oldglutton6

SOL 6 entries open now

Online entries via Fabian 4 – click on the logo below
Open Wed 20th Sept
Close midnight Sunday 8th Oct  (limited EOD subject to map availability)

Full event details including:
– how to get to Forvie
– course lengths, map scales, fees
– location of Start/Finish relative to Assembly, accessibility

Balgownie Urban Sprint 20/9/17

3.0 km tonight planned by a Scottish Sprint Championship Planner so should be good!

Park in Tescos car park at the west end out of everyone’s way and then walk along Laurel Drive to the junction with Fairview Street to get to Registration. You can dump clothes/bags in the organiser’s car there.   Map of location for Registration.

Reg: 18:00 – 18:45   Start and Finish both very close to Registration
Courses close: 19:30 (i.e be back at Reg by 19:35 please)

Overall points after 3 races here.
Scroll to the bottom for an explanation of the age categories used in Urban Orienteering races.

Check the Scottish Orienteering Urban League page for details of bigger urban races in various locations throughout Scotland and if you happen to be in the right town at the right time then give it a go.

Westhill Urban Sprint 13/9/17 Results

Results  Splits
As always, any spelling mistakes or other corrections please email webmaster@grampoc.com asap.

OK, hands up all those who got caught on the wrong side of the fence between 9 and 10?
Thanks to Mark Stockton for another great wee course with some interesting route choices all the way to the end. (And thanks to to Mrs S for holding off the inevitable tonight so Mark didn’t have to dash off on paternity leave mid-event! Let us know when it’s time to pass on the Gramp’s Most Junior Orienteer T-shirt if the Robertsons still have it.)

Good to see more new faces – I’m told “someone” was stirring things up over on our Facebook page – cheers James! Team JJF – we missed your smiley old faces. Next week?

Overall points after 3 races here.  Next week is when the best 3 from 5 rule kicks in so time to squeeze that last ounce of speed from jelly legs and burning lungs for those of you into (and capable) of such masochism. The rest of us will just enjoy exploring the odd corners of Balgownie we’ve never been before.

Scroll to the bottom of the overall results for an explanation of the age categories used in Urban Orienteering races. Check the Scottish Orienteering Urban League page for details of bigger urban races in various locations throughout Scotland and if you happen to be in the right town at the right time then give it a go.

SOL 6 Forvie 15/10/17

GRAMP are pleased to welcome you all to the amazing landscape at Forvie, guaranteed to keep you on your navigational toes all the way round with intricate contour features hidden within the bigger dune structures which are challenging enough in their own way.
Terrain is mostly vegetated dunes with some marshy bits, a smattering of thickets in places and just enough paths to be able to cater for the TD1 and 2 Junior courses without mitigating the challenge for the rest.

It’s windswept, it’s wild, it’s wonderful (in our not-so-humble opinion but we’re sure you’ll agree).

Online entries via Fabian 4 – click on the logo below
Open Wed 20th Sept
Close midnight Sunday 8th Oct  (limited EOD subject to map availability)

Full event details including:
– how to get to Forvie
– course lengths, map scales, fees
– location of Start/Finish relative to Assembly, accessibility

Here’s a quick reminder of the SOL course/age class system and a link to our RouteGadget so you can get a taste of what to expect if you’ve never run here before. You will probably already had a taste of ScotJOS baking before and will be pleased to know they will be running a cake stall at Forvie.

Parking will be in the field next to the Forvie Visitors Centre courtesy of the farmer, Andy Harper (and we will be collecting £1 per car for his nominated charity), and we are also indebted to the Forvie ranger, Annabel Drysdale, and SNH for permission to run on the National Nature Reserve.

Planner: Ian Hamilton GRAMP
Organiser: David Esson GRAMP
Controller: Sarah Dunn MAROC

Duthie Park and Ferryhill Urban Sprint 6/9/17 Results

Results     Sorry, no Splits this week as the laptop was playing up. Hopefully business as usual next week.

Thanks to John Lang for several interesting route choices tonight leading to differences of over 500m recorded on different folks’ GPS. Do you take the time to eyeball the differences accurately before committing or do you just plump and then run as fast as you can along your chosen route?

Different control seemed to cause a few “mp” tonight but again we’ve given you all the benefit of the doubt as many had eye witnesses and you would have had to run pretty much past it anyway on the way back into the park. Don’t forget to check for the flashing LED before leaving a control.

If you were a trophy winner last year, please bring it back and hand it in to registration at any of the events.

I’ll post details about Westhill tomorrow.

Overall points after 2 races here. Scroll to the bottom for an explanation of the age categories used in Urban Orienteering races.
Check the Scottish Orienteering Urban League page for details of bigger urban races in various locations throughout Scotland and if you happen to be in the right town at the right time then give it a go.

Westburn & Victoria Parks Urban Sprint 30/8/17 Results

Results  Splits
(If I’ve mispelled a name or mis-guessed an age group let me know webmaster@grampoc.com.
Age groups are used for trophies at the end of the series, best 3 results from 5 count towards your total. I’ll post more on that after a couple of events when I’ve calculated points to date.)

Thank you to Tim Griffin and helpers for kicking off this year’s series in grand style.
50 runners – which may be an Urban Sprint record for Gramp – zig-zagging back and forth at incredible speeds in some cases, although William did look as if he’d been for a swim half way round by the time he collapsed at the Finish.

One or two folk had trouble getting number 8 to register whereas others had no problems. I’ve given you all the benefit of the doubt, and the person who didn’t start their brikke properly so it read 64 minutes initially, and re-instated you as it’s the first in the series but remember it’s your responsibility to check all controls flash at you to indicate a successful read. Worth sacrificing a few tenths of a second to make sure you’re not disqualified in future.

Junior Training 7th Oct ***NEW DATE*** and Junior Inter Area Competition 28th/29th October

***NOTE CHANGE OF DATE FOR TRAINING***

Jess Halliday is looking to organise another North Area Junior Training Day on 30th September, in the Grantown area. This is building up to the Junior Inter Area Competition on 28th/29th October. So calling all GJOs – if you’re interested then pass your names on to Carolyn McLeod and we’ll see if we can’t get a bit of backup for the twins this time.

Templars Park Summer Series Grand Finale 16/8/17

Thanks to David Kirk for a brain-bending finale to the Summer Series using some new additions to the fringes of the Templars map to give us a guided tour of part of the hotel grounds next door and some particularly vicious patches of nettles we’ve not visited before. (Top Tip: don’t lose your footing and sit down in them. Still stinging even now!)

