|
Check the calendar section for current events. HVO schedules events from March to June (spring schedule) and from September to November (fall schedule). Contact HVO via e-mail For questions and information about HVO and orienteering in the NYC/NJ area, contact HVO by e-mail at AskHVO at gmail dot com. HVO phone hot line We are in the process of getting a new hotline number. Update will follow. Postal address Our postal mail goes to: Hudson Valley Orienteering P.O.Box 61 Pleasantville, NY 10570 |
Checking
Posted on Sunday, May 13
Welcome to HVO's web site HVO is based in the New York metropolitan area. We host orienteering events throughout southern New York and northern New Jersey. Everyone is welcome to participate in our events. 
Orienteering, HVO's Annual General Meeting, and More!Sunday, May 20, 2012 Taconic Outdoor Education Center Clarence Fahnestock State Park Cold Spring, Putnam County, NY Orienteering will again be part of the Mountain Laurel Outdoor Rec Festival: Unplug your family and participate in the National Get Outdoors Day. Learn about canoes, orienteering, outdoor skills, geocaching, adventure challenges ,birding (possibly birds of prey and bird banding) and nature. Food and beverages are available. Festival hours are 9:00am to 2:00pm Orienteering starts will be the usual 11:00am to 1:00pm Courses (White, Yellow, Orange, Green) will close at 3:00pm! For further information about the orienteering event, including directions, please go here. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place in the Taconic Outdoor Education Center building from 3:30 to 5:00pm. All HVO members are invited to attend and participate. At the AGM, HVO officers will review the past year’s performance for the Club and plans for the coming year, as well as offer members an opportunity to air their comments and suggestions. For further information about the AGM, please go here. Posted by betsy Monday, April 23, 2012 (17:54:55)
2012 HVO Election Closes SundayHVO's 2012 Board of Directors Election is underway. Ballots were mailed two weeks ago. The election will close at 4:00 pm, Sunday May 20, 2012. If you intend to mail your ballot, it must arrive in the HVO post office box no later than this Saturday, May 19. Otherwise, ballots can be brought to the orienteering event at Taconic Outdoor Education Center or the Annual General Meeting afterwards, where ballots will be accepted until 4pm. Posted by Guy Wednesday, May 16, 2012 (11:10:26)
Video of the week!The Challenge. It's in Polish, but orienteering provides the complete challenge. Wojtek the orienteer came training in Harriman SP last year. Past videos Posted by NeilD Thursday, May 03, 2012 (21:31:44)
Westmoreland Meet reportMeet Report Westmoreland Sanctuary April 29th. This was the last of the 3 series event and the best attended despite the Billygoat drawing away many of the more experienced members from HVO and other local clubs. The event was co-sponsored by the Friends of Westmoreland who did a lot of local advertising in schools, shops and local newspapers, something that we should be doing for all are events. As a result we had a lot of new orienteers. The weather was kind, dry and not too hot and the woods were challenging, even for the easier courses. Altogether we had over 80 participants and over 20 volunteers. Many of the volunteers came from a local scout group and West Point cadets who did a great job with elementary training and shepherding people who had not done orienteering before around the easy course to ensure that they did not get too far off trail. Four courses were on offer ranging from a hardish white to a green level 6.3 km. Many entrants did more than one course, 2 entries did 3 courses and 20 did 2 courses. Fastest times on the 4 courses were 8.04, 21.43, 48.54 and 62.21 which would indicate that Neil’s course design was just about spot on. The maps were preprinted with 3 courses on the one sheet; Course 4 was on a separate sheet. E-punching was used with Liz Chiera doing sterling work on the computer. E-punching is exponentially more work for the operator when people are doing multiple courses. The use of the (loaned) WCOC thermal printer was popular especially for first timers; seeing where they spent time between controls was enlightening. Westmoreland set up a preregistration site for the event (with a $5 reduction in entry). This proved quite successful with 30 pre-registrants, despite a small glitch with the web site. Westmoreland Friends provided after run snacks coffee and had sandwiches and sodas for sale. This was a successful collaboration with the Friends and should be a blueprint for similar areas. Thanks to Neil Dodds for course design, Liz Chiera for various help on the day, Andy Raebould for help in control pickup, Mt. Kisco Troop 1 for all sorts of help on the day and the staff of Westmoreland and Friends of Westmoreland for help with registration. Geof Connor, Meet Director Posted by GeofC Friday, May 04, 2012 (21:55:21)
