It's almost time for Canoe-O! The water level should be up in June so we will be able to utilize all the creeks in the immediate area. There will be some boat traffic out in the bay, but it should be on the light side as it is still early in the season. Unfortunately, the canoe rental facility at the hotel went out of business this year so you will have rent canoes and kayaks at other places. Oak Orchard has a program that provides you with a car top carrier and life jackets. (Scroll down for Empire Blvd. rates) It is cheaper to rent a boat at their Waterport location, but for most it is a bit of a drive). http://oakorchardcanoe.com/rentals.php If anyone finds a better rate somewhere else let us know and we will post it.

EVERYONE WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY A $5 LAUNCH/PARKING FEE (Normal fee is $7) in addition to the usual ROC meet fees.

NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED TO START WITHOUT LIFE JACKETS FOR EVERYONE IN THE BOAT. The water will still be cool at this time of year. The bay is generally sheltered so big waves are not normally a problem. Not sure about portaging possibilities at this point until we know about the water conditions. Will send out course notes a few days before the event.

There will two divisions. One for canoes and one for kayaks. Extra points will be given for any garbage collected from the bay. There will be a mass start at 1 PM and a 3 hour time limit. Cannon balls will be shot at any boats still on the water after 4 and HUGE point penalties will be assessed. As usual the organizers will offer significant bonus points for any positive comments about the meet or their appearance. "Style" points will be awarded for decorated boats and participants. It is a great area for boating with lots of extra streams an inlets for controls. It will be a Score-O format.

Rick Worner, Course Setter

Results from the Mendon Ponds meet are now available on the results page.

There will be a regular meet this Saturday, May 18 at Hopkins Point Lodge in Mendon Ponds Park. Starts will be from 10 AM to noon. Note the earlier time! WYOBGR courses will be offered. We can promise better weather than at our last regular meet! Online Registration will save you time, as well as the staff.

Results from last weekends US SML Champs in Lake George, New York in Sprint, Middle and Long events for ROC club members.

Congratulations to all of our medal winners.

Results from Rochetser Map Adventure 2013 are now available on the results page.

Rochester Map Adventure 2013 is only 10 days away!!! The date is Saturday, May 4, with a mass start at 11:00 am. The start location is the South Avenue Community Center, at 999 South Avenue, Rochester (in the Highland Park area).

Rick Lavine and I (Dick Detwiler) have really enjoyed setting the course for this year, and we're sure the participants enjoy it as well. This year's event covers a somewhat different area than last year's (but with a lot of overlap). It will include the South Wedge, Cobbs Hill Park, Highland Park, Mt. Hope Cemetery, University of Rochester, Corn Hill, Downtown, the Park/East Avenue area, and the Neighborhood of the Arts.

This event has a total of 82 control points.

There's something for everyone in this event. For someone who is a serious runner or biker and wants to be challenged to cover a lot of ground in a quest to visit all of the controls, our estimate is that it would involve covering approximately 28 miles to do so.

But someone who isn't interested in covering mega miles will have a lot of controls accessible also -- within a 1-mile radius of the starting location, there are 43 of the 82 controls.

Pre-registration is STRONGLY encouraged. It helps us make sure we have enough maps and food, and it saves the registrant $5 per person compared to registering the day of the meet.

Register on Active
Course Notes Updated 5/3

Results from the Black Creek Park meet are now available on the results page.

ROC TNT training for the 2013 season.

Are you interested in improving your orienteering skills? ROC will be holding free informal activities twice a month. Sessions are open to ROC members on Tuesday or Thursday evenings, from late April through September at a variety of area parks. These self-service activities will be hosted by volunteers, and are intended for intermediate and advanced orienteers to develop technical skills and endurance.

To learn about these activities visit ROC Training or use the link on the side navigation bar. The orienteering activity will be informal and free. Sessions run from 7-8:30 pm.

Next meet takes place on Saturday, April 20th, with starts between 10 am and noon. Note the new Saturday start time! We will start at Black Creek Park, 3835 Union Street, in North Chili. Start and finish are at the Pathfinder Shelter on the east side of the park. Look for the orange and white signs. Pathfinder is an open shelter, so dress accordingly. Course setter Rob Holmes will be offering a full color range of courses WYOBGR.