Junior Attendance choc coins were dished out along with spot prizes of teeny cactii awarded for most complex map, most prolific control collector and lots of other things I can’t remember.  (Do nettle stings affect the memory?)

Hoist by his own fiendish petard again, it will take David a wee while to figure out the points for the Technical Score course so in the meantime here’s a space filling photo of some diehards who just couldn’t bring themselves to  abandon the BBQ when there’s important unfinished mallowy business to be toasted.

Update from Dave:

Here are the Templars results.

Apologies to all the people who tried to make it across the swamp on the north west side of the area – in hindsight I should have marked that area OOB.

The biggest mistake made by quite a number of people, resulting in loss of numerous points, was only recording one checkpoint in a particular Section. That meant that all their subsequent controls were voided until they got back to that area again and visited another. I hope you all enjoyed visiting the new areas.

Scolty Summer Series Results 9/8/17

“Of all the control sites in all the features in all of Scolty Woods, he had to pick mine.”
Pete Lawrence, Planner for Scolty Level C in Sept on parts of Calum McLeod’s courses last night

A gorgeous sunny evening saw us scampering round the lower levels of Scolty on Middle Distance style courses much appreciated by tired legs post-6 Days.
Thanks Calum and helpers. Results attached.

Scolty SS Results 9-8-17.pdf

Scottish 6 Days 2017 Royal Deeside

Back home now after a great holiday in deepest, darkest Deeside and it’s good to see the sea again after a whole week of heathery hillsides, silvery birch and bouldery… bouldery… um… bignesses? (Sorry, been a long and energetic week.)

Congratulations to the following successful Gramps:
1st Sam Griffin M14B and Oonagh Grassie W60L
2nd Pete Lawrence M50S and Carolyn McLeod W50L
3rd Lachlan Kirk M18S and Helen Greenwood W75S (plus Lesley Gomersall Supervet W in Sprint Race)

Top Ten Finishers: Noah (chocolate? what chocolate?) Griffin M10B, Murray Anderson and Kevin Reynard M50S, Sam Gomersall M55L, Richard Oxlade and Ian Searle M55S, Bob Daly M60L, Neil McLean M70L, Hannah Will W12B, Maya Reynard W14B, Lesely Gomersall W55L and Helen Greenwood W80 (don’t ask – it’s just the way the scoring system works!)

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As well as champions we have unsung heroes in our midst including:
– Helen Anderson, Gareth Yardley, David Esson and Murray Anderson who were Day 3 Organiser and – Planners – big thank you guys for taking on the major roles and making life pretty easy for the rest of us
– Richard Oxlade, Tim Griffin and Rob Hickling who controlled other days
– Sheena Farquhar who assisted with a heart attack patient on Day 4
– Anne and Rob Hickling who organised, planned and controlled the Trail O
– Bob Sheridan who kept his sense of humour despite turning 50 on Wednesday and having it announced every minute at the end of each list of names at the far start on Day 3 by his “friend” Tim Griffin.

Anyone got any photos or other anecdotes they’d like to share with us all?
Send to webmaster@grampoc.com please.

More photos from Old Glutton, Sam Gomersall, Helen Anderson and others on our Flickr page here

Thanks to Andy Johnson  you can get a flavour of Trail O (and other days) by checking his Flickr account. Trail O is all about fully understanding the info on your map and control descriptions coupled with careful observation and being able to judge distances, contours, features and orientations all from 10 to 100m away from the viewing point on the path. Each problem has one or more kites dotted about and you need to identify which kite, if any, is correctly placed to match the control circle and description. It’s tricky but also oddly addictive once you get inside the midset!

Keith Yardley showed a promising talent for this coming 16th on the Elite course against some experienced opposition. He’s pictured here doing the timed controls, used for tie breaks.

Sasha running really well at JWOC

SOA website has a post with regular updates on how Scottish athletes are helping Team GB rack up some great results at this year’s JWOC with Sasha playing a big part.

In the Middle Sasha comfortably made it through the heats to the A Finals finishing 7th, missing a podium place by only 1 second.
In the Sprint he had an excellent run to finish on the podium in 5th!
And the Long saw him in 7th place again. Excellent set of results which has certainly got the Nopesport crowd buzzing (although looks like he risks being eclipsed by his own haircut?)
Relay – 9th – think I’ve got that right but my Finnish isn’t so good. Maybe Lena can confirm for us?
Check this space… for links to GPS, live results and Arena video/commentary.

Other ‘locals’ doing well are Grace Molloy and Jenny Ricketts 19th/24th Middle A Final and 20th/13th in the Long respectively and 2/3 of the W20 Relay Team who came an amazing 5th place.

Well done guys!

Jon Duncan Junior Deeside Cup 2017 – rankings after Sluie

Sluie (JD)2C points have been calculated and added to the mix – overall  rankings after 6 events.

Well done to Oli Robertson, Reuben Cole, Robert Prince, Sam Griffin, Patrick Lang, Emily Robertson, Morven Farquharson and Josie Gomersall for leading or being in the top 3 of their age classes. Still 2 more events to go though so don’t relax just yet as the others may sneak up behind you over the coming months.

Just to remind you…. any Junior from Gramp or Maroc is automatically entered into the (JD)2C. You win points by running in any of the 9 nominated local Level C races listed below, with a sliding scale depending on your course and how well you do.

To try and keep things as fair as possible, only half points are awarded to shadowed competitors which is why we ask you to declare this when entering.

8 Jan     MAROC  Glen O’Dee
19 Mar  MAROC   Potarch
9 Apr    GRAMP   Crathes
30 Apr  MAROC  Coull
28 May GRAMP   Tyrebagger
18 Jun   MAROC  Sluie
17 Sep   GRAMP   Scolty postponed
15 Oct   GRAMP   Forvie
5 Nov    GRAMP   now Scolty permissions permitting (?!)

• The (JD)2C competition will be run over 8 events with the best 4 scores counting for each runner.
• There will be 5 classes for girls and boys, using the ‘standard’ age classes, i.e.M8, M10, M12, M14, M16, W8, W10, W12, W14, W16
• Within each event, the Gramp/Maroc Junior who is highest placed for each course scores the  maximum course points: White 200, Yellow 300, Orange 400, Light Green 500, Green 600, Blue 700, Brown 800
• Points for subsequent runners are calculated using this formula:
  score = [(winner’s time)/(runner’s time)]*(maximum course points)
• Every effort will be made to provide a White course at each event. However, if this is not possible, the JDC organisers will review how many events will qualify for the M8 and W8 classes.
• If you are being shadowed or running in a pair, please declare this when you register. You will score half points for your run.
• The competition aims to provide competition in each age class. Juniors may choose the course
  appropriate to their ability. More difficult courses earn higher points.