Results from Westmoreland / West Point this weekendResults/split times from Westmoreland Sanctuary available here. Report to follow. Split times now available for all courses (we had an issue before with courses 1 and 4). Also, a couple of people didn't punch the start box before starting which means the first control for these people looks much longer than it was. See the map with the first three courses. Thanks to all who came out! This Saturday and Sunday is the West Point A-Meet. The website (note the URL has changed) may intimidate, but don't worry, there will be entry-on-day beginners' courses available and the cadets will show you a good time! There are three chances to participate - Saturday morning, afternoon and Sunday morning. Do one or (recommended!) all. Posted by NeilD Tuesday, May 01, 2012 (22:05:09)
Results - SUNY Purchase Sunday April 15thResults with split-times from the event are online! Thanks to all who participated, and to Geof, Dave, Craig, Daniel, Jeremy, et al (in case I'm missing names) for running the show! The weather was spectacular and the terrain is great. SUNY Purchase is on our finest sprint map, site of the US Team Trials Sprint Race from last year. The scale is 1:4000 and the running surface is mostly grass with a little paved and just a teeny wee bit of woods, so the legs can move faster than the brain. Many participants ran all three courses, with Stephen Blacklocks fastest on the first and Jeremy Colgan on the second and third, while Angela Sch........ was fastest of the ladies. Happy days. Posted by NeilD Thursday, April 12, 2012 (04:13:29)
FDR State Park Local meet - March 31st 2012Twenty-six intrepid souls, including six hardy volunteers, showed up on a cold and damp Saturday morning at FDR State Park in Yorktown, NY. There was no snow despite the forecast. The competitors were encouraged to run two or three short courses and almost all did, even a troop of first-time Boy Scouts & their leaders. Two folks ran all three courses, with Daniel Schaublin winning our "Triathlon" in 57 minutes. Eric Bressler ran all three in 101 minutes. We were pleased to welcome a group from CSU who had come down for a weekend of training in HVO territory. Our sincere thanks to our volunteers: Geoff Connor, Neil Dobbs, Dave Webber, Chris Osborn, Jon Osborn, Jeff Osborn Next up: SUNY Purchase, April 15th It'll be great! See you there! Full results here Posted by NeilD Tuesday, April 03, 2012 (03:32:03)
Help Wanted: Webmaster+HVO's current Webmaster, Bernie Breton, will be taking over the role of E-Punching Coordinator from Alan Young, who stepped down at the end of last season. Our website has served us well over the years, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth -- especially when compared to those of other O-clubs like NEOC, DVOA, and QOC. Therefore, what HVO needs in a new Webmaster, is someone up for the challenge of redeveloping our site, as well as maintaining it. Orienteering clubs tend to have a disproportionate number of web experts among their membership. We hope that ours is no different. So, if you're a web wiz and think you might be up to bring HVO's website into the 21st century, please send an e-mail to: AskHVO AT gmail DOT com Posted by Guy Sunday, January 22, 2012 (22:22:55)
