Orienteering USA WTOC 2027 Interest Survey

Orienteering USA is currently considering submitting a bid to host the World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC) in 2027. We would like to determine whether we have the minimum necessary team to support this event as well as what geographic part of the country is best prepared to host.

Whether you are a veteran trail orienteer or a newcomer to the discipline of Trail Orienteering, we welcome your input. Let us know if you are interested in helping to bring WTOC to the US or have some great ideas of a venue near you that would be ideal for Trail-O by filling out this brief survey. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

Photo courtesy Natashza Figiel, WTOC 2022

International Ski Orienteering wraps up season in Estonia

Event writeup courtesy Carl Fey

Several US Ski-orienteers took part in the ski-orienteering races in Haanja, Estonia February 23-25, 2024 which included the World Cup Final, the Open Nordic Junior Meeting in Ski-Orienteering. The World Masters Ski-Orienteering Championships, and some open races for others. The organizers had difficult conditions to deal with as it was +1 to +5C all week and the snow was melting in front of our eyes. Given the difficult conditions, the experienced Estonian organizers did a great job. In recent years Estonia and Latvia are probably the countries which have progressed the most in ski-orienteering with increasing good results and breath.

Veteran Sharon Crawford had her normal strong performances and won good metals in all of the races in D80—sprint, middle, and long. Sharon commented, “The races were very difficult technically. I found the swamps especially challenging. The skiing was fun but really treacherous.” In H55 Carl Fey was 7th in the Sprint, 6th in the long, and 9th in the middle. Carl commented, “these were very difficult races technically in terms of both skiing and orienteering. I especially enjoyed the rolling winding downhill trails through the woods requiring good skiing skills. The organizers did a good job to make choosing the best route choice difficult”

In the Open Nordic Junior Meeting H18 class Erik Fey (USA) was 12th in the sprint and 7th in the medium. In the long he raced in the H16 class which was not part of the Nordic Junior Meeting and won. In the long race Erik arrived at the finish totally soaking wet from his waist down after having skied across a lake which had much standing water on top of it which got sprayed all over him by his skis. After the races Erik commented, “I am really happy with my long race. The medium race was really interesting. In the H14 open class (not part of the Nordic Junior Meeting) Mark Fey (USA) was 5th in the sprint, 3rd in the long, and 2nd in the medium. When asked about the races Mark commented, “It was very exciting to take part in my first international ski-orienteering races. The orienteering was quite difficult. I really liked the fast steep downhills.”

The World Cup did not have any US participants with some US Ski-O team members taking part in the American Birkinbiner ski marathon which occurred in the US at the same time. The sprint races were won by Niklas Ekstrom from Finland and surprise winner Judith Traubaite from Lithuania. The pursuit races were won by Niklas Ekstrom from Finland and Anna Ulvensoen from Norway. In the middle distance the crowd went wild when home favorite Daisy Kudre Schnyder from Estonia won the women’s race. The close race in the men’s class was also exciting with Evert Toivonen finishing just one second ahead of Jorgen Baklid. Norway was excited to win the overall team competition for the 2024 season.

The events ended with the organizers arranging a very nice banquet. Two highlights of the banquet were a ski-o triva quiz which among other things featured a ski-o map from Craftsbury which people had to identify what country it was located in. Most of the participants thought it was located in Norway…. Local dancers also taught participants some Estonian dancing. Sharon Crawford was a popular participant in the dancing where it was uncovered that she had done square dancing as a child.

March Forum: Alternative Course Formats

Are you looking for new ideas to spice up your next local event? Next month’s Orienteering USA forum topic will feature Alternative Course formats and will take place on Tuesday evening, March 12th at 8:30pm EST.

Mary Jones from Orienteer Kansas will present some ideas from their Explorer course which is offered at all of their regular events and is designed as an introduction to orienteering for beginners of all ages. Joseph Huberman from Backwoods Orienteering Klub will discuss the Fox Chase format that is used at some of their events.

We are still looking for a couple more folks to round out the panel so if you have a unique twist on the standard course formats that you’d like to share with the orienteering community, please contact Joseph Huberman @ vpclubs@nullorienteeringusa.org.

Everyone including organizers and participants is encouraged to join the discussion in two weeks on Google Meet at https://meet.google.com/ama-bpex-yrv. You can catch previous monthly forums you may have missed over on the Orienteering USA YouTube Channel.

Orienteer Kansas – New Year’s Day O’ at Rock Haven (via OK Facebook Page)

Announcing the 2024 US National Orienteering Team

The Selection Committee (Peggy Dickison, Eric Weyman, and Matt Smith) is pleased to announce the 2024 US National Orienteering Team.

