General Information
The Canada 150 Orienteering Festival
This year's festival is named in honour of Canada's 150th anniversary, being celebrated all year long across the country, but nowhere more so than in the nation's capital. 2017 also marks the 50th anniversary of orienteering in Canada; throughout the festival week we will be celebrating Canadian orienteering, past, present and future. The Montreal Ramblers and Orienteering Ottawa are pleased to be able to bring you the Canada 150 Orienteering Festival.
There are five parts to the Canada 150 Orienteering Festival. There are the three sets of competition - the Eastern Canadian Orienteering Championships (ECOCs), the Ottawa O-Fest and the Canadian Orienteering Championships (COCs). In addition to the competitions, there is the Orienteering Canada 50th Anniversary Conference and the Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp.
Have you never entered a major meet of this nature before? A bit overwhelmed by the thought of a 'Championship meet' ? Don't be. There are courses for everyone. We have put together some notes for you as to how these meets are organized and how to choose your courses. Take a look at our For first time participants page and if you still have questions don't hesitate to contact us.
Eastern Canadian Orienteering Championships
In October 2016, the Montreal Ramblers hosted the Quebec Championships, their first big meet in 19 years. In 2017 they take on the Eastern Canadian Championships. We look forward to bringing orienteers from across Canada to Montreal!
Long
The Long event for the Eastern Canadian Championships will be held at L'Ile Perrot, an island just west of Montreal where the Ottawa River joins the mighty St. Lawrence.
Middle
The Middle event for the Eastern Canadian Championships will be held in Pierrefonds, a suburb in the west end of the island of Montreal.
Eligibility
Medal winners of the Eastern Canadian Championships must be full members of a club associated with Orienteering Ontario, Orienteering Quebec, Orienteering New Brunswick or the Orienteering Association of Nova Scotia.
Accommodation
The arenas of the races are within 20 min (13 km) from each other.
There are many hotels in and around the Island of Montreal. This link to Google maps will help you to find those in the west end
Camping is also available. One of the biggest camping site in the area is http://www.campingdaoust.com
Ottawa O-Fest
The 2017 Ottawa O-Fest will take on a somewhat different format than the 2 day middle and long chase start duo that has been used in recent years. This year, it will be part of the celebration of 50 years of orienteering in Canada, offering fun events for participants between the Eastern Champs and the Canadian Champs.
Canada 150 Night O
Night Orienteering on a golf course? Do you think it is easy? Think again. Club de Golf Rivermead, one of the oldest courses in the Ottawa area will be offering its terrain for the Canada 150 Orienteering Festival. Being an older club the fairways are lined with trees and the rolling terrain is interspersed with gullies and ridges. Vegetation in the forested parts ranges from wide open to ugly.
Back to the Barrens
Everyone loves the Barrens. First experienced at the 2010 Canadian Championships, the Barrens has since gained its own little bit of world-wide acclaim. A leg from the 2010 Long course on the Barrens was included in the World of O Route to Christmas in 2010 and a training course there placed 8th in the 2012 World of O Course of the Year competition, among other international exposure. How can we have a week of orienteering in Ottawa without offering a chance to challenge yourself on our Barrens map?
Canada 150 Retr-O
The Gatineau Park Huron and Camp Fortune sectors were first used for orienteering in 1968. They have been a popular playground for hikers XC skiers and birders for many years before and after that. The areas are known for their ridges and valleys and generous supply of rock and water features. The event will be divided in to two sections - the 1968 COC re-run which will have a remote start and will finish at the Camp Fortune Ski Area and a recreational event centered at Camp Fortune. The map for the re-run will as much as possible replicate the original,(black and white, 1:20,000 scale) with updates to show more recent beaver work and trail changes.
Canadian Orienteering Championships
The 2017 Canadian Orienteering Championships - the 50th Championships - will be centred in the beautiful heritage town of Perth, Ontario. Situated on the Rideau Canal system, on the Tay River, Perth advertises itself as "a small town with a big vision of how life should be". Perth celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2016 - truly a historic town for a young country like Canada. As we introduce Perth to orienteering and orienteers to Perth, we trust that the relationship is mutually beneficial! We are sure you will love this town, its people, its food, its scenery, its atmosphere and its sprint course! See a full location map here
Also situated on the Rideau Canal System, and not much more than 20 minutes from Perth is the Village of Westport, "The Heart of the Rideau Lakes". As you look across the bay from Westport you see Foley Mountain. Long targeted by Orienteering Ottawa as an exceptional location for orienteering, the Foley Mountain Conservation Area is now fully mapped and our dream to compete there has finally come to fruition. A couple of years ago a small portion was mapped and used for a club training camp. Since then the map has been completed; the results will be unveiled when you pick up your map for the Middle or Long race at the Canadian Champs. We hope you like our Ontario version of a mountain, all 70 metres of it!
