maptalk.co.nz Forum   |   Links    

  Forum

Forum Home   Start New Topic   Edit Profile   Register  

1   2   3   4   5  

Where have all the orienteers gone!?

Show Profile  pete s Posted: 17 May 2010, 10:53 AM  
Unusually newcomers appear to have outnumbered established orienteers by some significant amount in the NW Rogaine and MTBO series - this fantastic on one level, great to see new faces etc, but disappointing on another level - so many keen regulars absent from what has been an awesome series. Just wondering why this might have been? Is it a result of the flashy new website, or is the prospect of crowds too much to bare, or maybe the promise of some decent prizes puts people off (so far the value of prizes I got would have paid for my entries a couple of times over!)???

Where is everyone??

Show Profile  Paul I Posted: 18 May 2010, 3:36 AM  
can someone make sure ps doesn't win any more prizes

Show Profile  James Posted: 19 May 2010, 5:34 AM  
Perhaps the score event format isnt as exciting as a traditional orienteering course? Not quite so many technical challenges in the score/rogaine style when you are just linking up so many controls close together. Obviously there is a different element in selecting the optimal route in the score events though. Also, I know a few elites had other comps on over the past weekend.......

Show Profile  Tane Cambridge Posted: 19 May 2010, 6:18 AM  
Maybe they have all gone Orienteering instead? Rogaines and a Score events are fantastic for organisers (less work, less time req. etc) and newcomers (caters for as much or as little as they want/are capable of...) but to seasoned orienteers they just pain suck. They are often boring and lack the navigational challenges that you get in orienteering.

As for MTBO...as Greg will tell you its the worst of both worlds, shit orienteering and shit Mountain biking...so having a score event is like adding a multiplying factor of shitness.

Show Profile  HeadHoncho Posted: 19 May 2010, 6:43 AM  
Given what Tane endured in the weekend, no surprise to see "shit" at the forefront of his vocabulary.

Show Profile  Paul I Posted: 19 May 2010, 6:51 AM  
i think in this case, and it might be a rarity, the 'score' events have actually been great. probably due to nice terrain, lots of people, the mass start factor and priiizes. Desert will come later as the oy series and multi days start.
the only way i could think it could get better is if possibly setting more controls on the flatter more technical areas rather than too much slogging up and down hills so much.
A true rogaine wouldn't have such nice maps, and i most likely for one, wouldn't go

Show Profile  rob.g Posted: 19 May 2010, 10:05 AM  
Tane,

Marquita is very good at sprint orienteering and obviously MTBO, and reckons the skills needed are very similar, so I suggest you give up sprints or have a go at MTBO on a decent map before you rubbish it.

If I had called the series score events I would have attracted a lot fewer newcomers, so I'd rather keep the term rogaine.

James,

We'll have a contour only map and all the controls out for a training this Sunday. We'll see if that can challenge you a bit more?

Show Profile  Michael Posted: 19 May 2010, 10:23 AM  
The "nicer" the maps (in Paul's sense) the further they are from newcomers' previous experience. We shouldn't expect newcomers to enjoy them. And we shouldn't necessarily expect orienteers who have become good at fixed-order courses to enjoy the free order challenge.

What I WOULD expect is an understanding by experienced orienteers that different formats and maps appeal to different people, and an acceptance that the variety will achieve greater participation. Marketers don't demand "you must like this!" They do research to find out what would be attractive.

Show Profile  robbie Posted: 19 May 2010, 11:29 AM  
We had some complaints from teachers at the Auckland Champs yesterday that there have been no forest events prior to the champs for students. I think this is a valid point and we will address this in the counties area next year.Even the North Island secondary champs were mainly on sanddune farmland and even the Club Nationals. In fact the last forest event was probably back in October last year!

Show Profile  pete s Posted: 19 May 2010, 2:05 PM  
Well I must be as far from a purist as you can get, reading some of these posts - I love orienteering, but I also like a bit of variety during the year, so jump at the chance to mix it up a bit - sprints, longs, MTBO, rogaines - its all good to me, and personally I'd be bored(ish) sticking with one format only. They all cater to different things I like - rogaines are awesome for strategy/planning skills, orienteering for technical, MTBO for memorising etc etc

It's a bit like having different types of friends to meet different social needs - if I want someone to drink rum with till 2 in the morning, I choose Rob G, if it's someone to beat in a friendly MTB race its Marquita.....etc etc :-)

Show Profile  Marquita G Posted: 19 May 2010, 2:58 PM  
Don't you mean "...be beaten by..."

Show Profile  rob.g Posted: 19 May 2010, 2:58 PM  
Robbie,

Slater road has been planted in trees for 15 years, and that was used last weekend. Pulpit Rock was used 3 weeks earlier, is all forest, and heaps of school kids came to both, so they had some forest preparation.

Show Profile  nick Posted: 20 May 2010, 1:15 PM  
I agree, Pete. Variety!



Show Profile  Keith Posted: 20 May 2010, 8:27 PM  
Tane - touche

Show Profile  pete s Posted: 21 May 2010, 1:57 PM  
Tane would be the last person I'd touch

Show Profile  robbie Posted: 23 May 2010, 8:52 AM  
Rob G
My guess is that teachers would like some orienteering events before their students run in the Auckland Champs.There is a diference between rogaines and orienteering. The students are in a three minute start situation doing a course on their own. This is quite different to a rogaine. There is no reason why we can not cater for both. This years program somehow missed out the orienteering part. I can understand where the teachers are coming from and we need to fix it next year.


1   2   3   4   5  


Ruffneck Productions © Ruffneck Productions maptalk.co.nz