The committee carefully examined each of the many applications (57) to determine Team readiness and squad placement. Several 2023 Team members chose not to apply this year, a few narrowly missed making the Team, and some new faces have emerged.

Placements were based primarily on the Selection Criteria, weighing OUSA and IOF rankings highest, along with head-to-head competition and other known factors. In general, we were most flexible/inclusive with the Juniors, who we understand are still improving and have less-consistent results; less flexible/inclusive with the Performance Squad; and least flexible/inclusive with the Elite Squad.

With several athletes on the cusp of qualifying for the Team, we expect to add members after the spring season. We are excited to see our team continue to attract excellent athletes. Welcome to four new athletes to the Junior Squad! Be sure to check the full roster with athlete photos, bios and links on the Orienteering USA National Team web page

2024 US National Orienteering Team

  • Elite Squad
    • Greg Ahlswede – DVOA
    • Joseph Barrett – QOC
    • Tori Borish – RMOC
    • Evalin Brautigam – WCOC
    • Alison Campbell – DVOA, STAG (Scotland)
    • Alison Crocker – CROC
    • Thomas Curiger – OK Orion (Jämsjö, Sweden)
    • Sydney Fisher – EMPO
    • Bridget Hall – NEOC
    • Keegan Harkavy – NEOC
    • Anthony Riley – DVOA
    • Danny Riley – NEOC
    • Ricardo Schaniel – Bussola OK (Switzerland)
  • Performance Squad
    • Lily Addicott – GAOC
    • Diana Aleksieva – QOC
    • Eric Bone – COC
    • Julia Doubson – BAOC
    • Thomas Laraia – MNOC, Edinburgh University Orienteering Club
    • Shawn Mather – USMAOC
    • Kirsten Mayland – DVOA
    • Annika Mihata – COC
    • Oriana Riley – DVOA
  • Junior Squad
    • Ben Brady – COC / GrizO
    • Anna Campbell – NEOC
    • Ben Conley – New Member! – Cascade Orienteering Club / Grizzly Orienteering
    • Ben Cooper – COC
    • Ian Dunlap – OLOU
    • Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck – NEOC
    • Ludvig Hagwall – New Member! – Järla Orientering (Stockholm, Sweden)
    • Greta Leonard – COC
    • Alex Merka – QOC
    • Jackson Rupe – COC
    • Emilia Schmidt – QOC
    • Zoe Sibthorp – COC
    • Ava Suhocki – DVOA
    • Paige Suhocki – DVOA
    • Samantha Walker – New Member! – Quantico Orienteering Club
    • Astrid White – New Member! – Grizzly Orienteering / OK Linné (Uppsala, Sweden)
    • Zariah Zosel – COC / GrizO

Monthly Forum #4 – Replay Available

This month’s OUSA monthly forum featured Barb Bryant, from Navigation Games taking a look at the current state of teaching orienteering in schools. We look at a few successes – and failures – from around the country and the world, and do a deep dive into the approach of Navigation Games, a member club of Orienteering USA.

Click the image below to watch the replay or visit the Orienteering YouTube Channel to view previous forums.

https://youtu.be/pqXukkR6fWY

Orienteering USA seeks project proposals

As a volunteer run organization, Orienteering USA recognizes that many of our most important initiatives come from our membership. At meetings held during the Fall of 2023, the OUSA Board of Directors discussed ways to promote individuals and clubs to pursue ‘passion projects’ that further the sport at the local, regional and national level. The board has subsequently adopted a strategic focus to sponsor innovation and improve services in orienteering!

We are looking for projects you want to make happen, but don’t have the funding to support. Projects may be of any scope: local, regional, or even national. At the end of your project, we’ll ask you to report back on how it went, at least to the Board, and possibly to a broader audience (especially if your idea is really successful). 

Some examples of ideas we’d like to see take off:

  •   – Innovative ways to increase participation in your area
  •   – Attend or present about orienteering at a conference or to a group
  •   – Purchase equipment that would expand your organization’s capabilities
  •   – Bring in an expert (or be the expert that OUSA sends out to help people with orienteering)
  •   – Host a training camp
  •   – Publicize a major event
  •   – Put on your first major event
  •   – Make a map you otherwise couldn’t support
  •   …and probably many more we haven’t thought to list yet!

Interested? Fill out the Google Form by following this link:

TeamUSA Ski-O Competes in Austria

This press release was originally prepared by US Ski-O Team Coach Carl Fey with edits by Orienteering USA. Photos courtesy Carl Fey.

The 2024 World Ski Orienteering Championships (WSOC) are taking place in Ramsau, Austria from January 23-27. The Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships (JWSOC) and European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships (EYSOC) are being held concurrently on the same maps. The US National Team has skiers competing in all three events.

