Discussion: US orienteering in Skogssport

There´s a four page article in the brand new issue of Skogssport (Swedish O Magazine). It features a Quantico OC meet at Little Bennet Regional Park and among the people interviewed is (of course) Boris G.
Some of the things mentioned are: JROTC participants, the cost of using some parks, number of events and competitors across the country, Midatlantic Junior Team and also the problem with burn-out after 1993 WOC.
Many nice colour photos and a map of the blue course are also included.

That's just cruel Bubo. Teasing.
How can we see that article?

Little Bennett is one of our less good parks. That's a shame.
Boris is one of our least boring people. So they got that part right.

Doesn't matter if the park is good if you're just reading about it from Sweden. They don't have to run there. But reading an interview with an interesting person is good.

The map isn't particularly interesting to look at, unlike some of our others. But yeah, any good publicity is nice.

The editor promised to mail me a few copies, so hopefully I'll be able to bring them to some QOC events.

It is a shame that Boris, who is internationally -recognized elite athlete, was used by QOC for designing the course on the least interesting terrain, where he could not do much to help it.

He could be quite useful for designing a course, or at least for consulting an incompetent course-designer at the recent meet @ PWF, a quality terrain.

Lucky for everyone reading Skogssport that they didn’t interview Yurets.

gordhun>> I'll see if I can scan it and share somehow. I don´t have a site to publish it after (finally) cutting all ties to my old employer and all resources I could use there previously…
I suppose I could also mail a pdf for someone else to publish...

Leif, if it's in English and I was given permission I could post a PDF on the OUSA website.

It´s definitely in Swedish!

Maybe Boris can send me a translation. :-)

Did the US face significant burnout after 93? Curious what people would say.

I'm sure the few who were around in '93 and lived to tell the tale will do so here.

Reward the magazine!

A number of subscription options, including single issues, here:

http://skogssport.orientering.se/Prenumerera/

Single issues ('songs', via Chrome / Google translate):

Do you want to buy single numbers of the magazine?
Send an email to the address below. The price is SEK 60 per song.

You order your subscription at Agneta Deckner.

agneta.deckner@orientering.se
Tel
010-476 53 63

My feeling is that we did have significant burnout. Several people who had been very active basically vanished after WOC93 was over. The clubs that were most heavily involved became somewhat less active in the aftermath. It's possible that these changes would have happened with or without the WOC, hard to know for sure, but it's certainly tempting to suspect that it was cause and effect. And the big stimulus that the event was supposed to provide did not materialize as far as I'm concerned.

Another possible sign of WOC93 burnout is that since that event there has hardly been a peep in the US or in Canada for that matter from anyone suggesting that we should do it again. Same with WMOC and JWOC.

Thanks JJ. Does anyone have a picture of the KSwiss O Shoes that might actually be in style now?

Gord: I think you could make a case for TOC and the 1992 WC having an impact on that club, although bigger issue was people moving away to other clubs in Canada. The previous WC in Canada was in Alberta in 1990 and AB hosted several major events afterwards, including World Masters.

Actually gordhun, the US seriously considered bidding for JWOC about a decade ago. That plan was largely derailed by the hiring of an executive director.

Better to go out on top, having dared (and achieved) great things, than to fade away.

I know what I’d choose.

I recall, after 1993, there was 1997 WMOC in Minnesota.
In late September. Terrain was very nice, and weather as well.

@yurets: I remember that WMOC in Camp Ripley very fondly even though I used both Q races to figure out how to orienteer when contours don't have lots of interesting details & micro-features.

I was more or less in the lead for the first 2/3 of the final, then I hit my knee against a fallen tree log and lost 20 min while hobbling to the finish. :-(

VWC97 did happen, with some problems, and many more that were evident only to those of us who could see behind the curtain. Unfortunately, the fine maps of fine terrain were located in a place where nobody lives, and as far as I know they have essentially never been used since, unlike the maps that were made for other international events in the Northeast (Moneyhole, Pawtuckaway, and the 1993 Harriman maps).

MNOC has in fact continued to be able to use those maps at least occasionally, and I was fortunate to be able to take advantage of one of those events. The terrain and forest were extraordinary and the mapping was really good. If there were any way to ever arrange a classic national championship there, it would be something any orienteer should mark down on their calendar at once.

Ah, it is good news that the maps have been put to use. The meet may have had some problems, but the terrain and the maps (and courses) were top notch.

It's not that we don't use them because nobody lives there, rather we can't use them because the land access is controlled by the Minnesota National Guard.

Are you saying we're not capable of sneaking past them? ;-) I can see how that might require some deliberate relationship building, though.

I'm still bewildered by the policies that made it near-impossible for COC to return to Ft. Lewis. We were in a good position to deal with the "parents must accompany their minor children at all times" and had figured out how to get certified by the Range Management staff so we (ie civilian COC members) could update maps.

But ultimately, it was dealing with the impact of environmentally-protected species moving onto military training lands was the biggest problem. This seems to happen often because training lands become refuges from surrounding urban development. It reduces military access to those areas, and lessens the chance of anyone else being able to predictably use them. When we realized the areas we planned to map had limited- to no-access year-round, we gave up.

Always worth having those discussions, though. You never know if it's just someone being stubborn, or if there are policies that tie their hands when it comes to land use.

Somehow there was a way to get access to Camp Ripley twenty years ago (including bringing a whole lot of foreign nationals there). It's a shame if that's no longer the case, but admittedly, a lot of things have changed in the interim.