Christmas Orienteering Cup

Quality Areas and Good Courses in Central Scotland from Masterplan Adventure

2021 Results

Summary of the Week

Day 1
– All Woods, no Park!
– Nice weather
– Some brambles
– Toilets locked 😦

Day 2
– Wow. What an epic place!
– Rain. All Day.
– 10 – fastest minutes per kilometre.
– Lost SI box…back up the hill in the rain…

Day 3
– What a mixed area!
– More rain 😀
– Slippery…
– Covid spoils the indoor hideout.
– Download mini helpers…. ‘Have you got a number or flag on your top?’

Day 4
– Chaos at the start (both times!)
– Marginally stressed organisers (for 10 minutes 😉 )
– 14 degrees!?
– Intense orienteering
– Even Kris Jones was making mistakes…
– Brad Connor was muddier than after forest orienteeing!?

Final Details and Start Lists

Programme

Tuesday 28th December – Day 1 – Callendar Park
Wednesday 29th December – Day 2 – Trossachs
Thursday 30th December – Rest Day
Friday 31st December – Day 3 – South Achray
Saturday 1st January – Day 4 – West Edinburgh Sprint
Sunday 19th December – Sunday 9th January – Training – Polmaise

Overview Map

Courses

Long – 35mins for Elite Men (14 mins for sprint)
Medium – 80% long
Short – 60% long
Orange
Yellow

Terrain

Callendar Park
A mixture of fast open parkland and deceptively tricky woodland makes this the perfect place to kick off the first ever Christmas Cup.

Trossachs
No area in Central Scotland comes close to the quality that the Trossachs oozes. In fact for some this is Britain’s best orienteering area. Contours, rocks and marshes makes this Scandinavian-esque but the hill climbs makes this slower than the areas most common across the North Sea. But the sheer navigational challenge will make up for the strain you’ll put your body through! Plus you’ve got a rest day the next day 😉

South Achray
An area with 3 distinct sections. The western section is an interesting mix of contours, rocks and marshes. The northern section is steep with occasional low visibility but which is still runnable. The southern part is a mix of open, semi open and mature oak forest with distinct hills and occasional rock. Again winter is it’s best months for orienteering.

South Gyle – Edinburgh
Celebrate Hogmanay in Edinburgh then roll out of bed to sample this new sprint area!
New 29/11/21 – A bonus chasing sprint in the afternoon based on times from the morning race.

Start Times

Morning. Trossachs may run into afternoon due to limited parking.

At South Achray and South Gyle we’ll have a hall where you can hide from the cold, rain, snow, wind and catch up with friends, discuss courses or just relax after your run. Covid permitting!

Entries

Online via SiEntries. Entry limit 200 per day.

Entry now open for individual days as well (originally you had to enter all days).

Deadline	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Combined	Training
Sun 7th November	–	–	–	–	£49/24.50	£7/4
Sun 21st November	–	–	–	–	£53/26.50	£7/5
Wed 15th December	£15/7.50	£15/7.50	£15/7.50	£12/6	(£57/28.50)	£7/5

*Adult/Junior+Student

Enter Here

Training

We will provide a training area map with markers left in the forest for at least 2-3 weeks over the Christmas and New Year period. This will be at a TD4/TD5 (light green and above) standard. The training will be planned so you can practice a variety of techniques best suited to the area and full instructions given (maybe even a video briefing!).

Accommodation

We’d recommend staying in Stirling as it’s in the middle of all the areas. Although maybe if you’re off to Edinburgh for Hogmanay you’d want to stay that way on Friday night.

Prizes

For the top woman and man in each course overall.

Thanks

To Forth Valley Orienteers for letting us use their areas.

Questions?

Send Chris a message on our contact page.

About Us

Organised by Masterplan Adventure. An Orienteering Club based in Scotland. Best known as the organiser for Sprint Scotland and Coast and Islands.

More About Us