Route choice

[fell]

there's a bit of a debate going on over the following route choice-

Controls 3-4
what would people's first impressons be by just looking at the map?

[mharky]

i wouldnt go all the way up to 5.
at the first big re-entrant with the ditch in it i would go downhill more, picking off the massive boulder to the left of the north line, then eastwards to the next 2 boulders next to each other, then contour round onto it.

however i have never been to an area like this, i guess there is rocks everywhere right?

[fell]

yeah visibility isn't so good, and either in my opinion is the mapping, it can be kinda hard to tell what is a boulder cluster and what is rocky ground somtimes, but mind you I was only playing it safe by hitting number 5.

the main discussion is about taking the downhill route to the fence line, and then taking the gully up to the control

[helen]

by taking the fence line you lose quite a bit of height - but it could be a bit safer. having never seen an area like that i'm not sure - how much do the large boulders stand out?

[fell]

very large boulders (odd shaped black blobs) stand out as do cliffs and flat rock, but normal boulders and rocky ground can be confusing,

the fence option meant you could run flat out for about 80% of the leg, whereas picking your way across the hillside could be quite slow.

[graeme]

the main discussion is about taking the downhill route to the fence line, and then taking the gully up to the control

Thats not a route choice, its an admission of defeat before you start (not always a bad plan .

I'd try going straight from the path bend, hoping to hit the gully below the flag from the edge. Dont see that's much harder than finding it from the fence corner. If I'm too high, I'll see bare rock/crag combinations (or #5), too low I'll see the fence corner, too far I'll hit the green. I dont reckon I'll be able to identify the big rocks from the little ones, nor find #5 to use as an attackpoint.

Graeme

[Guest]

At the end of the day, you run further going down to that fence, than if you just legged it straight on a compass and bounced back off the green behind it.

[fish]

Having run on the area - but not the leg (we approached the control from above), my feeling was that down to the fence was the best route.

The question is - is it clear that this is so from the map. Well you've already run a couple of legs - and realised that there is a shed load of rock everywhere - and so there are no gurantees of picking up on bigger rock or bare rock on the straight route. Maybe you lose 30seconds going down compared to really hitting the control straight, but the time you could lose on the straight is so much more. The time difference would be more if going straight gave you good running all the way - but the last 400m is utter choss.
(Mind you i'm glad I didn't have to make the decision in the race!!)

Legging straight and bouncing off the green - where on the green are you - what height - where does the green start - is it a clear veg boundary. Not sure it is that good an option.

It's all about risk assessment - and in granite terrain like this - avoiding the blowouts is the key to the good run.
JWOC 07? people should probably get hold of maps like this - I'll be bringing some back - some day...

Fish

[fell]

ah fish, how I shall miss you when that time comes.
and to think you will still get the same abuse in Britain because of your aussie accent.

[Kitch]

Fastest has to be
BLAM ! out to the fence avoiding stony ground nit hesitation then nice natural line on a bearing in up the gully with the big crag staring down at you.
Anything else may be macho - but it will be slow, you're going to be picking your way over stony rocky ground and hesitating to pick up exactly where you've got to so you can be sure of the next bit.
Going in by 5 was surely an error by the runner, it is no easier than finding 4 straight off, this error shows the difficulty of trying to go straight for it.
Alternative if the rocky ground underfoot is fast and runnable might be to head straight for 4 on a flyer, hoping to hit it first time but having absolutely no hesitation in keeping on going out to the green stuff (depends what the green stuff is) and coming back in accurately of the little bit that sticks out SW, attack points don't always have to be before the control.

[Dan]

i agree that using control 5 is utterly pointless as it is quite possibly more difficult than cotrol 4! i would go with down to the fence

[Keith]

Across to the path, down the reentrant to the firld and back up again

[chepls]

aye but attacking it from the fence could be just as hard as attacking it straight on if the visibilaty is bad.
I'd go with mharkys rout using the green as a stopping feature and depending on the accuracy using it also to relocate on.

[Seamus]

Fish and robbo,

how clear are the contours to read through the rock and forest around there? I think I would go down to the fence and up. I don't think for me I would contour along due to the rock diturbing my contouring abilities.

there is a steep/sharp re-entrant (if you know what i mean ) below the control to pick you up and guide you into the control.if you coming from below or contouring to go below the control.

[fish]

re - contours

The vague wiggles if you were trying to contour in would not be that obvious amongst the rock. The re-entrant below the control should be quite clear. The difficulty if you're contouring towards it is that some of the small wiggly ones might seem almost big enough. But from the fence that re-entrant should be easy...

fish