Jamie Stevenson 2017

This year’s Jamie Stevenson Trophy took place at Kinnoull Hill on Sunday 25th.
Morven and Kirsty Farquharson were the only Gramp representatives which must have felt a little odd in the parade but looks like they didn’t mind too much.
Both girls ran well on the Orange course scoring 187 points between them and I am delighted to say that Kirsty was 3rd. Well done to Kirsty!

Carolyn

Crathes Summer Series 21/6/17 Results

Results

Squelch, squelch, drip, drip, splish, splash, sploooosh… Thanks go to Bob Sheridan for having faith in the hard core bunch of nutters that we all are and still thinking it was worth setting out controls and sitting patiently in the rain waiting for us last night.

So many hard core nutters in fact that late punters on the Long Tech had to nurse round recycled soggy maps. Sorry about that – maybe due to Maroc being back in the game now their WOUD series has finished.

I’m enjoying watching the weekly intra-family battles of the Gomersalls, Dunn/Musgraves and occasionally the McLeods too. E.g. this week:
Jon Musgrave      33.34
Ewan Musgrave   34.14
Sarah Dunn          34.44

Thinking of starting a sweepstake on the outcome by the end of the season but to make it Junior friendly only confectionery bets are on. What do you think?

Balmedie next week and unless we get a repeat performance weatherwise we’ll be firing up the BBQ too so bring food and drink.

Foggieton Summer Series 14/6/17 Results

Results

Well done to all those who braved the no paths version of the map, especially the Short Tech runners moving up from Medium or who said they were just getting back into orienteering after a long break. No handrails can be a bit daunting at first but makes you feel very smug when you nail it!

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

Next Saturday’s Moravian event at Culbin will be 50 years to the day since British Orienteering was formed. They’ll be celebrating by having an informal 1960s theme to the event.

While the orienteering will be very much 21st century, they are inviting participants to dig out their most ancient o kit, or failing that come with some kind of 1960s theme, be it your flower power Beetle or your best Jimi Hendrix lookalike gear.

Of course, fancy dress is very much optional. They would simply welcome anyone with a passion for orienteering to help celebrate – especially anyone who was around in the sport in the 1960s.

So, if you’re going to Culbin on Saturday…….

Team Gomersall wins the LAMM D Class

Congratulations to Sam and Lesley who won the D Class in this year’s LAMM in a stunning and very physical area comprising An Teallach, Fisherfield and Fannichs (and still had energy to peg it on the uphill finish at Dunnottar Woods – very impressive.)

As course leaders they got the honour of providing a quick blurb which I’ve reproduced here. You can read the full results and browse photos, maps, Routegadget and everything else on the LAMM website.

Sat write up: “How ideal does it get; a sunny Friday evening with few if any midges, then clear sunny Saturday morning still with no midges. A surprise bus took us to the D class and score starts, then we were off. Being used to orienteering maps everything takes a while on a 1:40,000. We hit the ridge a bit early on the first control and hunted; luckily we found it soon. Then we were in our stride, Sam out in front and Lesley behind. A long leg with route choice was interesting, we found a reasonable way. Views from the tops were spectacular, Coigach to the North and Torridon to the South. Let’s hope day 2 is just as good. Good work Martin and the rest of the team.”

Sun write up: “5am alarm, cold porrage, pack up and get to the start line for 6am. Then off again; tired legs; another big climb (but what did we expect). Into the fog, just for some extra navigational challenge. Then downhill; sore knees. When the fog cleared the view was spectacular, Fisherfield hills and AnTeallach from Craig Pannaich, a hill less visited. The last proper leg involved some serious contouring below An Teallach; too high, too low? Luckily we got relocated before heading in to the last knoll. Then down to the finish. Just the Rhododendrons left to fight through. Pleased, if a bit surprised to be first home. A great weekend all round. Thanks.”

And as well as waxing lyrical, that’s not all Sam got up to…

“As well as leading the D course, Sam Gomersall also had time to do a bit of sketching! He had brought an old waterproof O map with him and spent half an hour last night making a sketch of the camp site, which he then managed to keep in pristine unfolded condition in order to present it to Martin Stone at the finish. Who’d have thought that the LAMM would be the subject of fan art?”

C Class had a several Gramps running too:
Gordon Urqhuart as one half of the intriguingly named team Guild of Doric Farmers 14th
Ian Hamilton and Colin Larmour 27th
Dave Kirk and Lachlan as Team Greenhowe Greats 29th

Tyrebagger results uploaded to BOF

It was a bit of a tag team event in terms of admin and officials but we’ve finally managed to get the right combo in Aberdeen this weekend to upload the results to BOF for the rankings. Sadly only the Brown course had sufficient qualifying finishers so only they get any points.

For newcomers: the BOF rankings scheme gives you the chance to compare yourself with runners from all over the country. You need 10 BOF members finishing a course successfully in order for points to be awarded and it’s only TD5 (Green course and above) and Seniors that are included.

Your best 6 results in the past 12 months get added together to give the overall ranking points. Gramp’s top ten rankers currently look like this:

The figure in brackets shows how these guys are currently ranked in the whole of BOF plus whether they’ve gone up or down a few places since last week. There are also filters by age class as well if you want to play around on the BOF rankings page.

Hmmmm…. all men. Come on girls! We need to get running more counting events/faster/more accurate!

8/6/17 Dunnottar Woods Summer Series Results

Despite the 48 hours of rain beforehand, the weather was lovely and I think the evening went well, as evidenced by the number of people coming back covered in mud!
I’d like to pass on my thanks to Olivia, Bob Daly, Rachel and Pete for doing most of the control collection.

Eddy Coman

Results

And I’d like to say thanks to Eddy for his first event as novice planner/organiser. Very smooth and relaxed on the day and managed to catch a few folk out underestimating the deceptive contours – Mark’s skid marks were particularly impressive.
Next up Foggieton – parking will be at or in the streets close to Cults Primary School. Check here Tuesday night for confirmation.

