Black Forest Salmon Arm

Organizers: Phil Wallensteen (Event Director), Phil Wallensteen (Course Planner)

Map: Black Forest

Post-Event

• Results: All Courses
• Results:
• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced - we will likely be getting a couple more tracks on this course later this week.

Overview

Due to COVID, at present, we are not having our usual in person events. Instead, we are setting up trainings that can be completed on your own, at any time during the week. We have checkpoint markers out in the woods, and you request a digital version of the course map(s) as a PDF which you can print out (or keep it on your cellphone) to use.

This event is beginner friendly, and we are happy to help answer any questions you have. Just get in touch!

Quick Links

Upload GPS Track

Registration System

In order to help minimize the number of emails in everyone's inboxes, we have created a new event registration system that will be used at this event. This registration system will be an online form, which upon it's completion will allow the download of this week's course maps as PDF files (it will also send you an email confirmation).

Remember, if you request a map, you must manually check in (by uploading a GPS track or sending an email to contact@sageorienteering.ca) when you are done the event (including the name(s) of all participants(s) and which course(s) they did).

Location, Parking, and Map

Drive 1.9 km up Black Road from Hwy 97 and there will be a small dirt road on the left which is marked with some pink flagging tape (see map pin at bottom of page). There parking for just a couple of vehicles, unless you have 4X4 with good clearance in which case you can drive further in.

The map has been expanded significantly this year, so you will get out onto some of the open, rocky hilltops on the Advanced course.

Bears are often in the area, but we do not have any reported sightings on this map yet this year. If it is wet, windfall and branches will be slippery. Some of the trails are quite indistinct especially with the all the cones and sticks on them from last winter.

The gun range property is to the north of this map area, but they do not shoot in the direction of this map, and courses are designed to minimize the risk of straying off the map towards the range. You may hear shooting out on course. This map is on crown land, except for some private property around the edges (as usual, mapped as out of bounds).

Courses

Controls are mostly marked with the large 2D board markers, but handful of them are marked with full sized orienteering flags with control numbers on them. No controls are marked with flagging tape (yay!).

• Beginner (2.0 km): Newcomer friendly course that stays on or close to trails and has easier navigation.
• Intermediate (2.9 km): This course is longer than the beginner, and has a bit more off trail and challenging navigation than the beginner course.
• Advanced (3.4 km): Difficult off trail navigation, enjoy this technical area.

COVID Safety

• Read through the Orienteering Canada Self-Guided Orienteering Guidelines.
  
• Please stay home if you have any symptoms of COVID-19 or illness.
• Please stay home if you have been in close contact with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19 in the last 14 days.
• Only participate in orienteering activities with individuals from your COVID bubble.
• Stay at least 2 metres away from all other park/wilderness users and do not congregate at the trailheads or control sites.
• Do not touch the control (checkpoint) flags – just get within 5 metres or so.

Cost

These trainings are being offered as a free mental health service to all Sage Orienteering Club members. Now is a great time to go for a run by yourself or in a very small group following current health guidelines in the beautiful Shuswap nature.

Please Do Not Share Maps

We have recently learned that in some cases course maps have been shared with individuals who are not Sage members. While we love sharing our love of this sport, everyone who participates in a Sage Orienteering Club event (including self-directed trainings) must be a Sage member because in order to satisfy our insurer's conditions. Sage members are not allowed to share course maps with others, or allow participation, by individuals (or groups) who are not Sage members. Any map requests that you make are for yourself, and any other Sage members you name during the registration process. We intentionally keep membership costs low (especially for newcomers) to keep the sport accessible to everyone, so please please please follow the rules.

If maps continue to be distributed in an unauthorized manner, we will be forced to cancel future self-directed trainings.

How it Works

1. Register your Sage Orienteering Club membership and waiver online (just one combined form this year!).
2. Fill in the event/training specific registration form, which will ask you which course(s) and members will be participating for the course of your choice and let us know how many of you are going. Everyone participating needs to be a member of Sage for insurance reasons. The registration form will allow you to download the course maps.
3. Run the course whenever you want during the time when the event is open. If you are interested in comparing results & routes with others (a great learning experience for everyone), record a GPS track on your smartwatch or phone (optional).
4. Check in with the event organizer (including participant names and courses of everyone in your family) by:
   
   1. Sending David an email: contact AT sageorienteering DOT ca
   2. Upload a .gpx file (you can export this from Strava, Garmin Connect, Attackpoint, and many others) to our website (link will be posted once registration is open) which will calculate your split times. We will also then overlay all the GPS tracks onto the map together so you can compare routechoices with others. Here are some instructions on how to record and upload your GPS track

Location