Discussion: USA Team JWOC Blogs

The US Team Blog has just been updated with the first of the JWOC blog posts! Check out what the team has been up to here.

Great post!

Some people have asked about the maps and terrain. I find the forest really challenging. I've been thinking about how to describe it to a US audience, and here's my best shot:

-vegetation reminds me of complex go / no-go vegetation of DVOA's Fair Hill or the SW hillside on COC's Fort Steilacoom, although I don't remember if Fair Hill's dark green was as awful as here. Dark green is often blackberry brambles or some other prickly nasties, Scotchbroom taller than me seems prevalent in light green and rough open, and sometimes in white woods. Vegetation corridors matter.

-complex (and high) rock features and contour detail like West Point or Burnt Mountain on the east coast, or perhaps Fishtrap (COC/EWOC) out west. Knolls are usually rocky "somethings" that cannot be defined as either a boulder, bare rock hilltop, or a cliff. It took a few days to start making sense out of how rock features are mapped.

-heat like Arizona or California in the summer - we've been training in the mid- to upper-80s, and competition week will peak in the 90s or 100s.

The combination of all three has been challenging, and it's really impressive to watch the juniors figuring it out and starting to move through the terrain with confidence.

Thanks for the USA -relevant description.
I was very curious about this unfamiliar, slightly unusual, but very interesting terrain.

I agree with the above description. Add in for Washington folks it reminds me if Salmon La Sac was placed on top of Vantage map. Crazy complex rocky areas and then ribbons of impassible green everywhere.

I took a couple videos today and will post tomorrow on fb showing the map and what that looks like in real life. I’ve never seen more complex navigation then this. Very challenging.

Really impressed with these juniors and how hard they have been working to get the hang of these maps. They are learning and growing so much as orienteers and building friendships.

And…the heat wave and existing fires have resulted in a ban on entering the woods in Portugal through Jul 15. Sprint and forest relay are still on as of now, waiting to find out if other urban races will occur during the week or if forest races will be postponed. Closing ceremonies were to be Jul 16 after the relay.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/portugal-on-w...

Oh boy what a bummer... any updates? Were they able to reposition the forest races somehow?

No definitive information yet. There's still a chance, if unlikely, that they will hold the forest relay the 16th if the ban lifts. As for the middles/the long, there's been talk of holding them later but the general consensus seems to be that even if they are held after the offical window of jwoc, most of us won't be able to make them.

In terms of added events, we'll be having a Sprint Relay on the 13th. Each country gets 2 medal eligible teams (Woman, Man, Man, Woman), and I think our extra women will be racing with the South Africans.

I think there might also be a 3 person sprint relay later? But that won't be a medal race.

The second post is out here. Get caught up on what is going on with JWOC and what the team has been doing in spare time!

The last post is now live here! Check it out!

Not JWOC, but the US teams WUOC post is now live! go check it out, as well as the past posts about JWOC, O-Ringen, and the World Games!