Kettle Valley Kelowna

Organizers: Kevin Matrosovs (Event Director), Kevin Matrosovs (Course Planner), Tammy Howe (Assistant)

Map: Kettle Valley

Quick Links

The event is now over. Thank you to all participants.

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 terrain, 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!

Enjoy the picturesque Kettle Valley neighbourhood resplendent in autumn colours!

Registration System

Registration 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 xnavor AT gmail DOT com) when you are done the event (including the name(s) of all participants(s) and which course(s) they did).

Location, Parking, and Map

The start/finish location is by the Quilchena Water Park parking lot off Quilchena Drive in Kettle Valley.

This is an urban environment and there are many other users and traffic on the low-volume residential streets you will be crossing. Please respect other area users and be extra cautious when crossing streets or alleyways on which there may be vehicular traffic.

Courses

Control locations are marked with irrigation pin flags. As we will be leaving the pin flags out for a couple of weeks, and there are other area users, please keep in mind that some pin flags could be missing when you run the event, though we hope this will not be the case.

A reminder to all participants that the olive green colour is out of bounds, and you are not allowed to cross it. This symbol is used to protect private property and public garden beds. Even if something looks like it could be a public walkway, if we have mapped it as olive green, it was intentionally mapped as such after looking at the actual land ownership and government survey maps. It is important to respect the out of bounds symbols so that we can maintain good relationships with other user groups and land owners and maintain access for this unique sport in public areas.

Remember that courses are measured in a straight line, you will be running further.

• Beginner (2.0 km): Not too much extra distance from running around uncrossable obstacles. Route choices are fairly straightforward without too many big decisions to be made.
• Intermediate (3.0 km): A fair amount of extra distance from running around uncrossable obstacles. There are more options for route choices.

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 Okanagan nature.

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 Kevin an email: xnavor AT gmail DOT com
   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