Ajax Orienteering & Hill Running Club

Leinster Autumn Series 2010 #4
Sunday November 21st 2010
Vale of Clara Nature Reserve, County Wicklow
Grid Reference T 185 923
Loc8 Code: SNQ-79-CX9

The Vale of Clara Nature Reserve is the area formerly known to orienteers as Cronybyrne. The new 2009 map is a part of the larger Cronybyrne/Ballinastraw area initially surveyed in the early 1980s, incorporated into the Claravale map for the 1987 World Military Championships (CISM) and used for the 1993 Leinster championships as well as numerous Leinster League events.

Organised by: Ajax Orienteering Club, ajax.orienteering.ie

Online Check-In: This orienteering event is using an online check-in system - please use it as it will make things much easier for the hard-pressed organisers if they know in advance that you are coming to the event. However you will also be welcome even if you just turn up and enter on the day. The online check-in system will close at 10PM on Saturday November 20th. You can see who has already checked-in here.

Newcomers: This orienteering event is suitable for beginners and experienced orienteers alike. Bring clothing that is suitable for a day out in the woods, e.g. raincoat, boots/old runners and clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. It is best to arrive by about 11AM.

Groups: if you plan to bring a group to the event please email ajax@orienteering.ie as soon as possible so that we will have enough pre-printed maps.

Directions: There will be signposts from Laragh, County Wicklow. In Laragh turn south at Lynham's pub onto the Rathdrum road; after about 400m you will reach a junction where a small road goes straight ahead and the main road veers right across a narrow stone bridge. Take the small road straight ahead and drive for about 6.5km to the event. Parking will be in a Coillte forest north of the nature reserve - please follow the marshals' parking directions. For orienteers living near the N11/M11 there is a viable route via exit 15 for Ashford and onwards to Garryduff crossroads. This route will not be signposted.

Map: 1:10,000 with 5m contours, printed on waterproof paper, A4 landscape, updated Summer 2009 by Marcus Geoghegan, minor revisions Autumn 2010.

Terrain: Mature Oak woodland with occasional Scots Pine and Birch.  Visibility is nearly always good but runnability varies - underfoot you will find sedge grass, Fraochán bushes (bilberry) and bracken fern. In some areas runnability is impeded by high bracken - these areas have been mapped with widely spaced green hatching. There are a few small areas of bramble which have been mapped with closely spaced hatching. During the 1990s a long-term project was started to return the Reserve to native woodland so most non-native trees (plantation conifer & hemlock) have been removed. Here are some photos of the terrain. The Irish Farmer's Journal has written a good article about the area's wonderful flora and fauna.

Sportident electronic timing will be used. Please make sure your sportident card is properly registered - it makes things a lot easier for the organisers. If you do not have a Sportident card, they will be available for hire for €2 each and you will be required to leave a deposit.

Registration will be at the car park entrance.

Start Times & Course Closure: starts are between 11AM and 1PM. Courses close at 3PM promptly and the controls will be collected at this time, so please make sure that you have reported to the download tent before 3PM.

Start: Approx 15 minutes walk from the parking/registration. The first 250m of this walk is along the road you travel to the event on. The remainder of the walk is along a quieter road that leads down to Clara bridge. Please accompany juniors.

Finish: Adjacent to the parking and registration area.

Download: when you return to the car park you MUST download your sportident card - the place to do this will be clearly signposted. You must download even if you retire and do not finish the course. Failure to download might lead to an unnecessary search and you will be unwelcome at future Ajax Orienteering events.

Clothing transfer: There will be no clothing transfer system in operation.

Safety & Cancellation: This orienteering event does not visit open mountainside. However it is November and inclement weather should be expected - a rain jacket/cagoule might be mandatory. All competitors must carry a whistle. If you get hopelessly lost walk north (usually uphill) along the forest roads until you reach the tarmac road where the car parking is located. The brown course crosses Cronybyrne Brook - please use the bridges and do not attempt to wade across. If the weather on the day is severe there is always the possibility of the event being cancelled - if you are in doubt please check the Ajax website (ajax.orienteering.ie) before travelling. The quarry in the centre of the map is dangerous and should not be approached from above; however no course is planned in the vicinity of the quarry. Horses occasionally use the Reserve - please watch out for them as a startled horse can be dangerous.

Control Descriptions will be printed on the front of the maps in IOF pictorial format, except for the yellow course which will have text descriptions. CONTROL DESCRIPTIONS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AT THE EVENT. You can download the control descriptions and print them yourself, or you can use the descriptions on the map. There will be no little bits of paper at the event!

Results: weather permitting, live results will be displayed on a computer screen beside registration. Live results will also be available online - bookmark this page on your mobile phone so that you can see the results as they come in. Full results, including splitsbrowser, routegadget and winsplits will be available on www.orienteering.ie on the evening of the event.

Leinster Autumn Series: this event is the fourth of five in the 2010 Leinster Autumn Series - you can see the automatically updated current league standings in the results section of www.orienteering.ie. Best 3 of 5 to count.

Refreshments: tea/coffee/biscuits will be available near the registration.

Course: Length, Climb, #Controls : Suitability
Brown:  7.5km, 325m, 26 : very experienced orienteers only
Blue: 5.8km, 245m, 19 : experienced orienteers only
Green: 4.7km, 170m, 16 : experienced orienteers only
Light Green: 3.6km, 120m, 13 : improvers
Orange: 2.3km, 100m, 12 : "off the paths"
Yellow: 2.2km, 90m, 12 : novices/young juniors/families

Buggies: the yellow course is not suitable for buggies, however there are nice buggy-friendly marked trails in the nature reserve.

Acknowledgements: Ajax thanks the National Parks and Wildlife Service for permission to use the reserve and Coillte for permission to park in Glenwood.

Planner : Marcus Geoghegan, Ajax
Controller: Peter Kernan, Ajax
Assistant Controller: Mike Long, Ajax
Organiser: Denis Reidy, Ajax

Orienteering is an adventure sport, all competitors take part at their own risk.