The COC banquet and silent auction will take place on Friday, following the Orienteering Canada Conference.
Sprint
The COC Sprint will be in downtown Perth. A great new map, lots of tricky bits and pieces that course setter Jeff Teutsch is very excited about. The arena will be at the spectacular Crystal Palace in the heart of the town.
Middle and Long
The Middle and Long distance events will both be held in the Foley Mountain Conservation Area. Foley Mountain has been very generous in offering their support to our event and we look forward to great orienteering, a beautiful arena, and even a swimming beach to cool off after your race.
Relay (HPP fundraiser)
On Monday morning, August 7, the relay will close out the 11 day Canada 150 Orienteering Festival. This final event will be a fundraiser for our national High Performance Program. Everyone is encouraged to participate. The relay will take place on the same maps as the Middle and Long events at Foley Mountain. For our top athletes, it gives them a rare opportunity to compete in a relay - experience that is greatly needed as they prepare for World and Junior World Championships and the relay events there. For the rest of us it offers a unique opportunity to experience the camaraderie of a team orienteering event, the joy and stress of a mass start, of chasing or being chased. Make sure you allow the time to stay for our Monday finale. It'll be a blast!
Eligibility
Medal winners of the Canadian Championships must be full members of a provincial/territorial association; and (a) Canadian citizens; or (b) permanent residents as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp
The Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp is held annually in conjunction with the Canadian Orienteering Championships. It is an amazing opportunity for junior orienteers ranging in age from 10 to 20 years to train and have fun with their peers from across the country. Many an HPP athlete has commented on the value of the Sass Peepre Camp in their early years, in stimulating their interest in orienteering, training and competing.
This year, the camp will be held in Morin Heights, north of Montreal in some beautiful forest surrounding the Morin Heights Ski Resort. The camp will run from Sunday afternoon, July 30, after the ECOC middle event, through to Tuesday August 1. Camp participants will have plenty of time to get to Gatineau Park north of Ottawa, for the Canada 150 Retr-O - a not-to-be-missed part of our 50th anniversary celebrations.
What is in store:
- 5 Orienteering training sessions (get started or refine your skills) in English and French
- Explore Quebec's beautiful landscapes
- Stay in Morin-Heights' Camping Nature cabins
- Swimming pool access
- Acro-Nature activity
For more information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Registration for the Sass Peepre Camp on Zone4 is separate from race registration. Registration is closed. Cost is $150 per participant until May 31. There are reduced costs for siblings and increased costs after May 31. Please see the registration form for details.
This initiative is made possible by the Community Fund for Canada's 150th, a collaboration between Canada's community foundations, the Government of Canada, and extraordinary leaders from coast to coast to coast.
Orienteering Canada 50th Anniversary Conference
For the annual Orienteering Canada Conference we are trying something new this year. A full day conference that we encourage everyone to attend. It won't interfere with any races, although we will have an o-style lunch break, of course! Expect fascinating workshops, panel discussions, presentations, and question and answer opportunities as we celebrate our history and look towards our future!
50th Aniversary Celebrations
We are dreaming big for Orienteering Canada's 50th anniversary celebrations. A museum display? A Hall of Fame? A collection of photos and stories? We haven't got it all finalized yet, but the ideas are flowing! Do you have ideas of how to celebrate 50 years of orienteering in Canada? Please share with us - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Facebook or Twitter. Visit orienteering.ca for details as plans progress.
Conference Sessions
A full day of break-out conference sessions are planned, with sessions to appeal to competitive athletes, youth, officials, coaches, mappers - everyone in fact! Stay tuned as we create our schedule and post it both here and on the Orienteering Canada website.
AGM
The Orienteering Canada Annual General Meeting will be held as part of the 50th Anniversary Conference. Details of the AGM will be found on the Orienteering Canada website in the spring of 2017.
Accommodation, Travel, and Food
COC Banquet
The banquet and silent auction will be held Friday evening following the COC Conference catered by the Stone Cellar restaurant in Perth.
