Ajax Orienteering & Hill Running Club

Ajax is pleased to host the next Dublin by Night event of 2015 at Glendoo Ridge West this coming Saturday (Feb. 7th.). Yes, I know that this area is actually in Wicklow, but the idea behind the Dublin by Night series (according to Martin - who should know), is that it should take place in areas from which you can see the lights of Dublin. I'm pretty sure that if you look north during the event on Saturday, then you should see the faint glow of the lights of Dublin in the sky... Nuff said?

The weather forecast looks favourable at the moment with slightly warmer conditions and a mostly dry night predicted.

Thanks: Glendoo Ridge West is located in the Wicklow Mountains National Park and we would like to express our thanks to the Wicklow Mountains National Park, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for permission to use the area for the event.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 7th, 2015.

Time: Starts from 18:00 to 19:00.

Courses Close: 20:30.

Location: Glendoo Ridge West.

Grid Ref: O 131 196.

Organised by: Ajax Orienteering and Hill-running Club.

Guilty party: Paul

Contact:

Email:

The short version: No loose descriptions - download your own (here). Experienced orienteers only on the long. You must carry a jacket, compass and whistle. No under 16s. Scale is 1:5000/5m. Road is out of bounds. Finishers after 20:30 will be disq'd. No signage except at entrance to event. Online registration is here. Online registration closes at 22:00 on Friday Feb. 6th.

Safety: This is a night event on rough open mountain, in winter, and all competitors must carry a jacket, whistle and compass - no exceptions. Given that the event is in early February it’s almost guaranteed that the weather will be cold - possibly bitterly cold and possibly very wet.

The area is exposed and littered with potential hazards so please come prepared and exercise caution at all times.

In general, from most areas on the map, heading west will get you to a road or track fairly quickly.

We reserve the right to cancel or curtail the event in the event of poor weather. Check the forums on Orienteering.ie and this webpage for any changes on the day of the event.

Out of Bounds: The public road that forms the southern boundary of the map is out of bounds to all competitors except in the event of an emergency.

Groups: if you plan to bring a group to the event please email as soon as possible so that we can ensure that we have enough pre-printed maps. Likewise, if you are not a usual attendee at the Dublin By Night events please let us know you are coming. Registration is now open here. Online registration closes at 22:00 on Friday Feb. 6th.

Entry Fees: Adult €8, Student €5

Directions: The only signage for the event will be from the turn-off on the R115. There will be an orienteering banner here rather than an orienteering flag. If anyone needs directions please email me giving an indication of where you are travelling from.

For any of our hill-running friends attending, the entrance to the parking is opposite the track where the hill-race up Kippure starts.

Sportident electronic timing will be used. Sportident cards will be available for hire for €2 each together with a €20 deposit.

Parking: Parking is on a large flat area a short distance off the R115. 200 metres after turning off the main road you reach a turn on the right. The way on will be blocked with tape. Turn right and about 100 metres later you will come to a wide flat area where you can park. Please park considerately so there is room for everyone. Please be careful as the area is unlit and there will be competitors moving about the parking area.

Start, Finish & Registration: Adjacent to parking.

Start Times & Course Closure: starts are between 18:00 and 19:00. Courses close at 20:30 and control collection will begin at this time. Competitors who do not report to the finish by 20:30 will be disqualified regardless of whether they have finished or not.

Download: When you finish you MUST download your sportident card even if you retire and do not finish the course.

Courses: There are two courses as follows:

Long: 4.4 km, 120 m climb with 26 controls.

Short: 1.6 km, 20 m climb with 12 controls.

Neither course is designed with beginners/novices in mind and only experienced orienteers will be permitted on the long course. Absolutely no-one under the age of 16 is permitted to take part, regardless of whether they are accompanied by an adult or not.

I have tried to plan the courses so that they are both fun and challenging. Let me know whether I’ve succeeded or not.

Terrain: The area is open mountainside consisting mostly of worked bog. There are extensive drainage ditches, turf cuttings and other features of peat extraction. A few vehicle tracks cross the area. Going underfoot varies from fast and runnable to heavy wet marsh and deeper heather. The ground is very uneven in most places and as this is a night event competitors should take particular care. Much of the area covered by the courses is relatively flat but the long course ventures onto the steeper part of the map.

Map: The map is A4, at a scale of 1:5000 with 5 m contours and is printed on waterproof paper. There is no legend on the map.

A black X represents a small ruined hut/shelter and there are several of these on the map. These are very small (about 6’ x 6’) and may be partially buried.

North lines are printed in black and are aligned with the long edge of the paper. There are a few boulders on the map. Although these appear on the enlarged map as a largish dot they are small (< 1m high) and generally at least partially covered by heather making them difficult to spot. Paths/tracks marked as indistinct also require care to locate.

Features marked as ditches often have deeply cut sides not represented on the map by bank symbols. Parallel banks separated by distances too small for separate bank symbols are generally represented by the gully symbol.

Control Descriptions: are in IOF format on the front of the map. Loose descriptions will NOT be available on the night but you can download them (here). Apologies for the poor quality but it appears Purple Pen cannot export descriptions in PDF format!

Turf banks and cuttings are indicated in the control descriptions by the earth-bank symbol.

Results: Full results, including splitsbrowser and routegadget will be available on orienteering.ie as soon as possible after the event.

Refreshments: We hope to provide some light refreshments for those hardy or foolish enough to stand around after their run!

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