that the bikers will need to be flying to be competitive. How would you weight the points to make for an even (or relatively even) playing field?
No matter how many points the bikers get, the descents from the high points on the course can be steep and "flying" is a word I would use to describe the trip off the ridgeline. The climbs up to the ridge, though, are punishing and Ironman Switzerland uses a paved climb through here that everyone calls "The Beast" as it's a series of long and steep switchbacks. Descending from "the Beast" is worth all the effort, though!
It will be fun to see how it all develops.