Orienteering in the Snow?

[Gross]

I'm one of the first to complain about the "nanny state", and that people should be allowed to assess their own risk, but this is different. If the authorities authorized this event, people would take that as indicating that it was safe.

So ice roads in Scandinavia should be banned also.... but UK is becoming infiltrated by all this PC crap... even my mother was moaning the other day about me heading up in the Ochils for a run... not in case anything happened to me... but what the PC brigade would say if anything did happen...

Mind you, going through ice isn't the best experience in the world... did it once crossing the river in Vilnius.. but fortunately my head came up at the hole I went through

[Godders]

Only because the hole was so big

[graeme]

Apparently the last Frost Fair on the Thames was in 1814 when they led an elephant across the river. Don't know who they were insured with though.

presumably http://www.elephant.co.uk/

[superstartradesman]

Given all the advice from various bodies not to venture onto frozen lakes/rivers it would be impossible for any authority, police, council etc. to give it's blessing to an event that encouraged people to do so.

I'm one of the first to complain about the "nanny state", and that people should be allowed to assess their own risk, but this is different. If the authorities authorized this event, people would take that as indicating that it was safe.

An individual can't measure the thickness of the ice or the conditions of the roads leading to the event, so they would probably seek the guidance/advice of others who might be in a better position to know those things.

I'm a curler who'd hoped to participate as a player or spectactor, and I am still incredibly disappointed and frustrated to hear that an event with great tradition appears to be consigned to history not because of changes to the winter climate but because the authorities cannot find a way to allow it to be held 'safely'.

I don't recall hearing about the multiple fatalities during the last Grand Match in 1979, when hundreds of curlers and spectators didn't fall through the ice to their death. And I do have faith in the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, who make preparations for this event every year in the hope that it might happen , in taking necessary steps to maximise the safety of those who participate on what is after all a sport with an inherent and accepted degree of danger - injuries cause by falling on the ice are a risk even on an indoor rink.

The RCC is ultra-cautious over the participants - requiring entries from RCC member clubs by the preceding September - and the venue, including making regular ice thickness measurements. Additionally, plans are that the match is announced at very short notice (as far as I understand it, the night before) and held on a weekday between 1130 and 1400, to minimise the numbers of spectators who might turn up and whose presence can't be controlled to the same extent as the participants.

But clearly the RCC didn't do enough to meet the obviously very, very high demands of the authorities; and whether they can ever do in the future is open to question.

I don't know the details of the Grand Match discussions that took place, but I do think any outdoor sport which takes place in what might be seen as 'extreme' conditions, including orienteering, can only react to this decision with some degree of concern for the future.

[mappingmum]

Perhaps we need to clarify . . .

This thread is now discussing a curling event more info here.

I don't think it's necessarily consigned to history; it's not the curling on the frozen loch which is a problem, but the fact that the road conditions are dodgy and unreliable at the same time (on minor roads). So if it was baltic but without the snow/ice(on the roads), that would be a distinctly different scenario.

[DavidJ]

As I was not orienteering today, I went for a walk around a local wood/urban park and I was delighted to see the impact of the snow on the brambles, especially those in open/semi-open areas. Those which had been head-high in dense 'impassable' areas of fight looked nearly flattened. No doubt the spring will bring vigorous regrowth but it will take a few years to get back to being the density it was before.

[Adventure Racer]

I had been thinking much the same thing, David. In any case it usually takes a while for the spring regrowth to kick in - should be some great orienteering before that in areas which are usually cursed with undergrowth (will there need to be some remapping?)

[Adventure Racer]

This thread is now discussing a curling event more info here.

Certainly one somewhat bizarre comment in that "It was cancelled after the police and emergency services ruled it was too dangerous to stage on the Lake of Menteith because of the ... bitter cold" Presumably somebody thinks it would be safer to stage an event on an ice covered lake if it was a bit warmer?

[superstartradesman]

Perhaps we need to clarify . . .

This thread is now discussing a curling event more info here.

Not just 'a curling event', but the largest and most famous event to take place in Scotland, and one that hasn't been held in 30 years.

I don't think it's necessarily consigned to history; it's not the curling on the frozen loch which is a problem, but the fact that the road conditions are dodgy and unreliable at the same time (on minor roads). So if it was baltic but without the snow/ice, that would be a distinctly different scenario.

But if it was 'baltic without the snow and ice' there would be no ice to curl on, and therefore no Grand Match!

It's highly unlikely that you can have suitable conditions for most outdoor winter sports and at the same time have completely safe roads, so that argument just doesn't make sense to me. And David Murdoch, current Men's World Champion, isn't too impressed with the decision either:

http://www.thecurlingnews.com/blog/murd ... -decision/

[RJ]

We were out on the middle of DerwentWater at the weekend. Could have held the curling championships there! There was a light covering of snow on the ice which made the surface easier to walk on.

We went for a walk around Derwent Isle, and looked longingly at St Herbert's Island further out. The view of the surrounding hills from the middle of DerwentWater was magical.... snow everywhere. There were a group of cyclists (MTBO) making their way across to Hawse End from Keswick!

The thaw has started!

[Becks]

Not here in West Yorkshire! Still snowing pretty heavily here, but it is definitely wetter. I'm not looking forward to my run as much as the last couple of weeks!

[Mrs H]

It may be a little milder outside but we've had another 3 ins over night in Malvern. The school is only open for A level modules and another big dump forecast tomorrow night. It's also foggy now

[AndyC]

Although I didn't make it -because my car wouldn't get off the driveway -(wrong type of snow!) I understand that Alastair Wilson-Craw went round the Choppington course yesterday on ski'shttp://www.muddy.org

[seabird]

Not here in West Yorkshire! Still snowing pretty heavily here, but it is definitely wetter. I'm not looking forward to my run as much as the last couple of weeks!

A fine picture of Becks running up the snowy banks of Redburn Beck on Saturday in today's Bradford Telegraph & Argus. Unable to find it in the online version yet.

It also claims to show a picture of her Dad. But if it's really him he's in heavy disguise!

Typcially for the media, it's on a news page rather than a sports page.

[Homer]

....and her mum had a picture shown on the local news last week!