Rachel

Naomi Lang selected for Commonwealth Youth Games

Woohoo! Naomi will be running 3000m for Team Scotland at the CYG somewhere considerably hotter and sunnier than NE Scotland. Huge congrats from all Gramps and we’ll be glued to the track and field sports news late July.

http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/bahamas-bound-11-athletes-picked-cyg/

24/5/17 Hazlehead Summer Series starts and WOD

Beautifully hot evening to kick off the Summer Series and to coincide with World Orienteering Day!

The planner did a runner (John – I hope you had a lovely time down in London), leaving the rest of the Lang team in charge.  It all mostly went  according to plan though a few controls went walkabout at various points during the evening (first 234 and 245 went missing but were found by Rob and later on 139 made a very temporary disappearance or maybe that was just an excuse for not finding the point).  As controls came and went and came again and I don’t have a record of splits, I’m afraid times are as recorded by your brikke and I can’t void any legs, so apologies to those who spent a long time hunting for controls that weren’t there.  But it’s all good practice, it’s the taking part that counts etc etc…well maybe not for all…and you’ve got another 11 events to show us what you can do.

Results

Many thanks to all my helpers: Naomi and Angela for help setting out controls, Alex and Patrick for help at registration and download, Jayne and Anne for helping newcomers (and control replacement), Sasha, Nick and Patrick for collecting the controls and Helen for filling in all those certificates!!  Prize for best use of time goes to Nick for collecting in the northern controls whilst still doing his course and chasing the Finish stake all the way to the car.

Cheers,
Marianne

PS We look forward to seeing everyone at Tyrebagger this Sunday

https://www.facebook.com/Worldorienteeringday/

Forest Sprints 2017 final scores

Its taken a few days but here are the final overall scores after the 2017 Forest Sprint series. Let Sam know if you see any big mistakes!
end

2017Forest_SprintSeries final.pdf

WANTED: Fit males to help heart research project

Dr Alice Mezincescu has started coming to our events (when on call duties allow) in order to brush up her navigation skills for an Ultra race later this year she says, but I reckon that secretly she’s also been gauging the orienteering fraternity for suitable subjects to help her research.

She is a British Heart Foundation Research Fellow working for the Medical Sciences Department of Aberdeen University and currently trying to recruit fit males who exercise on regular basis for one of their studies that aims to elucidate how we can reduce cardiovascular risk improve insulin sensitivity with the aid of exercise.

Jon Musgrave has already been through the guinea pig process so if you want to know more catch him at Dess or contact the Cardiology Research Facility on 01224 559573 or email alice.mezincescu@abdn.ac.uk.

Tyrebagger Middle Distance – Sunday 28/5/17 – Results

A cold wind if you were hanging about at the registration tent, but otherwise fine dry conditions for a quick dash around Tyrebagger.  Several positive comments were heard about the courses, and the forest was in good shape as the bracken is still low.  Many thanks to our event team and all the helpers.

Click on the links for provisional results and split times.

Winsplits and Routegadget are loaded.  BOF ranking points

  Officials
Planner: Rachel Scott
Control Hangers: Evgueni and Sasha Chepelin
Organiser: Laura Farquharson
Controller: Paul Duley

Dunnottar Forest Sprint 26/4/17 Results

The midges weren’t actually biting, the notorious mudslides of Dunnottar weren’t anywhere near as bad as previous years, Jon beat Ewan by 2 seconds, the injury wasn’t a broken ankle as feared and Rachel and Pete had their chips.
I’d call that an evening full of results.

Dunnottar FS 26-4-17.pdf

Many thanks to Mark Hammonds for getting our injured competitor home after a visit to Stonehaven minor injuries clinic; hope the complications won’t hamper his preparations for an early flight out of Aberdeen at 0530 on Friday morning (ouch!).

Crathes – Level C Event – 9/4/17 – Results

Crathes Event Results

A pleasant mild day at Crathes, perfect conditions and dry underfoot, so some fast times seen especially by the leaders on the Brown (and all the more impressive considering the fastest 4 legs had already done the Clachnaben Hill Race on Sat!) And at the other end of the spectrum, it was great to see so many new faces having a go – hope you enjoyed it and that we’ll see you again some time over the next few months at our Forest Sprint or Summer Series.

Here are Results and Splits.
BO results c/w rankings points.

Routegadget is loaded here, and you can analyse your splits at Winsplits.

Thanks to Planner Helen, control setter-outers Rachel, Pete, Gareth and Helen, Controller Andy and Organiser Paul who were rewarded by a larger than usual entry.

Courses

Officials
Planner: Helen Rowlands
Organiser: Paul Duley
Controller: Andy Tivendale

Compass Sport Cup 2017 – 3rd place for Gramp in the Trophy class!

=-O How did that happen?! As a club with no clear strategy or captain (although we did have a banner which was more than many) we somehow managed to rack up enough points at Tentsmuir to come 3rd in the Trophy class (small clubs) and a mere 6 points behind arch-rivals Maroc. Result!

It’s a team competition so you need strength and depth across a variety of age classes/courses, so potentially anyone’s score could be the deciding factor between placings.
Tentsmuir’s an area well suited to such a broad variety of competitors with a grid of forest blocks, some of which have small patches and ridges of highly complex contour detail for the TD5 courses. The blocks seem ridiculously easy at first glance but lulled one or two of us into a false sense of security and caught us napping.
Thanks to all 31 Gramps who ventured down and particularly to our 13 highest scorers shown in bold below.

Helen & Stuart Anderson; Evgueni Chepelin; Bob Daly; David Esson; Morven, Kirsty & Laura Farquharson;Sam, Lesley & Josie Gomersall; Oonagh Grassie;Sam, Noah & Tim Griffin; Rob & Anne Hickling; Anne Hoy; Pete Lawrence; Alan & Jayne Macgregor; Neil McLean; Iain, Calum & Carolyn McLeod; Richard Oxlade; Ali Robertson; Rachel Scott;
Bob Sheridan; Gordon Urquhart; Duncan Will. For full results check out Robin Strain’s results pages.

This now means that we’ve qualified for the CSC final down in Devon 22/10/17 at the intriguingly named area, Virtuous Lady – fancy an Autumn break anyone? FlyBe will get you to Exeter via Manchester for a mere £180!

New tops for 2017

Is your GRAMP club top getting a bit jaded and battle-weary these days? Fancy a change anyway?

Ali has been tasked with coming up with a new design and has been busy discussing materials and designs with potential customers (“no castles on bums!” was the feedback at the HHH lunch) and suppliers.

So how about this? Click on the image to embiggen it.
Size guide here and there’s a choice of a zip collar top or technical T in different materials. Hunt him down, ask for more details, place an order!

Double win for Lesley Gomersall at Scottish Night and Sprint Champs 2017!

Woohoo! Congratulations to Lesley for sweeping up two trophies a couple of weekends ago (and apologies for not spotting this and posting sooner :-[)
And she wasn’t the only Champ as Gramp mopped up several of the
other Night Trophies too… congrats to Helen, Carolyn, Keith and
Neil too.

Scottish Night Champs
W45L 1st Helen Rowlands
W50L 1st Carolyn McLeod
W55L 1st Lesley Gomersall

M/W Open 1st Keith Yardley

M70L 1st Neil McLean
M55L 3rd Richard Oxlade

Scottish Sprint Champs
W55 1st Lesley Gomersall

M21 2nd Callum McLeod
M55 3rd Sam Gomersall
W50 3rd Carolyn McLeod

Full results and RouteGadget can be found on the MOR website.
What do you make of the courses?

Forest Sprint Series – Wednesdays

Sprint O is great fun – lots of controls in quick succession in a relatively short distance and fast running alone is no use in this discipline if it’s of the headless chicken variety! You really have to look closely at the map, make snap decisions about route choice, execute them quickly and cleanly while all the time trying to read a jiggling map and watch where your feet are going. Give it a go.

April 12th Hazlehead GRAMP    Results
April 19th Glen O’Dee MAROC   Results
April 26th Dunnottar GRAMP    Results
May 3rd  Tilquillie MAROC         Results
May 10th Foggieton GRAMP       Results
May 17th Dess MAROC                 Results

One course TD3 or Orange standard, about 3km, with lots of controls and route choice in a relatively small area so full on concentration required just as much as fleet feet. Great for developing Juniors too if accompanied by a TD3 standard runner. Best 4 scores out of 6 will count towards the FSS league results.

Registration: 18:00 to 18:50
Starts: 18:30 to 19:15
Fees: £4 Senior, £2.50 Junior/Student

Overall Results after all 6 events.

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Technical info for Controllers

To be a Controller you need to be up to speed on all the technical stuff for planners and organisers so there’s not much more help we can give you but here’s a handy checklist courtesy of Hilary Quick/SOA that might help you streamline the process.

Controllers Checklist

North Area Junior Training day on 18th February Culbin

In an exciting new development for 2017, we will be introducing North Area Junior Orienteering training days!

Main aims:
*To provide coached training opportunities outwith club orienteeringfor TD3 (Orange) and above juniors.
*To provide fun and motivational opportunities for juniors in the North of Scotland.
*To provide a stepping stone between club and national squad level.

Who can join in?
The training days will not be selected, however all juniors attending need to be confident at completing an orange (TD3) course independently.
Last chance to sign up for the first North Area Junior Training day on 18th February!
I need to have confirmed numbers by Sunday night (5th February) so that I can ensure we have enough coaches lined up for the day.

We are currently at 24 junior athletes, which is very exciting 🙂
I’m sure there’s lots more who would like to join us! Anyone under 20 who can independently conquer a TD3/orange course is welcome, even if you’re in ScotJOS.

Also, remember to get designing your North Area logos so we can vote on them at Culbin.
More details for the training day will go directly to those who are attending in the week beforehand.

Jess Tullie

(GJOs – if you want to sign up then email Jess directly jjtullie at’ gmail.com)

Jon Duncan Junior Deeside Cup 2017

Overall 2017 rankings so far.

Any Junior from Gramp or Maroc is automatically entered into the (JD)2C. You win points by running in any of the 8 nominated local Level C races listed below, with a sliding scale depending on your course and how well you do.

To try and keep things as fair as possible, only half points are awarded to shadowed competitors which is why we ask you to declare this when entering.

8 Jan     MAROC  Glen O’Dee
19 Mar  MAROC   Potarch
9 Apr    GRAMP   Crathes
30 Apr  MAROC  Coull
28 May GRAMP   Tyrebagger
18 Jun   MAROC  Sluie
17 Sep   GRAMP   Scolty  postponed
15 Oct   GRAMP   Forvie
5 Nov    GRAMP    now Scolty permissions permitting

• The (JD)2C competition will be run over 8 events with the best 4 scores counting for each runner.
• There will be 5 classes for girls and boys, using the ‘standard’ age classes, i.e.M8, M10, M12, M14, M16, W8, W10, W12, W14, W16
• Within each event, the Gramp/Maroc Junior who is highest placed for each course scores the  maximum course points: White 200, Yellow 300, Orange 400, Light Green 500, Green 600, Blue 700, Brown 800
• Points for subsequent runners are calculated using this formula:
  score = [(winner’s time)/(runner’s time)]*(maximum course points)
• Every effort will be made to provide a White course at each event. However, if this is not possible, the JDC organisers will review how many events will qualify for the M8 and W8 classes.
• If you are being shadowed or running in a pair, please declare this when you register. You will score half points for your run.
• The competition aims to provide competition in each age class. Juniors may choose the course
  appropriate to their ability. More difficult courses earn higher points.

2016 AGM roundup and Roll of Honour

Quick summary of you for those of you who didn’t go to the AGM:

Busy year: Forest Sprints, Summer Series, Level C events, Urban etc.
Scottish Champs in May – run jointly with MAROC
JIRCS in Sept – very successful, Ian coordinated whole w/e
GMC – Dave plus 2 Ians – no issues – might move it to April? No one has yet volunteered to organise the next one…..

Looking at getting new club kit – Ali Robertson will reveal all soon (?!)

Would like to organise more coaching- but need someone to plan it and liaise with coaches. If you’re interested please get in touch with the committee. You don’t have to be a medal-winning orienteer just enthusiastic and we can get you some training/mentoring.

It’s getting more and more expensive to run events, mainly levies on all events and Forestry Commission permissions on the larger events.  Our aim is to keep the summer events at cost and on the level C events, which often have more costs attached try to make a small profit and help maintain a surplus in the account.  So unfortunately  entry fees have been raised ……..  but we still think we are offer the best deal around.
So, for 2017:
Level D (summer series, urban sprint etc) £4 and £2
Level C £6 and £3

Week end away? Opportunity to do some coaching and go to big event as a club.

Adrian Will thanked all for effort and time over the year

Liz Sloan is our new Social Secretary – anyone got any ideas for club events other than curling this year?