Upcoming orienteering events - Register now!On April 22nd, the Western Connecticut O-Club(WCOC) are hosting an event off towards New Haven. Entry on the day. There's also an event hosted by Long Island O-Club (LIOC). April 29th there are two choices. - The hardcore one is to go upstate to the magical Moreau State Park and run the 34th annual mythic Billygoat. That's where I'll be. It's a mass-start race, everyone does the same course except you can skip one control of your choice. Winners will run around 90 minutes. Finish in under 3.5 hours to earn the T-shirt! There will also be short, easy courses. If you want to do this, register online. - The local option, also an excellent choice, is to run in the wonderful woods of Westmoreland Sanctuary, just east of the 684/Mt Kisco. This will also have pre-entry. The Sanctuary staff have put in a lot of work to make this a great event and fun for all the family, and there will be good, technical orienteering on offer too. May 5th/6th the Cadets are hosting their annual A-meet (national level) at West Point! Enter online by Saturday April 21st for lower entry fees. Feel free to sign up for easy courses (Brown/Green/Red/Blue are technically difficult; Orange, Yellow, White are easier and easier). If it's your first A-meet, and you run a competitive course, avail yourself of the OUSA 20$ discount with this coupon. You'll get to see a bunch of North America's best orienteers and military folks in funny costumes. And get called sir/ma'am a lot. Dunno about you, but I get a kick... Enter the sweet Western Mass A-meet (weekend of May 26th) by April 20th for lowest fees. Posted by NeilD Tuesday, April 17, 2012 (00:41:45)
Hudson Highlander XVI -- ResultsHudson Highlander & Lowlander: Well done Here are the results of the Hudson Highlander as PDF and as Excel spreadsheet Congratulations to the winners and everybody else who made it through this long and tough course! Many thanks to the cooks & helpers and the course setters & organizers. More details will follow... Starts/Participants: 83 (50 High, 33 Low) Posted by Daniel Tuesday, October 04, 2011 (05:23:54)
Reminder - Westmoreland Sanctuary on SundayWestmoreland Sanctuary are co-hosting this Sunday's event (April 29th), registration from 10 to 12. See their website for more details. Location Posted by NeilD Thursday, April 26, 2012 (10:34:25)
Get your shoes on!Spring is here and it's time to dust off your running shoes and get out the door. We have three meets in Westchester coming up, all designed to be beginner and family-friendly but with enough bite to keep the masters entertained. There'll be instruction for beginners. First up is FDR State Park just off the Taconic Parkway on Sat 31st, then April 15th we're heading to SUNY Purchase on the wonderful sprint map from the Team Trials last year. On April 29th, the lovely people of Westmoreland Sanctuary are co-hosting an event with us which is looking great! Check out details on the calendar. Bring your friends. Spread the word! Posted by NeilD Tuesday, March 27, 2012 (03:06:04)
Northeast Junior Training Camp, Peekskill, NY March 23–25, 2012Thanks in large measure to the generosity of HVO members living in/near Peekskill, part of the camp has been salvaged. Only the advanced training exercises will be conducted, and, only those who would have been in the advanced training groups will be accommodated. This will enable us to provide needed training for JWOC-candidates, as well as future JWOC hopefuls. More detailed information about this turn of events can be found on the Camp page on Attackpoint.com. Posted by Daniel Saturday, March 10, 2012 (15:47:35)
HVO Members: Time to Renew!HVO membership renewal notices went in the mail last week, so every (almost; see below) member should have theirs by now. This year, the form has changed a bit, and we are asking for two new pieces of information... 1. With expanded use of e-punching expected at HVO events, we are requesting members who own SportIdent E-punching Cards ("SI-cards"), to provide their card number (and those of family members) on the renewal form. The purpose is to reduce the time needed to enter this data into the computer at events. 2. The volunteer activity selections have changed, so we need everybody to take a fresh look at them and check the ones with which you would be interested in helping HVO. No experience needed! If you have not renewed yet, as soon as you're done reading this, please dig out your renewal notice, write in the new info, and mail it, with your check, to our Membership Director, Lyla Meader, at the specified address. Once done, you can forget about it until January 2013! A note to life members, and others whose memberships will not be expiring on Jan 31, 2012... Posted by Guy Sunday, January 22, 2012 (22:06:15)
Kseniya is an American!HVO offers heartfelt congratulations to 10+ year member Kseniya Popova-Zhyk on earning her United States of America Citizenship on Friday, January 6, 2012! ...and her Mom, Nadezhda, is not far behind! Citizenship is particularly significant for orienteers, because only citizens can represent their country in World Orienteering Championship events. Posted by Guy Sunday, January 08, 2012 (02:31:01)
