The New England Orienteering Club

USOF-Sanctioned A Meet
May 26-27, 2012
To Benefit the USA Ski-Orienteering Team 

Five days of orienteering organized by the New England Orienteering Club and professionally squeezed into two days (May 26-27, 2012, the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend).

Most places need 5 days to hold a 5-day event, though the Swedes seem to need 6 days for their famous O’Ringen and the Turks manage to hold the Istanbul 5-Day in just 4 days. There have been a couple of times it’s been done in one day (NEOC’s Rt. 128 O’Ringen many years ago and UNO’s O’Ringen more recently come to mind), but that seems a little rushed. Two days seems just right.

Mt. Holyoke Range, looking WSW

Event 1 (Saturday morning) and Event 2 (Saturday afternoon) are the Western Mass Champs — Two middle-distance races using a brand new area (Earl’s Trails) on the north slopes of the Holyoke Range. Events 1 and 2 are both USOF-Sanctioned A Meets. Parking is at the Notch Visitors Center where Rt. 116 crosses the Holyoke Range between Amherst and South Hadley. Distance from parking to starts will be less than 500 meters. Map is 1:10,000, 5 meter contours, fieldwork November 2011. Courses will be Middle distance — approximate lengths: Blue 4 km, Red 3 km, Green 2.5 km, Brown 2 km, Orange 2.5 km, Yellow and White 2 km.

Event 3, 4, and 5 are the A-Meet's special events with a limited number of courses.

  • Event 3 (Saturday late afternoon) is a sprint on the campus of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with two courses: long (3 km) and short (2 km).
  • Event 4 (Sunday morning) is a sprint at Cemetery Hill in Northampton with two courses: long (3 km) and short (2 km).
  • Event 5 (Sunday noon) is a mass-start event with forking, at Mt. Tom just south of Northampton. There will be three courses: three course: long (8 km), medium (6 km), and short (4 km).

Come join for part or all of the “5 Day” – you can just come for the day and enjoy two A meet events in a brand new area, or stay for the sprint, or stay through Sunday and do all 5 events. In any case, lots of fun orienteering without taking up the entire weekend.

A Benefit for the USA Ski-Orienteering Team

The Ski-O Team had two top-10 places at the last World Championships (Sweden in 2011). Help support them as they strive to do even better at the 2013 World Champs in far-away Kazakhstan. All net proceeds from the 5 Day will help pay their expenses.

Other information

No shirts, no awards, no banquet, no fancy bulletins. Registration for all events will be on-line only. Pre-registration is required. There will be no on-site registration for any event.

Deadline is Monday, May 14, with reduced fees if you register by April 20. Registration after that date is possible only if start slots are available. No entries will be accepted after May 20.

For details and registration, please use the links in the menu at left.