Club Championships Overall Trophy Winners

Class 1st  (Trophy)
Junior Women  Naomi Lang
Junior Men        Paul Caffyn
Senior Women  Kate Robertson
Senior Men        Mark Stockton
Veteran Women    Lesley Gomersall
Veteran Men          Gareth Yardley
Super- Veteran Women (>55)   Oonagh Grassie
Super-Veteran Men (age over 55)  Rob Hickling
John Duncan Cup Medal Winners:

Class
W8        Bronze     Emily Robertson
W10      Silver        Hannah Will
W12      Silver        Morven Farquharson
W14      Silver        Isobel Anderson
W16      Gold          Naomi Lang
M8        Gold          Oli Robertson
M10      Bronze      Robert Prince
Grampian Orienteers Roll of Honour for 2016  

Scottish Elite Development Squad:    Tim Gomersall, Katrina McLeod, Sasha Chepelin, Oleg Chepelin

Scottish Championships:

1st
M50S Individual: Pete Lawrence
W60S Individual:  Oonagh Grassie

2nd
17+ Points Relay Class: Sam Gomersall, Carolyn McLeod and Bob Daly
M16B Lachlan Kirk
M60L  Rob Hickling
M65S  George Esson
M70L  Neil McLean
M85  Angus Aitken
W16L  Naomi Lang
W50L Carolyn McLeod
W65S  Margaret Aust

3rd
M12A Sam Griffin
M55L  Bob Daly
M55S Richard Oxlade
M60L  Paul Duley
W65S Audrey Wilson-Hay

SOL winners
M50S  2nd Pete Lawrence
M55S  1st Richard Oxlade
M60L  1st Rob Hickling
M60L  3rd Paul Duley
M65S  3rd George Esson
W50 L 3rd Lesly Gomersall
W60S  1st Oonagh Grassie

SOUL winners
WYJ  2nd Morven Farquharson
WJ  2nd  Josie Gomersall

Scottish Night Championships
M55 1st Sam Gomersall

SOA Presidents Medal:  Richard Oxlade
Presidents Alarm Clock:  Rob Hickling (Geo referencing all the Maps, and support Mo Farah!)

Chairman’s Awards
Musgrave Trophies:  Carolyn McLeod – Coaching the Juniors.
Iain McLeod – Organising the JIRCS weekend

Chairman’s Quaich: Richard Oxlade – organising Scottish Champs relays

6 Day Accommodation

Did you know that Dave Kirk is the Booking Secretary of the Cairngorm Club Climbing Hut called Muir, near Inverie, near Braemar?
It is free for the week of the 6 Day if anyone wants to book in. People can stay for as many nights as they like. It might be most suitable for the second half of the week when the events are near Braemar. More info can be found on the Cairngorm Club website (Muir section) http://www.cairngormclub.org.uk/muircottage/muircottage.htm.

It’s £12 pppn for adults and £6 pppn for under 16s. Max 22 places available each night, in five separate rooms.
Anyone interested in staying should contact Dave directly dkirk006 ‘at’ btinternet.com.

GRAMP Champs 2016

2016 GRAMP Champs by age class.pdf
2016 GRAMP Champs by category (for trophies).pdf

Congratulations to all our trophy winners!

Juniors: Naomi Lang & Paul Caffyn*
Seniors: Kate Robertson & Mark Stockton*
Veterans: Lesley Gomersall* & Gareth Yardley
Super Veterans: Oonagh Grassie & Rob Hickling*

*these folk retained their 2015 titles but Mark cut it a bit fine in his ding-dong battle with Gordon Urquhart – will 2017 be Gordon’s year?

The trophies were presented at the AGM. If you weren’t there and think nobody else might have collected on your behalf then contact John Lang asap.

In case you’re wondering how the points are calculated, these are the Gramp Champs rules:

• You have to be a member of Gramp to qualify.
• The Champs are run over 10 nominated events with the best 5 scores counting for each runner.
• Within each event, the Gramp member who is highest placed for each course scores the maximum course points:
  White 200, Yellow 400, Orange 800, Red 1200, Light Green 1600, Green 2000, Blue 2800, Brown 4000.
• Points for subsequent runners are calculated using this formula: score = [(winner’s time)/(runner’s time)]*(maximum course points)
• Men and Women’s Junior, Senior and Veteran divisions are used to decide Championship positions and individual totals are modified to try and make competition within these divisions as fair as possible:
  M/W10 +100% of total, M/W12 +50%, M/W14 +32%, M/W16 +24%, M/W18 +16%, M/W20 +8%, M/W21to M/W40 +0%, M/W45 +5%, M/W50 +15%, M/W55 +25%, M/W60 +40%, M/W65 +60%, M/W70 +80%, M/W75 and over +100%
• Any questions – contact Iain McLeod

2016 events were: Glen O’Dee, Tyrebagger, Torphantrick, Crathes, Glen Fearder, Glen Dye, Carlogie, Scolty, Muir of Dinnet.

2017 events will be announced soon so watch this space…..

Would you like to see the Gramp Champs results published at intervals throughout the year? Would this encourage you to attend more events? If you want the results in Excel format so you can do a bit more analysis and figure out which 2017 events to target for maximum points then contact webmaster@grampoc.com.

Post-AGM Novelty Event @ Countesswells 11/12/16

Results             Map
Pondering over the top words: 2 Juniors came up with “sunshine” compared to the adults’ “rampage” and “dental” – what does that tell you about the different perspective a few extra age classes gives you?!

Prepare to be boggled! This was a score event like no other…

Instead of controls having a points value, each control has a letter allocated.
The aim is to create words by visiting the controls in correct sequence to spell out your words.

1. 45 minute time limit
2. Visit controls only once
3. 2 points per minute penalty after 45 mins

4. For each word created 1 point is awarded for each letter.
5. 5 points bonus for 5 & 6 letter words
6. 10 points bonus for 7 & 8 letter words
7. 15 points bonus for 9 letter words and over
For example: “HAT” = 3 points, “SLOPE” = 5 points + 5 bonus points = 10 points

Well done to all those who turned up to the boggle O score. Rob Hickling had the best tactics and the overall best score for the seniors, with Naomi Laing holding Calum off the top spot for the juniors.  Thanks to Bob, Liz and Helen for their help at registration and collecting controls.

A bit of planning insight to anyone who might be interested…..