HVO Event Report: Lake Welch Beach - October 2, 2011Lake Welch Beach Harriman State Park, New York. Sunday, October 2, 2011 Event Director: Guy Olsen Course Setter: Nadya Popova Weather: Mid 50s, partly sunny. Helpers: Betsy Hawes, Kseniya Popova, Bjorn & Teo Walberg, Dave Webber Starts: 31 Participants: 40 This HVO local event was held concurrently with the Hudson Highlander / Lowlander, and also provided recreational courses for those accompanying Highlander / Lowlander participants. For full results, please go here. Posted by Guy Saturday, December 10, 2011 (01:35:13)
The HVO-DVOA Dual: DVOA Romps, 127-55HVO took quite a shellacking at the hands of our southwestern neighbors at the 2011 HVO/DVOA Dual Event. It was held on Sunday, November 27, on DVOA's Star Village map, which includes most of Lehigh University's land, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. With 65 starts for DVOA versus 22 for HVO, we were outnumbered by almost 3 to 1. Of the 15 categories used for Dual scoring (in which at least one club had runners), HVO was unrepresented in six, while DVOA was only lacking in one. On the bright side, though, we only got swept (opponent taking the top three of the six scoring places) in one category, Green male, were within 2 points on Brown (if yours truly had been only 8 seconds faster, it would have been a tie!), and were only 4 points back on Red. Also, everybody benefited from pleasant weather and well designed courses, in quite challenging terrain. The outcome continues a pattern of home club victories that goes all the way back to 1999. It also means that the coveted HVO-DVOA Plaque will return to DVOA. Looking ahead to 2012, HVO is scheduled to host the Dual on Sunday, November 18, at a venue to be determined -- most likely in New Jersey. Photos from the event can be found here. Details of the Dual competition scoring, can be found here. Full event results, plus links to split times, RouteGadget and Splitalyzer, can be found here. For recent (2000-2010) Dual Event history and information on the scoring system, please go here. Posted by Guy Saturday, December 03, 2011 (15:06:18)
Need More O? Look to Our NeighborsFall 2011 orienteering continues a bit longer for HVO's neighboring clubs... Sunday, December 4, 2011 WCOC -- Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area Burlington, CT (north of Waterbury) For event information, please go here. DVOA -- Ridley Creek State Park Media, Delaware County, PA For event information, please go here. Sunday, December 11, 2011 DVOA -- Brandywine Creek State Park North of Wilmington, New Castle Cty, DE For event information, please go here. Posted by Guy Thursday, December 01, 2011 (08:37:07)
Results: The HVO-DVOA Dual EventResults are here. Split Times are here. Dual Competition Scoring: TBD (But it's not looking too good for HVO...) To enter your route in RouteGadget, please go here. Check out Splitalyzer here. Posted by Guy Monday, November 28, 2011 (10:16:58)
Help Wanted: E-Punching CoordinatorHVO's E-Punching Coordinator, Alan Young, who put together our e-punching equipment set, starting from scratch, will be stepping down at the end of this season. Several HVOers would like to see e-punching become a standard feature at our events. We have already begun to augment our corps of event site e-punch computer operators, so some progress is being made in that direction. Whoever succeeds Alan, though, will have to pick up this ball and run with it. If you're a tech / computer wiz and think you might be interested in doing just that, please send an e-mail to: AskHVO AT gmail DOT com Posted by Guy Thursday, November 24, 2011 (04:19:58)
