Dalbeattie regional event

[mikey]

Out of interest, why were there so many mispunches at the Dalbeattie regional event yesterday? 11 out of 16 on M21l according to the provisional results.

[rocky]

Controversy at No. 16.
Either you dropped right on top of it, or didn't find it at all, like me. It wasn't helped by the windblown trees making going in the direction you actually wanted to impossible.

[Patrick]

Either you dropped right on top of it, or didn't find it at all, like me. It wasn't helped by the windblown trees making going in the direction you actually wanted to impossible.

Pretty much sums it up. I would add that if you failed to drop onto the crag where the flag was you ended up at a MASSIVE (5m high, ~30m long) unmarked crag which suggested you ought to carry on (there were no crags marked beyond the control circle). I arrived there to meet Oleg, Shayne and Csaba crawling around the windblow, did the same for 10 minutes, gave up and jogged off towards the nearest track...whereupon I came across the flag. It's a pity about this (and number 11 where the map was similarly useless) because I was generally enjoying my run up to that point. After 16 I couldn't really be bothered navigating!

The splits up to 15 are quite interesting - that young Mr Gosswein can't half shift.

Patrick

[Godders]

Sadly I didn't get that far. My ankle is now turning nice shades of black and blue.

At least there was plenty of ice around for first aid. Classic comment from local kid seeing me with my foot in the iced over duck pond: "is that no cold?"

[Fratello de Pingu]

"is that no cold?"

is that deliberatly (?spelling) "no" not "not" or is it a mistake??

[ryeland of doom]

Def..no "t"

I enjoyed the event. Totally knackered after a day playing in NE snow, but still loved every minute of it. The place has changed a lot since my last visit. That part of the forest was white, and the bulk of the old A3ish 1:15k map has fallen foul of the saw and sitka planter (gits). Enjoyed all the granite, gave a scandinavian feel to the place.

No probs with M45 course, that I could find.... It was rather short mind. (fortunately)

Plenty of grovelling under fallen trees though. Bring on Mill of Fortune.

[Forest Gump]

I like all your diplomatic comments. Why not say it how it was. The map was shocking the planning/controlling questionable and the course and day spolit. And this is supposed to be the pinnacle event series in Scotland. There was enough "nice" forest to avoid us having to thrash our way though green Sh**e. I only found the contol by complete fluke having decided to retire about 2 mins before as I was fighting my way through the windblown. Stumbled across the contol on an unmapped 5m high (at least) crag nowhere near the circle on the map. Didn't matter though I'd already spent 15mins looking for another "dodgy" contol.!! Lucky it was sunny!!

Additonally there was the issue of the control discriptons being wrong. Who knows the difference between a dot knoll and a hill...I do!!

[Toni]

I'm not quite as negative about the event - I loved the green sh*te! It was a tough forrest that you had to attack and the really low visibility made it a superb challenge. There were some questionable controls on my course too but really the issue was that areas of the map were badly mapped or undermapped! I know that controllers and planners should avoid these areas but if the mapping was better the courses would have been superb. There were numerous complaints on the day about the mapping which is a shame because I have run on some fantastic maps by this company when they first started mapping.

[HOCOLITE]

If the map was professionaly produced as you suggest, unless it is horrendously out of date the organising club should be making a protest, financial I should think. Wind blow arrives but crags don't usually even the Tullies don't manage crags I'm sure

[chepls]

i enjoyed it...nice and tough forest on a poor map, what more could you ask for. It is boring when everything is fast, easy and correct.

All the crags round 16 were there, the only thing that was incorrect were the contours.

Oleg

[frodo]

Apart from no.11 and no.s 15+16 i thought the map and area were nice. there wasn't really any need to take us into that crap green area and it did kind of spoil it a bit. if there was another event there and a promise the course didn't enter those parts i'd go back.

[Jethro]

...Wind blow arrives but crags don't usually even the Tullies don't manage crags I'm sure

That's where your wrong young Mr Hocolite! Have managed to "enhance" one wee crag (1m high!)and remove the vegetation from a few more. Pits and boulders are easier.
On the subject of SOL 1, I thought the M45L course was good. The forest was tough but the map was generally OK in the bits we visted. No map is ever going to be perfect in everyone's eyes. There was so much going on on the ground at Dalbeattie that it was inevitable that some things had to be left off. It sounds as though this may have been slightly overdone in some areas used for M21L.

[Adventure Racer]

Mr Hocolite!

[Jethro]

Well Ms then! A bit of journalistic licence?

[HOCOLITE]

Thanks Jethro, I'll forgive you this once, I'm sure it will have amused more than just adventure racer.