New to orienteering?
On this page we try to explain the Barebones weekend in a beginner-friendly way. We hope this answers all you questions and convinces you that you will have a good time at the Barebones races. Please feel free to contact Adrian ([email protected]) for more information if you need it.
Orienteering gear
Orienteering doesn't require a load of expensive equipment - just a pair of sturdy runners that you are prepared to get filthy muddy, a pair of running tights that you are prepared to rip and snag on, and a technical shirt that might snag too. Once you've tried orienteering a few times you might want to get a little more serious and buy some specialize gear such as a compass, orienteering-specific shoes (really good grip for rugged forest running), your own SI timing stick, and perhaps some instructional books - the best place to get that is online at The O-Store.
Free introduction clinic
Free training for beginner adults. A free half-hour clinic introducing the basics of orienteering including map interpretation, navigation strategy, race logistics. Meet at the Day Lodge at 9:00am. No pre-registration required.
Categories
Barebones 2013 uses "ageless" categories. You can check the combinations of technical difficulty & course length for each category on the Categories page under the REGISTRATION menu.
Our recommendations
Shadowing
For parents who wish to shadow their children, please note that shadowing is free - you just need to pay for the child. Pay race entry fees for the adult only if you will be racing yourself.
Races
There are five races during Barebones. You can take part in any or all of them. Each race has a different "feel":
Urban-O
Friday 7:00pm, Town of Canmore
This is a fun, social event run mostly in town & town parks
The Setup
Saturday 10am, Canmore Nordic Centre
This is a short race (2.0km straight line distance) with lots of controls. Some of Canada's national team athletes will be racing with us this weekend and we expect them to finish in about 10 to 12 minutes. However, most normal people will take around 20-25 minutes. There is a 60 minute cut off.
The Chase
Saturday 12pm, Canmore Nordic Centre
For the adults this is a little longer race with considerable climb, with courses designed with lots of choices between checkpoints. For kids it will be quite similar in length to the morning's race, although the terrain will be very different – instead of a race with mostly downhill running, this afternoons race will have some climbing. Start time depends on your result in The Setup. The maximum allowed time is 90 minutes.
THOMASS
Saturday 3pm, Canmore Nordic Centre
A fun head-to-head race, with handicapping so everyone will run the same course. This will be a little bit longer, with the fastest runners expected to take around 35-40 minutes. The maximum allowed is 90 minutes.
Farsta
Sunday 10am, Mt Yamnuska.
The orienteering map at the base of Mt Yamnuska is renown as one of the most enjoyable places to orienteer on earth! The mix of small hills and depressions creates an intricate mess of contour lines, which combined with lovely open forest and glorious mountain meadows makes for a great adventure. For the adults the course is designed to test navigation and map interpretation. In other words, quite complex map reading. For the kids this will be an interesting change from the dense trail network at the Nordic Centre – the kids will be following some interesting man-made linear features such as fences and power lines, with lots of check points along the way. Park on the Exshaw landfill access road. Port-a-potties are at the parking area. The start/finish is about 600m walk into the forest – so pack up a backpack and bring all your gear and snacks and drinks with you.
Registration and costs
Membership
All participants must be members of an orienteering club. Family membership in FWOC is $20 and the 2009 membership form (still valid even in 2013 ;-) can be downloaded here – please print a copy, fill it out, and brign to the event (allow 10-15 minutes to 'process' the membership before your first race).
Race entry
Entry in the Novice & Sport categories can be done on-the-day. Entry in other categories must be done online in advance. Online entry after May XXrd will incur a late fee of $25. Online entry closes June XXX.
Electronic Punching
All events use electronic timing. There is a small charge of $2/event to rent SportIdent cards if you don’t have your own.
Any other information?If you want/need more information please email [email protected] or call 403.585.8478
Bonus
Here is a little more…The Barebones weekend is actually set up very well for people trying it out. In the Saturday races at the Canmore the navigation tends to be quite easy and the courses are quite short. So a perfect "first race" experience. The Sunday race is at the base of Mt Yamnuska. This is incredibly beautiful so even if you find no check points at all it will be fantastic! Here the navigation is quite tricky as there are very few man-made features (such as trails, power lines, fences, buildings, etc) so you have to do more interpretation of the map.