The requirement was for something a bit different so after a bit of head scratching the Boggle idea was hatched. I’d picked out about 30 control sites in Countesswells and looking at it I thought it would be easy to get quite a lot in 45 mins (how wrong could I be), but I wasn’t sure how quickly people would manage to work out their words. A quick search on the internet provided lists of the best letters to use that would also provide the maximum possibilities.

I thought people would try to work out words with letters that were close together and confined to 3 different area’s . The first one, the Northern area in the top half of the map, the second area closest to the Rotton o’Gairn car park and the third area close to the start.

If you put the letters I used into a scrabble cheat in google you’ll find that there are literally hundreds of possible words in each area and I did spend quite a bit of time juggling the different possibilities – I wanted to try if at all possible to use letters which would provide orienteering terms, but in the end just made sure that I kept the letters to spell “Grampian” and the rest would have to be a bit of a mix of luck and design.

Judging by the deductions for late returns it would probably have been better to have 1 point per minute deducted and allowed 60 minutes for the course.

Getting all this into Condes was a bit time consuming, but worked out ok in the end. I was pleased that at least some people managed to get “Grampian” and even more pleased when Calum produced “Grampians”.

Dennis

DNC Glen Dye 7/12/16 – Results

As well as a new planner we had some new faces at Glen Dye, enjoying both the good terrain, good weather and the Chillimobile hospitality. Welcome to the DNC “club” guys!

Final Results and Split Times

Apologies from our newbie planner, Bob Sheridan, for control 7 (131) on the Long being in the wrong depression. We’ve voided* the legs on either side.

*Seems Glen Dye has that mind-blowing effect on first time DNC planners (you’ll remember Rachel had to do the same last year?) and it’s hard to know who to ask to double-check for you without making them non-comp as most of the experienced orienteers are DNC regulars.

Date for your Diary: Gramp AGM, 10th December 2016

Where? The Craigiebuckler Scout Hall, accessed from Craigibuckler Drive starting promptly at 7pm. No parking on the grass please!
When? 7pm en punto
What? AGM business followed by prizegiving and food and fun and games and blether

Just a reminder for everyone to bring a dish to share to the AGM and your own choice of beverage. Your dish can be savory or sweet, and perfect if it can be shared.
If you have any special dietary needs, it is assumed you will ensure you bring a sharing dish to suit your needs.
Drinks as per usual is BYOB “Bring Your Own Bottle/Booze/Beverage”. Please remember your own serving spoons and tongs to suit. Cutlery, napkins, cups and plates will be provided.
There will be team games for all following the meal.

Bring your food 5/10 minutes early to allow a prompt start to the AGM at 7pm.

See you all there.

The AUOC 100

The Aberdeen University Orienteering Club organised the first ever (as far as we are aware) 100 control point race around the Aberdeen Uni campus.

Here are the results:

Loop Results    Splits

Cumulative Overall Times

Congratulations to everyone who took part, and well done for those whose concentration meant that they found all the controls in sequence!

We apologise for the mistake at the end of loops 2 and 3 (100 CP course) with the incorrect control codes on 167-240 and 159-248.  Everyone has been reinstated who was affected by these checkpoints.

Mapper, Planner and Organiser (!):   Janne Heikkinen,   AUOC president

100cp Final details.pdf

Out for the Weekend BBC Radio Scotland 14:00 Friday

Listen out for John Lang about 1:33 into the programme talking about orienteering and the new Duthie Park Permanent Courses (you can listen to the rest too of course.)

Duthie Park Permanent Course back up and in business

Following the restoration project at Duthie Park, Aberdeen City Council and Gramp have pooled resources to reinstate the Permanent Orienteering Course there with two versions of the map and a Mobo orienteering course too for those with smartphones and a sense of technological adventure.

Read the ACC press release here and take a look at their leaflets for the Short 1km and Medium 1.9km courses featuring a special map, based on the architect plans for the restoration, and controls on most of the historical features and monuments dotted about the park.

If you want to time yourself and compare your performance against others using your smartphone, the Medium course is available on the MOBO app – http://mobo.osport.ee/
Maroc have got 3 Mobo courses at Dess, Bell Wood and Creag Choinnich.

GMC 2016: Morven 12th/13th November

Day 1  Results  Splits  RouteGadget
Day 2  Results  Splits  Routegadget

Overall results    Organiser’s Report

A big thank you to all who came to pit themselves against the Grampian terrain and each other. We were lucky with the weather in the end after the previous weekend’s foul conditions – sunshine and superb visibility on Saturday and a dry but frosty night at the overnight camp helped make it a day to remember for all the right reasons.

Thanks to those who realised things weren’t going to plan and phoned to let us know they’d bailed or would be late back – another bit of luck as we don’t always get such good mobile reception – and to those who bowed out gracefully on Day 2 and helped to pack up the campsite or lent their Excel expertise – really helps us run the event smoothly.

Bit of rain Sunday afternoon but didn’t seem to cause too much grief on the homeward stretch and well done to those who completed Day 2 and laid a few Grampian demons to rest

Congratulations to the overall winners and other prize winners:

A
1st Overall     Alec Keith MV
1st Pair           Alex McVey & John Ryan M
1st Ladies       Susan Blackwood & Katy Boocock FV  aka Black and Boo
1st Vet             Jonathan Shepherd MV

B
1st Overall     Duncan Coombs & Chloe Haines MIX  aka Auld and Reekie
1st Solo           Gordon Urquhart M
1st Ladies       Bryony and Rebecca Harding F  aka Hard(-ing) as Nails
1st Vet             David Frame MV*

C
1st Overall     John and Naomi Lang MIX  aka The Hare and the Tortoise
1st Mixed       Ben and Clare Stansfield MIX aka The Stoating Stannies
1st Vet            Kenny Milton MV
1st P&P          James & Graeme Ackland M  aka A Clan
1st Solo          Pete Lawrence MV

* corrected 14/11/16 – apologies for getting this wrong on the day (blame Rachel’s mental arithmetic for mis-estimation in our rush to present as many prizes as possible on the day before potential winners left to go home.) Bottle of wine en route to you somehow soon.

We also need to thank numerous folk for help/permissions etc (see Organiser’s Report above too.)

The Factors & Owners of Candecraig, Dinnet & Kinord, and Tillypronie Estates.
The Sporting Tenants on Dinnet & Kinord Estate.
Mr John Anderson.
FCS & SNH.
Tisos – for providing voucher prizes.
Mar Orienteering Club.
Aberdeen Scouts.
Maryculter Scouts.
Dave, Alan & Ross – The Catering Team.
Mike, Donnie & Graham – The Heavy Kit Team and Hill Marshals.
Mid Deeside Community Trust.
The Dinnet Hall committee.
Brandon Hire & Heilan Loos.