Long considered one of the finest restaurants and event caterers in the area, The Stone Cellar's elegance and charm is matched only by its menu - which is truly in a class of its own. The culinary skills of Stone Cellar's chefs have been revealed time and time again, with Chef Jamie Troutman who learned French classic cooking at a four diamond restaurant in Quebec and Chef Nick Valliquette, who is a recent Chopped Canada champion. Nick is in fact the second chef from Stone Cellar to win on Chopped Canada - a tremendous feat for any restaurant, let alone one in small town, rural Ontario.
See our Day-by-day page for further information.
On-Site Food
There will be food vendors at both the middle and the long COC sites. These are charitable organizations that we hope you will support.
Camping
For the five night of the Canadian Championships we have booked our own area near Last Duel Park in the town of Perth for open field camping for our participants. We have also made arrangements for some 'hard-floor' indoor camping. This is all within walking distance of the Sprint event, the COC Conference, the Friday banquet and the Saturday evening activities. Registration for these is covered in the Zone4 registration. Cost for any of this camping will be $15 per person or $30 per family.
| Date | Accommodation | Travel | Food |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday July 27 | Montreal | To Montreal, Thursday or Friday, July 27 or 28 | |
| Friday July 28 | Montreal | ||
| Saturday July 29 | Montreal | ||
| Sunday July 30 | Montreal or Ottawa | Montreal to Ottawa Sunday or Monday, ~2 hours |
|
| Monday July 31 | Ottawa | Ottawa to Rivermead Golf Club, return; ~20 minutes one way | |
| Tuesday August 1 | Ottawa | ||
| Wednesday August 2 | Ottawa | Ottawa to Gatineau Park, return; ~40 minutes one way | Evening: Pay-as-you-go food and social after 1968 Re-run |
| Thursday August 3 | Perth | Ottawa to Perth, ~1 hour | Evening: Pay-as-you-go food, beer and social after sprint race |
| Friday August 4 | Perth | no travel required |
Lunch: With O Can Conference Evening: COC Banquet and Silent Auction. See menu. |
| Saturday August 5 | Perth | Perth to Foley Mountain, return; ~ 25 minutes one way then shuttle bus 4 km from parking to arena |
Lunch: Vendors on site at Middle
|
| Sunday August 6 | Perth | Perth to Foley Mountain, return; ~ 25 minutes one way then shuttle bus 4 km from parking to arena | Lunch: Vendors on site at Long |
| Monday August 7 | Perth | Perth to Foley Mountain, return; ~ 25 minutes one way . Drop off at arena and return car to parking (4km) and carpool back up |
Complementary Activities
Spectating
There will be great spectating opportunities at all the Canadian Championships races. Cheer on your friends and your clubmates before and after your races. Family and friends who are not racing - come and cheer, socialize, have a bite to eat. Make a day of it!
Vendors
The O-Store will be set up in the arena throughout the day for all five championship events. They will not be at the Retr-O, the night-O or the relay. . The O-Store is the only specialty orienteering store in Canada and has a wide range of orienteering shoes, clothing, compasses, control description holders, SPORTident timing sticks, safety and bifocal magnifying glasses, and everything else you need for orienteering. You can even find specialty orienteering gifts! The O-Store also carries a complete line of equipment for clubs and other groups and organizations.
KidZone
We once again offer the youngsters amongst us an opportunity to spend some time in the COC KidZone where they will receive a special KidZone Passport and where they can try out maze-orienteering, a string-O course, some outdoor lawn games and some orienteering puzzles! While this is not a child-care service, it is a great place to keep young and future orienteers entertained! While volunteers will be on hand to help out, children are to be supervised by their guardians. They will be open at each of the COC events in Perth and Foley Mountain.
Heritage Perth Trivia Challenge
Thursday, August 3rd - Sunday August 6th
A free event open to all. It will introduce you to the beautiful town of Perth. Take the challenge, pick up a free map after the sprint and take your time over the next three days to go to the locations marked on the map of Perth. Each control point will give you an answer to a trivia question printed on the back of your map.
All answers are to be handed in to the registration table before 10am on Sunday, August 6th. There will be a draw from those who have all the correct answers with a prize given out just before the Long medal ceremony.
Canada 150 and Tourism
While in the area for the Orienteering Festival, do make some extra time in your schedule to participate in some of the Canada 150 activities as well. Check out what is on offer, via the Canada 150 website.
For tourist activities we provide you with some links to each of the areas where we will be hosting events:
Montreal: Tourisme-Montreal
Ottawa: Ottawa Tourism, Ottawa 2017 Some events require tickets - even free tickets - such as Kontinuum
Perth: Perth town website
Westport: Explore Westport