2011 HVO/DVOA Dual Event: Defend the Plaque!!!This year's HVO/DVOA Dual Event is an "away meet", to be held this Sunday, November 27, 2011. It will be hosted by the Delaware Valley Orienteering Association (DVOA), our neighboring O-club to the south. The venue is their Star Village map, just south of the Lehigh University main campus, in Bethlehem, PA -- about 15 miles from the I-78 bridge over the Delaware River. The Dual Event -- a friendly interclub competition -- has been held annually since 1983. A scoring system is used to determine the "winning" club based on results of the respective club members. That club gets its name immortalized on the coveted HVO-DVOA Plaque, and then keeps it until the next Dual Event. Having won in 2010, HVO will be defending the Plaque at this event. Help HVO defend the Plaque!! Since 2000, the "home" club has won every Dual Event. (see link to history below) DVOA is the largest O-club in the USA and can be expected to show up in force on their "home" map. However, although Star Village is not particularly close to HVO's membership, it is also a bit farther away from much of DVOA's membership. Therefore, we might have a chance to overcome the home-terrain advantage. However, to do so we will need a strong turnout on every course, especially by our women and juniors. Even if you are not very fast, just finishing a course can help HVO's chances! For full information, including course details, event details and directions, please go here. For recent (2000-2010) Dual Event history and information on the scoring system, please go here. Posted by Guy Thursday, November 24, 2011 (03:12:00)
HVO JROTC champs & Local meet - November 19, 2011Great turn-out and beautiful, fast woods Clear Lake, Durland Scout Reservation, Putnam Valley, NY About 225 people gathered to run the nine courses set by Bob Bullions on the Clear Lake map on a chilly but beautiful fall day. These included a very large number of event helpers: Bob Bullions: course setter; George and Betsy Hawes, meet directors; Dave Webber, Nadya Popova, Judy Dickinson: starts; Liz Chiera: refreshments; Annette and Bill Borowitz: regular registration; Neil Dobbs, West Point Cadets: JROTC starts, JROTC registration, instruction; Teo Wallberg: results; Gwen Hawes, Daryl Provost: set up/clean up; Dave, George, Betsy, and Gwen: control pick-up; JROTC leaders: JROTC results. Many thanks to all who helped make this such a good day for all and to Westchester-Putnam Boy Scout Council for letting us use the camp for the event. Five schools participated in this year’s JROTC event. The competition courses for these teams were enhanced white and yellow in length and difficulty. Congratulations to all! O’Neill High School (O’Neill HS) captured the overall trophy, Valley Central High School (VCHS) second and Washingtonville HS (WHS) third. North Rockland High School (NRHS) and Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) also participated. The Eastern States Interscholastic Championships are in Kentucky in the spring… anyone interested? Starts: 122 Participants: 225 For full results, please go here. Note: 54 Posted by Daniel Sunday, November 20, 2011 (19:19:37)
HVO Event Report: Ward Pound Ridge - November 12, 2011Ward Pound Ridge Reservation Cross River, Westchester County, NY Saturday, November 12, 2011 Event Director: Geof Connor Course Setter: Chris Cassone Weather: “In contrast to the previous week, the weather was perfect for orienteering: Crisp, dry and sunny.” Helpers: “Thanks to Caroline Banks and friend for help in picking up controls, and to Neil Dobbs for beginner instruction.” Starts: 45 Participants: 83 Numbers were down for the recent Ward Pound Ridge meet, although the weather was perfect. There were 83 participants with many of these in small groups. The upside was that there were many first timers, quite a few of whom attempted the more difficult courses, including one first time couple who did white, then yellow and then helped in control pickup. Hopefully this will lead to new members. The woods were clear, but the blow downs from the storms caused a few detours, leading to some long times. The top finishers in most groups, however, indicated that the courses were ‘about right’. As usual, the Trailside Museum staff were very helpful; it is a tragedy that this (and other nature museums) in Westchester are slated to be closed in the New Year unless the new Westchester Executive can be persuaded to revisit the budget. If you are a Westchester resident I hope you will raise your voice against the closings. -- Geof Connor For full results, please go here. Posted by Guy Saturday, November 19, 2011 (05:14:16)