Orienteering gear
Orienteering doesn't require a load of expensive equipment - just a pair of sturdy runners that you are prepared to get filthy muddy, a pair of running tights that you are prepared to rip and snag on, and a technical shirt that might snag too. Once you've tried orienteering a few times you might want to get a little more serious and buy some specialize gear such as a compass, orienteering-specific shoes (really good grip for rugged forest running), your own SI timing stick, and perhaps some instructional books - the best place to get that is online at The O-Store.
Free introduction clinic
Free training for beginner adults. A free half-hour clinic introducing the basics of orienteering including map interpretation, navigation strategy, race logistics. Meet at the Day Lodge at 9:00am. No pre-registration required.
Categories
Barebones 2013 uses "ageless" categories. You can check the combinations of technical difficulty & course length for each category on the Categories page under the REGISTRATION menu.
Our recommendations
- Kids under 10: go in the Super Juniors category. This is the simplest course
- Kids over 10: go in the Juniors age category if appropriate, or in the Novice category. This is a slightly more challenging course..
- Adults: enter in the Sport category.
Shadowing
For parents who wish to shadow their children, please note that shadowing is free - you just need to pay for the child. Pay race entry fees for the adult only if you will be racing yourself.
Races
There are five races during Barebones. You can take part in any or all of them. Each race has a different "feel":
Urban-O
Friday 7:00pm, Town of Canmore
This is a fun, social event run mostly in town & town parks
The Setup
Saturday 10am, Canmore Nordic Centre
This is a short race (2.0km straight line distance) with lots of controls. Some of Canada's national team athletes will be racing with us this weekend and we expect them to finish in about 10 to 12 minutes. However, most normal people will take around 20-25 minutes. There is a 60 minute cut off.
The Chase
Saturday 12pm, Canmore Nordic Centre
For the adults this is a little longer race with considerable climb, with courses designed with lots of choices between checkpoints. For kids it will be quite similar in length to the morning's race, although the terrain will be very different – instead of a race with mostly downhill running, this afternoons race will have some climbing. Start time depends on your result in The Setup. The maximum allowed time is 90 minutes.
THOMASS
Saturday 3pm, Canmore Nordic Centre
A fun head-to-head race, with handicapping so everyone will run the same course. This will be a little bit longer, with the fastest runners expected to take around 35-40 minutes. The maximum allowed is 90 minutes.
Farsta
Sunday 10am, Mt Yamnuska.
The orienteering map at the base of Mt Yamnuska is renown as one of the most enjoyable places to orienteer on earth! The mix of small hills and depressions creates an intricate mess of contour lines, which combined with lovely open forest and glorious mountain meadows makes for a great adventure. For the adults the course is designed to test navigation and map interpretation. In other words, quite complex map reading. For the kids this will be an interesting change from the dense trail network at the Nordic Centre – the kids will be following some interesting man-made linear features such as fences and power lines, with lots of check points along the way. Park on the Exshaw landfill access road. Port-a-potties are at the parking area. The start/finish is about 600m walk into the forest – so pack up a backpack and bring all your gear and snacks and drinks with you.
Registration and costs
Membership
All participants must be members of an orienteering club. Family membership in FWOC is $20 and the 2009 membership form (still valid even in 2013 ;-) can be downloaded here – please print a copy, fill it out, and brign to the event (allow 10-15 minutes to 'process' the membership before your first race).
Race entry
- Kids (3-9): $XX/race
- Juniors (10-20): $XX/race
- Adults: $XX/race
- Package pricing provides significant discounts when entering all the events.
Entry in the Novice & Sport categories can be done on-the-day. Entry in other categories must be done online in advance. Online entry after May XXrd will incur a late fee of $25. Online entry closes June XXX.
Electronic Punching
All events use electronic timing. There is a small charge of $2/event to rent SportIdent cards if you don’t have your own.
Any other information?If you want/need more information please email [email protected] or call 403.585.8478
Bonus
Here is a little more…The Barebones weekend is actually set up very well for people trying it out. In the Saturday races at the Canmore the navigation tends to be quite easy and the courses are quite short. So a perfect "first race" experience. The Sunday race is at the base of Mt Yamnuska. This is incredibly beautiful so even if you find no check points at all it will be fantastic! Here the navigation is quite tricky as there are very few man-made features (such as trails, power lines, fences, buildings, etc) so you have to do more interpretation of the map.
