August 6-9, 2021

• Event Director: Gavin Wyatt-Mair
• Friday: Sprint
  • Sierra College, Rocklin, CA
• Saturday: Middle Distance
  • Little Truckee Summit, Truckee, CA
• Sunday: Long Distance
  • Sagehen, Truckee, CA
• Monday: Club Championship Relay
  • Burton Creek, Tahoe City, CA

• Event Bulletin
• Official Event Page
• AttackPoint Event Page (splits, discussion threads etc)

The following information was posted on the BAOC website on April 24, 2021:

“The difficult decision to move the California Orienteering Festival (CalOFest) to 2023 was made in the interests of safety and fairness due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and international travel restrictions. The decision was made jointly with the International Orienteering Federation, International Rogaining Federation, Orienteering Canada, and Orienteering USA​—​along with our partners and landowners. This change affects the North American Orienteering Championships as well as the World Rogaining Championships. The delayed Festival will be held in San Francisco and Tahoe locations during summer 2023, with dates pending IOF and IRF approvals. (The complete announcement of the change is here.)”

Instead of hosting CalOFest this year, the Bay Area Orienteering Club hosted Tahoe 2021:

• The 2021 U.S. Orienteering Championships including Sprint, Middle, and Long events, and a club Relay event. The events were held the same weekend dates (August 6–9), and at the Tahoe areas, as were originally planned for CalOFest.
• The 2021 North American Rogaining Championships (separate page) were held on the same dates (August 14–15), and at the same Tahoe area, as the originally planned World Rogaining Championships. In addition to the 24-hour competitive event, there was a 4-hour “recreational” event.

Friday: US Orienteering Sprint Championship

Day 1 of the Orienteering USA Nationals took place on Friday morning on the campus of Sierra College in Rocklin, CA under warm, but thankfully overcast skies. This event was moved to Sierra College to preserve the Northstar Resort sprint venue for CalOFest/NAOC Sprint in 2023.

Photos: Nadim Ahmed, Clinton Morse

2021 US Sprint Champions:

Additional Media:

• We’re Back Together! – Junior Blog Post
• Sprint Results – BAOC Website
  • WinSplits
• Sample Maps {coming soon}
• RouteGadget – GPS Replay
• Sprint Photos Gallery 1 – Facebook
• Sprint Photos Gallery 2 – Facebook
• Sprint Photos Gallery 3 – Facebook
• Nadim Ahmed’s FlickR Photo Gallery (all four days)

Saturday: US Orienteering Middle Championship

Day 2 was to be contested at Little Truckee Summit (adjacent to the original CalOFest terrain) where the air quality was, well, horrible. Due to the Dixie Fire to the northwest, the entire area was blanketed in a thick smoke plume with an AQI in excess of 500 on Friday afternoon, over 3 times the level considered unhealthy for strenuous activity. Organizers announced that a decision to hold the race would be made at 7am Saturday AM.

At 7am the word came that the race was cancelled due to poor air quality, but that the forecast hinted that things might improve for the afternoon and thus another decision would be made around noon. At noon the notification came that the Middle Distance race would be held, starting at 2:30pm. Air quality was still hazardous, but better than the morning conditions and competitors were urged to make their own decision to compete or not. Mid afternoon starts meant that conditions were also quite a bit warmer than morning races would have been.

Conditions were still smoky, but most competitors chose to race, some with masks, most without. Everyone seemed to roll with it…

Photos: Clinton Morse

2021 US Middle Distance Champions:

Additional Media:

• On a Scale of 1 to Fire – Junior Team Blog
• Middle Results – BAOC Website
  • WinSplits
• Sample Maps {coming soon}
• RouteGadget – GPS Replay
• Middle Photos Gallery 1 – Facebook
• Middle Photos Gallery 2 – Facebook
• Nadim Ahmed’s FlickR Photo Gallery (all four days)

Sunday: US Orienteering Long Championship

Day 3 of the OUSA Nationals was met with another air quality delay, but this one was only 90 minutes so the Long Distance races got started late morning on another warm day. Similarly to Saturday, the competition was held on unused portions of the Sagehen map originally slated for CalOFest. As an “experimental forest”, there was a variety of forest type and undergrowth/debris to deal with. Presumably the best parts of both the Saturday and Sunday venues will be unveiled at the North American Championships in 2023 at CalOFest and that Tahoe 2021 was just a taste of things to come.

Photos: Peter Laraia, Clinton Morse

2021 US Long Distance Champions:

Additional Media:

• It’s been quite the LONG day – Junior Team Blog
• Long Results – BAOC Website
  • WinSplits
• Sample Maps {coming soon}
• RouteGadget – GPS Replay
• Long Photos Gallery 1 – Facebook
• Long Photos Gallery 2 – Facebook
• Nadim Ahmed’s FlickR Photo Gallery (all four days)

Monday: Club Championship Relay (non-NRE)

Monday’s Club Championship Relay was held at Burton Creek State Park in Tahoe City, CA and competitors were met with much clearer skies than the previous two days of racing. But the day was not with out it’s own set of complications – a local football team was practicing on the field that was designated as the relay arena and paving contractors decided Monday would be a good day to paint new stripes on the high school parking lots, forcing a last minute relocation of parking to surrounding neighborhood streets.

Competitors, quite used to delays at this point in the weekend, took it in stride during the roughly 90 minute delay required to iron out the kinks and get everything ready. The time was put to good use however, as teams socialized and an impromptu awards ceremony was held to hand out Sunday’s Long Distance awards. Although the format for assembling relay teams and determining club championships was a bit convoluted, everyone seemed to have a good time with head to head racing and cheering on their teammates in the arena area. Be sure to check out the YouTube video (link after the photos) if you haven’t already.

Photos: Nadim Ahmed, Peter Laraia, Clinton Morse

• Relay Reflections Junior Team Blog
• Relay Results – BAOC Webpage
• Sample Maps {coming soon}
• Pre-Relay Photos Gallery 1 – Facebook
• Pre-Relay Photos Gallery 2 – Facebook
• Pre-Relay Photos Gallery 3 & Long Awards – Facebook
• Relay Photos – Facebook – courtesy Nadim Ahmed & Peter Laraia
• Nadim Ahmed’s FlickR Photo Gallery (all four days)

2021 North American Rogaining Championships

Media is posted in a separate entry.