Ramsau is famous for its Dachstein glacier which is the most famous place in the world for summer skiing and is also a popular place for skiing in the winter with an extensive network of cross-country ski trails and beautiful mountain scenery. The weather conditions have been challenging with warm weather and rain resulting in melting and slow snow making it difficult for organizers and skiers alike. The organizers had to change some of courses less than 24 hours before the races.

US veteran ski orienteer Adrian Owens (GMOC) has had the best US result in the men’s World Championship races this week where he has had a friendly battle with fellow US team member Ari Ofsevit (CSU). To get to the start of the sprint race skiers took a chairlift resulting in fast conditions being mostly downhill through an extensive network of trials requiring quick decisions at high speed. In the sprint race, won by Jörgen Baklid (NOR), Adrian Owens placed 63rd with Ari Ofsevit close behind in 64th separated by a mere 21 seconds.

The grueling pursuit race was a a mass-start long race run as a one-man relay with three loops and Jörgen Baklid once again taking the win. Adrian was 54th and Ari was 55th. When asked about the race Adrian said, “I went and fought and fought on the course and finally made it to the end. There were really a lot of tough climbs today.” In the middle distance Adrian Owens was 59th place and Ari Ofsevit was 61st. When asked about the races in Ramsau US skier Ari Ofsevit replied, “Our hosts here in Ramsau have done an admiral job in somewhat adverse conditions. The long and middle distance races took us through many fields and forests with significant climb before an exhilarating downhill into the stadium”.

The US was represented by Alex Merka (QOC) in the Women’s Junior World Championships. This was Alex’s debut in international ski-o racing. She ended up 33rd in the sprint, 30th in the long race where she showed off great determination and stamina, and had her best race in the middle distance finishing 33rd. When asked about her races she said, “After the sprint race, which was skied in a blinding snowstorm, it was nice to have a sunny day for the long course, but that produce slow snow. I have discovered that long courses in ski-orienteering are really tough physically. I am happy that myself and my skis are durable.”

The US was represented by Erik Fey (ROC) in the Boy’s European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships. While not quite the results Erik had hoped for, he had impressive results for the US with a 14th in the sprint, a 16th in the long, and an 18th in the middle. Erik showed off his skiing speed staying near the front for the first five controls in the long mass-start race, however, he was not able to turn this into the results he had hoped for. Erik said, “This was my first time to race in the hilly Alps which was a good experience but created very different orienteering route choices from what I am used to. It inspires me to be here, and I will train even harder for next year.”

The racing concludes with the relay races on January 27th. Races have been covered live on TV in several countries and can also be viewed on IOF TV (live or via replay). The team expressed their thanks to the great cooking by US Ski-O Team Cook and motivator Allison Van Akkeren who is the former US Biathlon Team cook and cooked healthy dinners for a hungry team all week. The team also expressed their thanks to US Team Coach Carl Fey for his long days of waxing, support at the races, attending team leaders meetings, and briefing team members in the evening. The US team has often not had a coach at international ski-o races and several team members mentioned this was much appreciated so that they could focus more on racing.

The US Ski-Orienteering Team would like to say a big thank you to Orienteering USA and other supporters this year. The US Ski-O Team hopes to field an even larger team at international races next year. This is only possible with financial support from Orienteering USA and others. Donations, which may be designated for the US Ski-O Team, can be made at: https://orienteeringusa.org/support/

For more information about the US Ski-Orienteering Team or how to qualify, please contact Adrian Owens, Chairperson of the US Ski-O Team Executive Committee at: aowens@nullsterlingcollege.edu

2024 Anza-Borrego Desert Orienteering Festival Event Recap

January 13-15, 2024

  • Events:
    • Adventure Trek (mini-rogaine)
    • Middle Distance Maze
    • Night-O Goat
    • Classic NRE
  • Host: San Diego Orienteering
  • Venue: Anza-Borrego State Park, Borrego Springs CA
  • Event Director: Mark Prior
  • Event Website

Results, Photos & Maps

2024 Georgia Navigator Cup Event Recap

January 12-15, 2024

  • Friday: Middle Distance NRE
  • Saturday/Sunday: 2-Day Classic
    • including Southeastern Interscholastic Championships
  • Monday: Mal Harding Extreme-O
  • Host(s): GAOC (Fri-Sun) & VOC (Mon)
  • Venue: Red Top Mountain State Park, Cartersville, GA
  • Event Director: Fred Zendt
  • Course Designers:
    • Fri: Sam Smith
    • Sat: Andi Berger
    • Sun: Austin Fowler
  • Event Website

Results, Photos & Maps