Happy orienteering all you people back in the UK, glad the JK areas turned out to be better than anticipated.
Well, the skiing season is coming to an end, most resorts will be closed by the end of this week, the highest lifts remain open until May03 by which time I will have logged about 50 days on the slopes this season, and that means I will have ski'd about 1500 individual descents for a lift ticket costing about GBP900, not sure what the exchange rate was on day of purchase
At a rough guess I will have travelled 2000kms on lifts and ski'd 3000kms, so the cost of skiing is a little under 20p per kilometre. About 10 percent of what it costs to go orienteering.
(Alternatively the daily cost works out about GBP20, double orienteering)
I'm sure everyone old enough to remember me has been expecting me to write in sometime about how park o and sprint o isn't the proper thing, well it isn't but then again, in truth, I looked at the extracts in focus from the Warwick university and city of london races and my reaction was I would have enjoyed running in them, the problem I have is when we get fed a hybrid.
EG on day 1 of the Belgian 3 days a year ago, after a lot of path running and easy navigation the M35 course had just got to the good bit of the area, then we had a 800m path run with only 2 decisions to take, back to the assembly field that we had previously had a 2k walk to the start to get away from, because someone in their wisdom had decided there had to be a spectator control.
Last summer I went to Portugal for the world masters champs Only one of the races was held in a good forest, although the training areas were good.
Bill Vigar lent me his maps from the French 5 days a few years ago. One of the areas wasnt worth visiting at all; it had been a waste of the last day, just so the finish could be in an athletics stadium. A wasted day, not to mention the issue of whether they had to pay to use the stadium, and now thanks to tempète Klaus (the devastating storm last January) the forests may not be equally good for many years
There are maps from Norway stuck on the wall in my apartment here, the sort of maps that cover 15 sq kms and have one path other than some corner that looks small in comparison but is actually amply big enough for the easy courses. Where planners can plan long courses and long legs in runnable forest with no path running but if you think you'll ever go to an event there .... keep dreaming.
The new maps are small maps, as Ivar Helgesen told me regretfully last time I was in Norway. He said amply enough to convince me not to bother with the Midnattsolgalloppen event I had been considering entering. 4 events on 2 little maps on the outskirts of Troms0.
I wish everyone in the UK the very best, the Scotch 6 days sounds absolutely super this year, I was tempted to enter, but doesnt fit with other plans
Simon
Why skiing is better value than orienteering
Moderators: [nope] cartel, team nopesport
14 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
I'm struggling to understand how you square your purist stance with using ski lifts at all! I would have expected you to have been one of those noble creatures you see from time to time plodding up the side of the runs with their cable bindings before descending in a series of perfectly formed telemark turns - now that really would be better value than orienteering. It's very disappointing
enjoy the remains of the season.
enjoy the remains of the season.
-
Mrs H - god
- Posts: 2971
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 3:30 pm
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
Don't get your point about cost... I could go and live in the highlands of scotland, buy some maps (negligible cost) and go 'orienteering' every day, given the access laws in scotland this would be considerably less than skiing. it's the competition(s) you have to pay for.
lots of interesting points about maps and the state of competitions though!
lots of interesting points about maps and the state of competitions though!
Andrew Dalgleish (INT)
Views expressed on Nopesport are my own.
Views expressed on Nopesport are my own.
- andy
- god
- Posts: 2455
- Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2003 11:42 pm
- Location: Edinburgh
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
Fell Running, nuf sed
and you save money not stopping in mountain restaurants.
That said, I've missed skiing this season - the first time in 13 I haven't hit the slopes
and you save money not stopping in mountain restaurants.
That said, I've missed skiing this season - the first time in 13 I haven't hit the slopes
M21-Lairy
- ba-ba
- diehard
- Posts: 668
- Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 10:31 pm
- Location: somewhere in the between
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
Yeah, I must buy a pair of skis with the ski mountaineering bindings. I usually exercise by using snowshoes to make geometric designs in the snow after the lifts have shut. I wonder whether anyone reading this has seen them?
- simonbeck8848
- white
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:44 pm
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
You mean....like crop circles?
-
Mrs H - god
- Posts: 2971
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 3:30 pm
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
yeah but they arent surveyed so accurately
- simonbeck8848
- white
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:44 pm
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
The question is Simon - did you ski all those 3000km's in a boiler suit?...now that would be impressive
- DIDSCO
- brown
- Posts: 578
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 12:02 pm
- Location: H?o Ghetto
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
salopettes are just fancy boiler suits,
wellies now that would be the thing.
wellies now that would be the thing.
If you could run forever ......
-
Kitch - god
- Posts: 2434
- Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:09 pm
- Location: embada
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
And using tins of John West salmon as currency
Go orienteering in Lithuania......... best in the world:)
Real Name - Gross
http://www.scottishotours.info
Real Name - Gross
http://www.scottishotours.info
-
Gross - god
- Posts: 2693
- Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 11:13 am
- Location: Heading back to Scotland
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
How do you know about the John West Salmon, yes I did take a lot of that product with me on a long trip to Scandinavia 10+ years ago, saved loadsamoney against buying food locally, sadly this sort of malarky is necessary once again due to the cost of food in France versus the UK, I ate the last of the fresh cheese yesterday, that had been bought in Crawley 41 days previously, kept in perfect condition with the generally cold temperatures here
Big snow forecast for Monday up to 80cms but I expect Val Disere will get it all and we will get a dribble, Val Thorens open until May 03 rest of 3valleys shuts Sunday 26th Apl Cheap internet closes for season tomorrow after which it will be too expensive to wind up the newsgroups; maybe not such a bad thing, enjoy the UK scene everyone and hope the vetters and setters manage to hang the controls in the right place
Big snow forecast for Monday up to 80cms but I expect Val Disere will get it all and we will get a dribble, Val Thorens open until May 03 rest of 3valleys shuts Sunday 26th Apl Cheap internet closes for season tomorrow after which it will be too expensive to wind up the newsgroups; maybe not such a bad thing, enjoy the UK scene everyone and hope the vetters and setters manage to hang the controls in the right place
- simonbeck8848
- white
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:44 pm
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
simonbeck8848 wrote:How do you know about the John West Salmon, yes I did take a lot of that product with me on a long trip to Scandinavia 10+ years ago
Jens had it in his cupboards
Go orienteering in Lithuania......... best in the world:)
Real Name - Gross
http://www.scottishotours.info
Real Name - Gross
http://www.scottishotours.info
-
Gross - god
- Posts: 2693
- Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 11:13 am
- Location: Heading back to Scotland
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
Simon:
Surprised you didnt go for the campervan route? My mate in whistler did that; the cheapest way to do a season I reckon.
You should get yourself some dynafit ski mountaineering bindings they are great fun.
Theres still some snow here in Norway; hopefully going to ski up the highest mountain in Norway in the Jotunheimen next weekend. Thats the plan anyway, who knows what will actually happen.
Surprised you didnt go for the campervan route? My mate in whistler did that; the cheapest way to do a season I reckon.
You should get yourself some dynafit ski mountaineering bindings they are great fun.
Theres still some snow here in Norway; hopefully going to ski up the highest mountain in Norway in the Jotunheimen next weekend. Thats the plan anyway, who knows what will actually happen.
-
pyrat - [nope] cartel
- Posts: 2556
- Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:02 am
Re: Why skiing is better value than orienteering
a possible way to raise the funds for said bindings would be to hang around after the o-ringen party and collect empty beer cans for the +pant reimbursement.
-
bendover - addict
- Posts: 1459
- Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2003 5:00 am
- Location: London
14 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests