The Youth Mapping Program October Map of the Month is Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bellevue, WA.
Forest Ridge School’s orienteering program encourages students to work as a team and keeps students learning and exploring the campus, both during the school year and over the summer.
Are you interested in flexing your cartography skills and joining the growing team of YMP mappers? Sign up here.
US Orienteers were treated to three days of high-quality orienteering in the Boston area, capped by a delightful city sprint during a nor’easter.
Join us on Google Meet this Thursday, October 16th at 8:30pm ET for a course review of interesting legs from this past weekend’s Sprint, Middle, and Long Championships!
If you ran at Nationals and have a request for legs to discuss, or would like to talk about your own routes, please fill out this survey.
The October forum will take place on Thursday, October 23rd at 8:30pm ET on Google Meet.
Join members of Orienteering USA’s Mapping Committee, Jon Campbell, Jon Torrance, and Cristina Luis, for a presentation and discussion of the kinds of things a non-mapper might want to know about the mapping standards for forest (non-sprint) events (ISOM 2017-2 for those of you keeping score at home).
Experienced O-mappers know the specifications and notice map details that you might not know are “a thing.” Every orienteer, from novice to seasoned champion, can learn something about an O-map that can help them navigate well and compete better. What’ll you learn?
Join on Google Meet on Thursday, October 23rd at 8:30pm ET.
If you’d told me the first time I tried orienteering in 1996 (without a compass, because my then-boyfriend Jon Campbell wanted to make sure I actually read the map!) that I would one day serve as President of the national federation, I probably would have said, “Wait, there’s a national federation?” Yet here we are, and I’m honored to step into this role.
First, I want to express my deepest appreciation to Clare Durand for her mentorship and her thoughtful approach to succession planning. Three years ago, Clare challenged the Board to think ahead and prepare for leadership transition, modeling the kind of foresight and integrity we all aspire to. Even as she faced profound health challenges this past year, Clare continued to lead with determination and grace. I know the entire community joins me in thanking Clare for her extraordinary service. I’m also grateful to our wonderful Board, who bring passion and discernment to their work. At our recent reorganization meeting, we voted for all Vice Presidents to continue in their roles, and for Clare to continue as First Vice President in a mentorship capacity.
I’m equally thankful for the welcome my family has received from our many “home clubs” over the years. From COC, NEOC, USMAOC, QOC, CSU, UNO, and beyond, and through military moves, family visits, road trips, and even a gap year on the road, you’ve shown us that wherever there’s an orienteering map, there’s a community ready to welcome us. Those experiences have shaped me, and I carry the lessons I’ve learned from volunteering with each club into this role.
Looking ahead, my priorities as President center on two themes: good process and strong community. Good process means planning ahead, making thoughtful decisions, and ensuring that we’re supporting all four pillars of OUSA’s mission: Participation, Education, Conservation, and Competition. Strong community means recognizing that OUSA is, at its core, an organization of volunteers. By weaving together the energy, passion, and creativity of our members, we can both grow the sport sustainably and deepen the connections that make it so meaningful.
I look forward to working with you to build on our shared successes and to take orienteering in the U.S. to the next level, together.
Grizzly Orienteering invited orienteers to enjoy some warm fall weather in the Bitterroot Range of Montana. The first day was a middle distance NRE in steep terrain with intricate rock details. The second day provided tremendous contrast to the first, with open forest and broad hillsides.
Host: Grizzly Orienteering (GrizO)
Venues: Soft Rock Recreation Area (Sat) and Larry Creek Recreation (Sun) Area, south of Missoula, MT
Event Director: Emily Johnson
Course Setters: Siri Christopherson (Sat) and Chris Caldwell (Sun)
This year nine orienteers received Golden Service Awards, announced at the 2025 Annual General Meeting. The purpose of the Orienteering USA Golden Service Award is to recognize those individuals who have provided exceptional service to the sport of orienteering that extends beyond the local club level. Read on for bit about each of this year’s awardees!
(more…)Congratulations to Peter Goodwin of Up North Orienteers (UNO), the recipient of the 2025 Silva Award, Orienteering USA’s highest honor for service to the sport.
Orienteering Cincinnati nominates Peter Goodwin for the Silva Award. Peter is the former President of Orienteering USA with a long history of advocacy for US Orienteering. He organized a series of mapping and lidar clinics at NREs in the years prior to Covid. He is a long-time OUSA course consultant, where he has advised OCIN and many other OUSA clubs on their national ranking events. His work has been instrumental in making OUSA NRE courses more interesting and age-level appropriate, contributing to the success of our national-level events. It is recorded in OUSA board meeting minutes that Peter verbally guaranteed the OUSA Loan to BAOC for their 10-day NAOC and California O-Fest event held near Truckee and Lake Tahoe. Peter’s support helped ensure the success of this event that later experienced significant disruption to their financial planning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting delays.
The Silva Award is given annually to an orienteer who, along with being a member of Orienteering USA, has demonstrated outstanding service to orienteering in the United States over the past five years. The recipient need not be a terrific orienteer, and orienteering skill is not considered in determining the award winner. The essential quality of every winner has been service to promoting and sustaining orienteering, to making the sport work in this country, and in helping to build the organizations needed to make orienteering successful.
The September forum will take place on Thursday, September 25th at 8:30pm ET on Google Meet.
This July, three Youth Development Program athletes attended Silva O’ Camp, an IOF-endorsed orienteering camp with over 200 athletes held in the Czech Republic. The athletes trained seriously and got up to some serious fun! Join us for this forum to learn more about the camp and hear directly from athletes and coaches.
You can read a bit about the US experience here.
Join on Google Meet on Thursday, September 25th at 8:30pm ET.
The Youth Mapping Program September Map of the Month is Auburndale Park in Newton, MA. This map was created in 2020 for use in youth and adult orienteering classes.
“I learned so much from this process that it helped me better understand orienteering…The more people orienteering, the better!” said Recreation Manager Channon Ames.
Interested in having a map made of your school? Learn more about the program and apply here.
