Discussion: Great Event; Greater Memories

Just want to post a big thank you to the members of TOC and Ukrainian OC for putting on the Ontario Championships in Ganaraska Forest east of Toronto this past weekend. Good maps and courses. The only thing missing were a whole lot of competitors but that is the loss of those who chose not to participate. The rest of us were treated to uncommonly fine weather for the Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend and some challenging navigation.
For me it was something even more special as two of the events took place in terrain I first saw in 1971 (Middle) and 1973 (Long) and had not seen again in 35 years.
Today I compared the maps with the old versions. We've come a long way baby! I sure would have liked to have had those green overlays back in the early 70's.
What were the biggest changes in the area? 1) A lot more trails were evident thanks probably to extensive use by off-road motorcyclists and 2) portions of forest that formerly were impenetrable thick plantations now featured wide open stands of pines, each probably at least 15 m tall, and great running.
Thanks again to Heather Shepherd, Roman Malanczyj and their teams.

Glad it went so well, and the weather definitely was fantastic! Looks like 120 people registered, which is pretty good by southern Ontario standards. The Ontario Champs always lose a significant percentage of potential competitors because they are held on Thanksgiving weekend when many people have family commitments. This may have been less of an issue in past years when there were more families orienteering together, so they could plan their holiday around it. The trade-off is that people from outside the area are better able to travel here on a long weekend.