Glen Dye is a classic Deeside forest and was used for Day 5 of the Scottish 6 Days in 2025. The area contains the full range of terrain one expects on Deeside. The valley floor comprises complex moraine contour detail in mature coniferous forest while the steep valley sides have abundant rock detail. Visibility and runnability vary greatly across the area adding to the complexity. Clear felling and storm damage has reduced the area recently but there is still a fine variety of challenges in this quality orienteering terrain.
Many thanks to Glen Dye Estate for allowing us to use this great area!
Location
Location w3w: bordering.head.wakes GR: NO645907
Parking will be on a forest track. Take the minor road running south from Feughside, after about 2km turn off to the right (west) through a forest gate which will be clearly signposted. Proceed carefully up the track and please follow marshals’ instructions to park.
Layout
Finish will be very close to the parking track.
Near Start – courses White and Yellow – 750m to 1500m* from parking
Far start – all other courses – 1000m to 1800m*
* The routes to both Starts go along the same track used for parking so the distances shown are the potential min and max depending on where you’re parked, i.e. shorter distance if parked well along the track into the forest vs longer distance if you end up closer to the road.
Assembly area/registration/enquiries location still being finalised but will be somewhere off to the side of the parking track.
Times
Registration is in Assembly and will be open from 10.00 – 12.30.
Visit to:
– Collect hired SI cards
– Collect Yellow and White course maps
– Key drop – lone travellers should leave keys in a named envelope with the vehicle registration
– Ask any other questions
Provisional start times 11.00 -13.00
Start times will be allocated for courses 1-11 and published a few days before the event. Please try to stick to your time. Competitors who miss their allocated start time must wait until the start marshal finds an available slot to comply with SOL competition rules.
Yellow (12) and White (13) courses will have punching starts with no allocated time.
Start procedure is a 4 minute call up, i.e. you need to be at the Start at least 4 minutes before your allocated start time and follow the marshals’ instructions to progress towards the start line.
Courses close at 15.30
You must report to Download even if you do not complete your course. If you run out of time please report to the Finish or Download ASAP to avoid us having to set up a search party.
Facilities
First Aid will be available in at Assembly.
There is room for club tents and banners in the Assembly area.
Portable toilets will be available on the access track which is adjacent to the parking area.
Courses
| 13 White TD1 | 1.8 km | 8 Very Short Green TD5 | 2.9 km |
| 12 Yellow TD2 | 2 km | 7 Short Green TD5 | 3.4 km |
| 11 Orange TD3 | 3.3 km | 6 Green TD5 | 4.2 km |
| 10 Long Orange TD3 | 5.4km | 5 Short Blue TD5 | 5.7 km |
| 9 Light Green TD4 | 3.3 km | 4 Blue TD5 | 6.5 km |
| 3 Short Brown TD5 | 8 km | ||
| 2 Brown TD5 | 9.9 km | ||
| 1 Black TD5 | 10.8 km |
To be competitive in the Scottish Orienteering League you need to enter the course given for your age category in the SOL rules and guidelines found on the SOA website.
Regardless of which course you decide to run your result will still gain you BO Ranking Points, where applicable.
Shadowing
- Shadowing (following) juniors on the White and Yellow courses is allowed. ‘Shadowers’ must have completed their own race before undertaking any shadowing.
- Adults are reminded they must declare if they are actually helping a Junior competitor as opposed to shadowing/following. Assisted juniors are competitive in their colour course (e.g. white) but not in age class (e.g. W10B).
Pairs:
- Entry from less experienced orienteers as pairs will be accepted on the easier technical courses.
- Pairs must share one map and one si-card.
- They will not be eligible for SOL league points.
To enter as a pair, provide the details of one person and then select the pairs option.
SI timing and SIAC
Sportident (SI) electronic timing will be used. SIAC for contactless ‘punching’ will be enabled for controls. Start and Finish must be punched manually. Competitors are responsible for making sure their SI-Card registers the control (beeps). We will do our utmost to “wake up” all the controls on the morning of the event but that is a significant task so early starters might need to insert their SIAC card into the hole in the unit to get it to beep. If any control does not cause your SI card to beep pin punches will be available for competitors to use on their map to confirm that control has been visited.
SI cards/dibbers are available to hire.
Map and terrain
1:10,000 5m contours
1:7,500 for some courses TBC
See description in the intro paragraph above. Some serious marshes may impede progress/influence route choice in some areas, particularly on the Black course.
Maps will be printed on waterproof paper with control descriptions on the front.
Loose control descriptions will be available in the start lanes.
Maps for Yellow (12) and White (13) courses must be collected from registration/enquiries BEFORE going to the start.
View map on Routegadget https://www.scottish6days.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#83
Entries
Entries now open: https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?elid=Y&event_id=17591
| Senior BO Member | £18.00 |
| Senior SOA Member | £19.00 |
| Senior Non-Member | £20.00 |
| Junior / Student BO Member | £8.00 |
| Junior / Student SOA Member | £9.00 |
| Junior / Student Non-Member | £10.00 |
There will be NO entries for SOL competitors on the day. There may be limited map availability for some courses as simple colour coded entries on the day but this is still TBC.
Officials
Planner: Bob Daly GRAMP
Organiser: Paul Duley GRAMP All offers of help gratefully accepted, click here.
Controller: Eddie Harwood MOR
Dogs
Dogs are allowed in the Assembly area but are NOT permitted on the courses. They must be kept on a lead and owners must clean up after them and dispose of waste responsibly.
Notices
Safety – A risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event.
In the event of heavy rain courses may be changed to avoid stream crossings.
- Whistles are mandatory for all competitors and will be spot checked.
- Ticks are present in the area, please check yourself thoroughly afterwards.
- The area is used by other users. Please be courteous to all users.
- All competitors who start course must report to download.
- In the event of extreme bad weather the event may be cancelled. Competitors will be notified via email. Event information will be updated on the website.
- Nearest A&E Hospital is Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen AB25 2ZN
Privacy – when entering our events your name may appear in the results section of this website or in newspaper reports. Grampian Orienteers data privacy policy
Photography – In line with the policies of British Orienteering, the organisers of this event request that any person wishing to take photos or video showing children should register their details with event volunteers before taking any such photos or videos. The event organisers reserve the right to ask people to refrain from taking photos or video and may, if such warnings are ignored, refer the matter to the police.
Health – Full leg and torso cover is required in wooded areas due to ticks.
Insurance – Participants who are not members of either British Orienteering or Scottish Orienteering are not covered by their respective public liability insurance. By entering this event, you acknowledge that you are taking part at your own risk. For example, if you were to accidentally injure a member of the public or damage property during the event, you would not be covered.
GRAMPIAN ORIENTEERS 