The Youth Mapping Program March Map of the Month is Auburndale Park in Newton, MA.
This map has been used extensively for introductory orienteering training and for youth and scout group events.
“These maps have gotten a lot of use, and I am so grateful to have them to help teach beginners and grow the sport of orienteering.”
Are you interested in having a map made of your school, camp, or youth-serving organization? Learn more about the program and apply here.
Photos credits: Markku Vauhkonen, Takako Hirokawa, and the WSOC organizers.
Racing in Japan at the World Ski Orienteering Championships has concluded! 6” of fresh snow on the rest day contributed to a major change in skiing conditions. What had previously been fast and easily shortcutted was now extremely slow and soft. Comparing it to the mountainous Pursuit, veteran team member Chris Burnham described Thursday’s Middle distance as a more traditional Ski-O race, complete with a complex maze and plenty of challenging narrow track navigation.
In Friday’s mixed Sprint Relay, the US fielded two relay teams, with team member Lauren Wardwell making her international racing debut. This was the flattest course of all four days of racing, but with the mass-start format and six legs per team, complexity was high and the racing fast. A maze section where shortcutting was not allowed also made for excellent spectating.
We’d like to extend a big thank you to the organizers for putting on an excellent set of races! For the majority of the team, this was their first exposure to international Ski-O competition, and they all left hungry for more and looking forward to next year’s championships in Lillehammer. Arigatou gozaimashita, Japan!
Races at the World Ski Orienteering Championships in Rusutsu, Japan are underway! The US team has competed in both the Sprint and the Pursuit. Conditions have been fast and hard in the mornings, making shortcutting easy in both races. The US athletes especially enjoyed the Pursuit, which was on challenging mountainous terrain (~1000m climb). Athlete Tamra Kornfield described the off-trail descending as ‘exhilarating and edge of your seat’; we saw plenty of broken skis, boots, and poles to confirm this.
Following today’s rest day, the team will compete in the middle distance followed by the team sprints on the final day of racing. There is new snow on the ground, so conditions and strategies are expected to change dramatically!
The US team of four athletes arrived at Rusutsu Resort in Hokkaido, Japan last week for the World Ski Orienteering Championships. Racing kicks off on 3/2 with the Sprint, but the team has been busy preparing with training and some public races.
Some highlights from the preparation period:
Photos, numbered clockwise from top left, by Josh Yeaton (3) Takako Hirokawa (1, 2, 4), and Lauren Wardwell (5)
The next OUSA Forum will be on Tuesday, March 3rd at 9:00 pm ET and focus on ski orienteering.
In this session we will connect live with the US SkiO Team, racing at the World Ski Orienteering Championships in Japan, and hear about their experiences. We will learn some basics of ski orienteering, including tips for making good route choices, as well tips to take your ski orienteering to the next level. We will also explore how a club can develop a skiO program, drawing on the successful example of Grizzly Orienteering, and how that can help a club to recruit skiers to try foot orienteering. We will end the session by learning about tips to help your club organize a skiO race. The session will be lead by Carl Fey, Coach, US Ski-O Team with input from several other US ski orienteers.
Join us on Google Meet on Tuesday, March 3rd at 9:00pm ET.
This year the US sent six young athletes to the 2026 European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships and Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships, which took place February 4 – 8, 2026, in Luleå, Sweden.
US Team for the 2026 Junior World Ski-Orienteering Championships
Liam Browne, Grizzly Orienteering Club
Erik Fey, Rochester Orienteering Club and NSK
US Team for the 2026 European Youth Ski-Orienteering Championships
Boys Team
Euell Browne, Grizzly Orienteering Club
Espen Chitty, Grizzly Orienteering Club
Mark Fey, Rochester Orienteering Club and Nydalens SK
Girls Team
Caroline Chitty, Grizzly Orienteering Club
Read the team announcement here.
The team was accompanied by Kara Browne, who not only took all the photos featured in this post but also shared an inside look at the athlete experience throughout the competition.
(more…)The February Forum, “How to be a world class orienteer” will take place on Saturday, February 21st at 4pm ET. In this forum we’ll hear from Alberto Mínguez, PhD, former Spanish national team member, high-level coach, and author of the orienteering technique book El entrenamiento del corredor de orientación. What does it take to become one of the best in the world? Come find out!
Join us on Google Meet on Saturday, February 21st at 4pm ET.
The Youth Mapping Program February Map of the Month is Old Rochester Regional Junior High School in Mattapoisett, MA.
This map is used for Physical Education classes for students year-round. Thanks to this map, one hundred junior high students are introduced to orienteering each quarter.
Are you interested in having a map made of your school, camp, or youth-serving organization? Learn more about the program and apply here.
Host: Los Angeles Orienteering Club (LAOC)
Venue: Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area, Irwindale, California
This event was a one-day National Ranking Event (NRE) and also served as the NJROTC Area 21 Championships. Events like these promote a higher level of competition for regional competitors without the extra work and expectations of a full NRE weekend.
Photos by Recinda Sherman
The 2026 European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC) will be hosted in Nova Gorica,
Slovenia, from June 25 – June 27, 2026. Orienteering USA’s EYOC Selection Committee will
choose up to 4 (four) young athletes from each of the following categories for a maximum total
of up to 16 (sixteen) to represent the USA at EYOC. All interested athletes are invited to apply.
● M16 – Men born in 2010 or later
● W16 – Women born in 2010 or later
● M18 – Men born in 2008 or later
● W18 – Women born in 2008 or later
NOTE: EYOC 2026 conflicts with JWOC 2026. Per National Team ESD guidance, those
selected for and attending JWOC 2026 will not be able to attend EYOC. We encourage all who
are interested in attending EYOC 2026 to apply, even if the athlete intends to participate in
JWOC 2026. Applying for EYOC 2026 will not affect the athlete’s selection to JWOC 2026.
2026 EYOC US Team Selection Criteria
Participation at EYOC 2026 is sponsored and organized by Orienteering USA’s Youth
Development Program, as a young athlete development opportunity. In order to be considered a
candidate for 2026 EYOC Team, a junior born in 2008 or later must be a member of the
Orienteering USA’s (OUSA’s) Youth Development Program (YDP), and by extension, a member
in good standing of OUSA. Applicants who are members of OUSA, but not yet a part of the YDP
can find information on the YDP and the application form on OUSA’s YDP page.
Please submit an application for selection to YouthSelection@nullorienteeringusa.org by 11:59 pm
Pacific Time on March 20, 2026. There will be no team trials races for selection. Given the age
of potential athletes, need for chaperons and possibly supervised travel, financial and logistics
constraints, the Selection Committee will use their best judgment to determine who among the
athletes is prepared physically and mentally, as well as emotionally if required to travel
unaccompanied for portions of the travel, to compete at the 2026 EYOC.
The entire US EYOC Team will participate in a pre-EYOC training on EYOC training maps
provided by the organizers, with a tentative arrival date of June 22nd, first training day June
23rd, 2026. Most current event information can be found in the event Bulletins published on the
International Orienteering Federation’s (IOF) event calendar page for EYOC.
Selected athletes will need to complete some form of SafeSport training, as required by the VP
of Youth Initiatives and OUSA’s Youth Development Leadership.