O in Sports Illustrated: CSU's Ali Crocker!HVO congratulates Team USA member Allison Crocker for her appearance in Sports Illustrated. Ali and the sport of orienteering were included in the November 21 issue, in the "Faces in the Crowd" section. If you did not get a copy, the article can be viewed here (Ali is the 5th "face"). CSU = Cambridge Sports Union, an orienteering (mostly) club in the Boston, MA, area. Update (1/05/12): The honors keep piling up for Ali... Besides being named Orienteering USA's Athlete of the Year for 2011, she is also the International Orienteering Federation's Athlete of the Month for January 2012. More information on Ali's accomplishments, including links to articles, can be found here. Posted by Guy Friday, November 18, 2011 (02:42:02)
O on the RadiO: NPR's "Only A Game"Only A Game, a program produced by WBUR (90.9 fm), Boston's National Public Radio station, visited the U.S. Middle Orienteering Championships, on October 22nd. The broadcast was aired Saturday, November 19, 2011. To read a transcript of the piece, or listen to the recorded broadcast, please go here. OUSA's "Only A Game" page Posted by Guy Thursday, November 17, 2011 (01:13:34)
The HVO-DVOA Dual Event: Trash Talk from DVOA!So much for "friendly" competition... Check out this quote from the DVOA event page: "Once again it is time to show HVO who is boss around here. We are showcasing one of our more technical maps, so we need everyone to come out and prove [sic] how it should be done." Want to make them eat their words? Want to show DVOA how it should be done? Read on... [PSSST! This is all tongue-in-cheek!] Posted by Guy Wednesday, November 16, 2011 (23:34:38)
This Week's HVO Event: Durland Scout ReservationHVO's next local event is scheduled for Saturday, November 19, at Durland (formerly Clear Lake) Scout Reservation, in Putnam Valley, Putnam County, NY. It will also serve as the annual Hudson Valley JROTC Championships, as well as be HVO's final "home" event for 2011. Courses: White, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green, Red and Blue (beginner through advanced skill levels) Please note that registration and starts will be earlier than usual: 10am-12pm. JROTC competition starts will begin at 9:45 AM after instruction and registration. Since nearby parking will be limited, carpooling is highly encouraged. For further information, including course details and directions, please go here. Posted by Guy Wednesday, November 16, 2011 (22:48:22)
More-O at Quail HillDVOA's Quail Hill event on Sunday is not too far a drive for many HVOers and, together with Ward Pound Ridge, would make for a great O-weekend! Plus the weather promises to be nice (again) -- sunny and low 60's. More information can be found here. Posted by Guy Saturday, November 12, 2011 (01:42:45)
Board of Directors Meeting - November 5, 2011The HVO Board of Directors met on the afternoon of Saturday, November 5, 2011, at Ringwood State Park. A brief summary of major actions taken follows: The Board was expanded from 5 to 6 Directors. Neil Dobbs and Betsy Hawes were appointed to the Board until the next general election. Guy Olsen was confirmed as President and Bob Bullions as Vice President until the next general election. Neil was also appointed as Mapping Director through July 2012. In addition, 10 other HVO members were appointed / reappointed to Club volunteer positions. We are now looking for a new Treasurer, as Ellen Stibler will be stepping down at the 2012 Annual General Meeting, after 17(!) years of service. In recognition of their service to HVO, Past President, Daniel Schaublin, and Ellen were each awarded a Lifetime Membership. All HVO members are welcome to attend Board of Directors meetings. Posted by Guy Monday, November 07, 2011 (06:47:48)
HVO Event Report: Ringwood - November 5, 2011Ringwood State Park, Ringwood Township, Passaic County, NJ Saturday, November 5, 2011 Event Director: George Hawes Course Setter: Craig Weber Perfect weather for return to Shepherd Lake It was a beautiful day for orienteering! There was a bit of wind coming off the lake, but once in the woods the weather was perfect. Day of event helpers: Betsy Hawes (instruction), JJ Murphy (registration), Bob Bullions (finish and results) and there were several helpers with control pick up. 4 out of 5 groups who tried the White Course, went on to complete the Yellow as well. An HVO Board of Directors meeting was held in the afternoon. A summary of actions taken can be found in a separate article. Starts: 55 Participants: 79 For results, please go here. Posted by Daniel Monday, November 07, 2011 (02:21:04) |
Have you ever participated in an "A"-event? |
Taconic Outdoor Festival, Fahnestock State Park, NY and...
Western Mass A-meet
MEMORIAL DAY