If you have not already pre-registered; please Register Online now.

Rob says the low areas of the park are quite wet and at least one major trail is impassable, which will be reflected on the map. Hopefully the weather will dry up a bit before the meet. On the plus side the vegetation, which is normally pretty rough is quite open. Course notes will indicate all “green” areas can generally be considered one shade lighter.

[Update: April 17]

ROC tech shirt ordering deadline has been extended to April 20th at the Black Creek meet. Order at the meet or see the news post at the end of March below for ordering information.

Results from the Durand Eastman Park West Icebreaker meet are now available on the results page.

The Icebreaker orienteering event is this Sunday, April 7th from 12 noon to 2:00, if you have not already pre-registered; please Register Online now. The event we all have been waiting for will be held at Durand Eastman park starting from Camp Eastman's Rotary cabin, follow the "O" signs.

We will have a full line up of courses for you to choose from.

Course lengths are:
White - 1.8k
Yellow - 2.5k
Orange - 3.2k
Brown - 3.9k
Green - 5.4k
Red - 6.2k

Come out and join us. If you are new to orienteering this is a good event to try out the skills you have learned in the workshops you attended! If you missed the workshops there will be instruction starting at 12:30.

This year for the first time we are offering a ROC tee shirt in a comfortable moisture-wicking fabric. The shirt will feature the club logo and "Running Wild" on the back of the shirt. The shirts are available in both long and short sleeves, and you can choose from Men's, Women's or Youth styles and sizes. We will have some shirts to try on for size at the April 6th Workshop and the April 7th meet. Order deadline is ++EXTENDED TO April 20th meet at Black Creek.++

Shirts are available in Silver (a light gray), Purple, or Tropic Blue (a medium teal) for $14 short sleeve and $19 long sleeve. Order form with ordering instructions.

Note that these shirts are in addition to our traditional cotton schedule tee shirt.

ROC is offering a second workshop on Orienteering Skills on Saturday April 6 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Highland Park. A class will be offered in beginner orienteering skills. The workshop will run from 8:30 am until noon.

Orienteering Skills Workshops Registration by April 1st strongly encouraged. We had to turn people away that showed up day of wanting to sign up because we had run out of space for the March workshops. See Feb 3 post for class descriptions.

Classes have filled up for the workshops on March 16. The course setting class is cancelled due to lack of signups. The workshop will run from 8:30 am until noon. Classes may include outdoor activities if the weather permits.

Workshops are free to members of ROC. Non-member fees are $10 per person, $15 per family. All fees are fully redeemable towards ROC membership on the day of the workshop.

Orienteering Skills Workshops - Info and registration now available. Class descriptions.

The ROC ski-o scheduled for Sunday February 3 at Harriet Hollister is cancelled. Some light snow has fallen there, but we would need quite a bit more for safe skiing.

The 2013 schedule is now posted, some details to be determined.

We have planned a ski orienteering meet at Harriet Hollister Spencer this Sunday, but it's not clear yet whether the weather will cooperate. They tend to get and keep more snow than other places, but they didn't get much during the recent lake effect snowfall, and we are in for a few days of warm temperatures. As of now, not much snow is predicted after that. We will send further information when the situation is clearer. We plan short, medium and long courses, all on the shorter side. Start from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. If skiing is not possible, the meet will be cancelled.

There are no indoor facilities, except bathrooms located a 15 min ski from the parking lot. For those who haven't been there, the park has a spectacular view down to Honeyoye Lake. Ski conditions are posted on the RXCSF website. The park is about 12 miles south of the junction (West Bloomfield) of 65 amd 5/20.

Rick and Dayle Lavine - Course Setter

Results from the Winterfest Mendon Ponds Park meet are now available on the results page.

The Rochester Orienteering Club has scheduled an event this Sunday January 20, Ski-O at Mendon Ponds Park. Hopkins Point Lodge. Start from 11:30 to 2:00 p.m.
Please use ROC Online Registration.

  &nbspWhite - 7-8 controls
Scatter-O Courses of 24 controls
  &nbspShort - 8 controls
  &nbspMedium - 16 controls
  &nbspLong - 24 controls

Part of Mendon Ponds Winterfest.