EMPO & NE Ski-O Folks (plus some Friends and Relatives) --

After a second day on the trails at Pineridge, things are still pretty good. I have another 1/3 of the controls placed, a few more map updates made, and all looks good to go.

Following (and attached) are the Course/Meet Notes. They may be modified after I answer any questions I receive, or after I discover something on placing the final 1/3 of the controls, or after Sue points out that I forgot something. So check them out again when you sign in.

If you plan to attend, a brief e-mail reply will help me to be sure to have enough maps printed. But, of course you can come even if I don’t hear from you, as I will be able to print more maps on-site as necessary.

I look forward to seeing you all Saturday morning!

-Phil H-T
Thursday, Feb. 21

Course/Meet Notes

 

The basics:

·         Three Ski-O courses:

o   Blue – 9.7k straight-line; 17k skiable route (no bushwhacks); 11 controls

§  Classes: MO(M21+), FO(F21+), MM(M40+).

o   Red – 7.0 straight-line; 12k skiable route; 8 controls

§  Classes: MG(M55+), MV(M70+), FM(F40+), FG(F55+), MS(M-18).

o   Green – 3.5k straight-line; 6k skiable route; 9 controls

§  Classes: FV(F70+), FS(F-18), FJ(F-16), MJ(M-16).

·         Ski- & Snowshoe Score-O course: 21 controls: total possible score 113. No Class distinctions.

Ski-techniques:

·         The Pineridge website lists 20k of their total of 35k as skateable, but only 10k as skateable now.

·         My experience recently is that this figure depends upon your determination and/or ability to skate, and I would say something more like 50/75% is skateable now, if you are willing/able to skate on marginally groomed but relatively flat (across the track, not necessarily up or down hill) and sufficiently wide tracks.

Grooming:

·         The last grooming was done last Saturday (Feb 16), and because of the limited snow, no more is likely to be done before the event, as grooming in these conditions can do more harm than good.

·         As of today (Thursday) there are still many trails which have not been used, let alone groomed, since last Sunday. This can make it harder to notice or follow certain trails.

Special Considerations:

·         We are being allowed to enter any trail from any direction, and thus can ignore the “Do Not Enter” and “One Way” signs. However, this means that others who are just out recreationally skiing or snowshoeing may not be expecting people going the “Wrong” way. Be very careful when going the “Wrong” way to give other skiers the right of way, in particular when you are going up a trail that everyone else (who isn’t doing the Ski-O) will be coming down, possibly at high speed.

·         Normally snowshoers don’t expect to meet up with skiers on the snowshoe trails. While they won’t be moving fast, please be considerate, as they are where they are supposed to be, and we are interlopers.

·         There are two trails on the map which are currently officially “Closed”, and have a string across the entrance. You may ignore that restriction and go under the string. However, one of those trails is marked on your map as a “Dangerous Area” (purple hash marks). It is an area that is generally washed out, and may be quite rocky. If you use that trail, you should seriously consider taking off your skis. Since it is closed, you need not worry about where you walk.

Mapping Considerations:

·         This map is basically GPS tracks over LIDAR contours, and is thus one step up from the map used last year (for the no-snow Score-O).

·         Very little is shown on the map besides the contours, trails, and many (though perhaps not all) streams. There are some buildings, a few open areas, and some large boulders shown.

·         Nothing has been done to “clean up” the contour data as initially generated by Global Mapper. Thus the contour lines are rougher/jumpier than normal, but that should not pose a problem in this context.

·         I simply have not had enough time (with snow) to cover all of the trails and review all of the junctions as they are groomed. All of the original field work was done with no snow on the ground, and you just can’t be sure how things will look once there is snow. I have been making modifications as I set the courses, so I think that most of the relevant junctions should be right; and I have not placed controls in densely tracked and possibly poorly mapped areas.

·         There are three levels of trail designations used:

o   Solid Green Line: this is a major trail, relatively wide, and could be considered skateable.

o   Dashed Green Line: this is a lesser trail, and skiable, but may require marathon-skate technique.

o   Dotted Green Line: this is a snowshoe trail, and not skateable.

Trail markings:

·         On the South side of the main road, the ski trails are marked by blue dots on the trees, while the snowshoe trails are marked by blue crosses. This does not entirely correlate with how they are shown on the map, as some nominal “Ski trails” are never groomed, and thus are shown on the map as a dotted line.

·         On the North side of the road, all trails are marked with blue dots (except a couple of snowshoe trails which have no relevance), and some are shown in blue dots because they are never groomed.

Time Limits:

·         All courses will close at 2pm.

·         For Ski-O courses, the time limit is the standard 3 hours, but because of the course closure time limit, if you start after 11am, you have less time before the course closes.

·         The Snowshoe-O/Score-O course has a 2 hour time limit. As always (at least in events that I direct), the penalty for being overtime will be severe: 1 point for the first minute (or part), 2 for the second minute, 3 for the third, etc.

Score-O Points:

·         While there will be Classes and separate winners within classes for the Ski-O, the Snowshoe-O (and for those choosing to use skis in the Score-O) has only one combined class of everyone who enters.

·         Points are awarded on the basis of controls reached with the last digit of the control number removed. Thus: control number 33 is worth 3 points; control number 52 is worth 5 points; control number 105 is worth 10 points; control number 200 is worth 20 points.

·         Ties in the point score will be broken by the person with the shortest time as the winner.

Final Notes:

·         When you check in, check in with me or Sue first, before you pay anything to Pineridge itself. We’ll handle the payment and ticketing process, though if you need to rent equipment (which you can do, both for skis/boots/poles or snowshoes) we’ll need to figure out how to divvy up the payments.

·         If you are a season ticket holder at Pineridge, let us know, and your entry fee will be reduced significantly.