And personally, I’d also like to thank Ian S, Ian H, Rachel, Helen, Sam, Tim & Josie G, Iain B, Tim, Ali, Kate, Sean, and all the competitors who also became helpers at some point during the weekend. A final thanks to my wife Liz for putting up with my ‘project’ over the last 18 months, acting as event Base Contact, and managing to come up with a GMC Prize Cup (in chocolate).

Organiser: David Kirk
Planner: Ian Searle
Controller: Ian Hamilton

If anyone took any photos and is willing to share them then send the link to webmaster@grampoc.com please.

More photos from Ian Hamilton here and Yomping Yardleys here

“Many thanks for the race – a great introduction to mountain marathons for my daughter. She’ll now expect all of them to transport bags, have heated tents, controls in the right places, be well catered and have quick results. A few photos from my phone are linked here.  Cheers, Dave Robertson”

Photos from the Langs: “A bit Langcentric, but a few photos from the week end. And proof that John and Naomi even had time for photos on Day 1!”

DNC Cheyne Hill 9/11/16

Results Splits RG     Long course results amended 16/11/16

First big apology goes to Alistair for repeatedly calling him Craig. I do know who you are but was suffering brain fade after a long day and hassle over brikkes not starting.

Second apology goes to all who had trouble getting brikkes to start – lesson learned and we’ll not be using the old ones for DNC in future as it looks like they don’t like the cold any more than we do.
I was keeping our new brikkes aside for GMC this weekend and wasn’t sure how many we had and whether I could cover both events with all new brikkes so decided to use older for last night. Bad move!
You’ll see on the results I’ve massaged the times by either using folks’ watch/GPS time or estimating what they might have taken for the first leg as they mostly have all correct controls logged just not the Start.

Third apology is for not getting results up last night as GMC preparations took precedence and then bed beckoned.

Fourth apology is for apologising so much!

Organiser: Rachel Scott
Long 4.9km 240m climb
Short 3km 165m climb

Jon Duncan Junior Deeside Cup 2016 Final Results

Final results

Maybe some of the GJOs would like to leave a comment about taking part in the (JD)2C this year? We’d love to find out the good, bad and the amazing bits from a GJO perspective.

The dates and rules for the (JD)2C competition 2016 are linked below.
This competition is for juniors from GRAMP and MAROC up to MW16 and this year the league will consist of 9 level C events plus the Scottish Championships, to be held at Balmoral in May.

JDC Events and Rules.pdf

AUOC events for Movember

AUOC would like to invite everyone along to their events to help raise funds and awareness of mens health for Movember. Here’s the flyer and check their Facebook for details or their Movember campaign page.

Sun 13th November  Foggieton
Tues 15th November  Quiz night
Sun 20th November Duthie Park
Sun 27th November 100 control race Aberdeen campus

Scottish Junior Inter Area Relay @ Culbin 29/10/16

Some of our GJOs did their bit for the North Team in the Scottish Junior Inter Area Relay last weekend – well done Naomi, Hannah & Josie for flying the GRAMP flag. Full results can be found here .

Scolty 23/10/16 Level C – Results

We hope you enjoyed our event at Scolty – with some tough courses.

Here are Results,   and Split Times.

Routegadget is loaded (click here) – Please enter your routes and compare them with others.

Winsplits (split time analysis website) is loaded – click here

BOF results with Rankings points  Added 30/10/16

Thanks to our event officials, helpers and control collectors.

Brown 7.8 Km
Blue 6.9 Km
Green 4.9 Km
Light Green 3.5 Km
Orange 2.9 Km
Yellow 2.7 Km
White 1.8 Km

Officials
Planner: John Lang
Organiser: Alex Maclachlan
Controller: Drew Tivendale

North Area Inter-Club Junior Challenge 2016 – calling all GJOs

Mike Rogers of MOR would like to invite all GJOs to take part in the North Area Inter-Club Junior Challenge 2016. The competition is deliberately kept simple and is aimed at juniors who run Light Green and below – White runners completing their course have been known to sway the final results, so everybody’s result really does help.

It would be great to see all 5 north clubs fielding teams to make it into a truly competitive event (and also a chance to get to know their local peers and team-mates for when North compete against the other Scottish regions.) Somebody from Gramp’s GJO Team may well be about to send an email round to you all but thought I’d better give you the heads up asap.

This year’s North Clubs Junior Challenge will be at the excellent Keppernach on 6th Nov incorporated into INVOC’s Level C event so there will be chances for parents/chauffeurs to compete too.

North Clubs Junior Challenge Format 2016.pdf
North Area Inter-club Junior Challenge 2016.pdf

Deeside Night Cup 2016/17

To try and make best use of the darker nights, the DNC will start and finish a bit earlier again this year. Two courses 3km and 5km at TD5/Green standard as far as possible. No concessions to the dark. There may also be an additional Orange in a couple of our less technical/scary areas for really junior Juniors and beginners to be able to have a go too. Check the details on the DNC blog .

.

.

26/10/2016 GRAMP Hazlehead intro event
02/11/2016 MAROC Cambus O’May
09/11/2016 GRAMP Cheyne Hill, Stonehaven 
16/11/2016 MAROC Dess
23/11/2016 GRAMP Balmedie
30/11/2016 MAROC Muir of Dinnet 1
07/12/2016 GRAMP Glen Dye
14/12/2016 MAROC Bogendreip
21/12/2016 GRAMP Crathes

04/01/2017 MAROC Muir of Dinnet 2
11/01/2017 GRAMP Forvie
18/01/2017 MAROC Coull
25/01/2017 GRAMP Tyrebagger
01/02/2017 MAROC Muir of Dinnet 3
08/02/2017 GRAMP Scolty
15/02/2017 MAROC Glen O’Dee + meal

As this is a shared series, we operate a separate blog with full list of dates, venues, travel maps, final results and chat – DNC Blog.  Once it kicks off in earnest check there rather than here for up to date details like snow reports.

There are lavish prizes for the best M/W Junior and Senior in each Cup and a host of frivolous prizes for things like the Toughest of the Tough for the most gruelling courses and Best/Worst Mistake. Seriously though, this is one of the most competitive leagues around and worth turning out for if only for the challenge of finding your way around areas you thought you knew pretty well until someone turned the lights out!