Orienteering USA has arranged a discount partnership with Hertz Car Rental. To take advantage of this offer, go to www.hertz.com and use CDP 1916601.

Parking Passes

Georgia DNR Parking Passes are required and may be purchased at packet pickup, from the self-serve boxes in the parking lots, or the park office. You will need a daily pass for each day that you will be at the park. Rates are charged based on vehicle capacity, not the number of actual passengers. Cars and vans with 1-12 passenger capacity are $5/day.

School Busses and charter busses for school groups will be able to park at no charge. School busses can proceed directly to parking but all other busses and oversize vans (13+) should pick up a parking pass at the Park Office. Office hours are 8:00am to 5:00pm. (770) 732-5871.

Electronic Punching

GNC2014 will have Electronic Punching using the SportIdent system for the Saturday and Sunday main competition. Each participant (except Map Hike & Extreme O) will be required to have an SI Ecard (finger stick). If you own an Ecard, indicate the Ecard number on your registration. If you do not own an Ecard, you must rent one for $3/day when you pre-register online. Participants who lose or damage a rental Ecard will be charged a $50 replacement cost. The same card must be used for both Saturday and Sunday. School coaches are encouraged to monitor their teams’ rental Ecards. For info on how to use Epunching, see our Epunch primer.

Map

GNC2015 will use an updated map of Red Top Mountain State Park.

Old East and West maps may be purchased for $5 each?

Cellphone Reception

Cellphone reception is generally ? at the park

Embargo

Red Top Mountain State Park may not be used for orienteering or orienteering training for 4 months prior to GNC2015.

Practice Map/Training Course

A training course will be set out?

Courses

USOF standard color courses White, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green, Red and Blue will be offered. There will be 2 courses on Orange and Green, designated X and Y. The X courses will be exclusively for Interscholastics competitors (and M-18), and the Y courses for the rest.

Course length and climb information is as follows:

Course lengths		Day1			Day2
Course	Classes	Controls	Length	Climb	Controls	Length	Climb
White	F-ISP,M-ISP,F-10,F-12,M-10,M-12,M/F White,Group White	12	3.0k	55m	13	2.7k	65m
Yellow	M-ISI,F-ISI,F-14,M-14,F-Yellow,M-Yellow,Group Yellow	9	2.9k	100m	11	3.4k	135m
OrangeX	F-ISJV,M-ISJV	8	4.1k	165m	8	4.2k	165m
OrangeY	F-16,M-16,F-Orange,M-Orange,Group Orange	8	4.1k	165m	8	4.2k	165m
Brown	F-ISV,F-18,F55+,F60+,F65+,F70+,F75+,M65+,M70+,M75+,F-Brown,M-Brown	11	4.4k	145m	9	3.4k	150m
GreenX	M-ISV,M-18	10	5.2k	200m	12	4.8k	200m
GreenY	F-20,F35+,F40+,F45+,F50+,M50+,M55+,M60+,F-Green,M-Green	10	5.0k	200m	11	5.0k	200m
Red	M-20,F-21+,M35+,M40+,M45+,M-Red	14	7.0k	200m	13	6.5k	240m
Blue	M-21+	17	8.3k	225m	17	8.5k	355m

PLEASE NOTE FOR DAY 1 ONLY: Sweetwater Creek on the eastern edge of the map should NOT be crossed.

PLEASE NOTE FOR DAY 2 ONLY: Sweetwater Creek should only be crossed on the bridge, which is a mandatory crossing point for all courses. Two legs on the White course will be flagged by Blue tapes.

Control Descriptions

Control descriptions will be printed on your map. Loose description sheets may be picked up when you enter the call-up area 2 minutes before your start.

Time Limits

Time limit is 3 hours on all courses. You must return to the Finish, punch the Finish control and Download your Ecard within 3 hours after you start, whether you complete your course or not.

Mapper, Course Setter and Course Vetter's Notes

Course Setter's Notes – Rick Shane

Day 1:

Warm up is limited to areas shown on the Day 1 Locator Map. Areas not shown/mapped on the Day 1 Locator Map are off limits.

Start: Follow signs from Group Shelter (700m, 10 mins)

Finish: behind Group Shelter

Safety bearing: North to road

Hazards: Sweetwater Creek, which flows south through the park, is NOT to be crossed at all on Day 1.

There is a police shooting range on the north end of the map. You may hear gunshots in this area, but there is no cause for alarm. The shooting range is enclosed by a high fence and is marked out of bounds. Do not cross the shooting range fence!

A large wild pig estimated to be 100 lb was seen last week.If you see a wild pig, do not approach it as they can be aggressive, especially when trapped or protecting their young.

Day 2:

Warm up is limited to areas shown on the Day 2 Locator Map. Areas not shown/mapped on Day 2 Locator Map are off limits.

Start: Follow signs from Group Shelter (900m, 15 mins)

Finish: behind Group Shelter

Safety Bearing: If south of bridge road, go north to bridge road. If North of bridge road, go south to bridge road. Then go west to the bridge.

Hazards: Sweetwater Creek, which flows south through the park, is NOT to be crossed except at the large bridge near the Day 2 start. The bridge is marked on the map as a Mandatory Crossing point. Coaches/parents, please remind your charges on the morning of the race that they must use the bridge to cross the river!

There is a police shooting range on the north end of the map. You may hear gunshots in this area, but there is no cause for alarm. The shooting range is enclosed by a high fence and is marked out of bounds. Do not cross the shooting range fence!

A large wild pig estimated to be 100 lb was seen last week.If you see a wild pig, do not approach it as they can be aggressive, especially when trapped or protecting their young.

White/Yellow: The first controls for both the White and Yellow courses are on the same side of Sweetwater Creek as the Start. From the first control on both the White and Yellow courses, the bridge will be visible. Runners on the White and Yellow courses should proceed across the bridge after punching at the first control. Also, in the area around the bridge, there are several controls relatively close together. Take care to make sure you have correctly determined the correct control label for each circle so that you visit the controls in the proper order.

General Notes:

Indistinct trails have been made more indistinct by fallen leaves. Woods are generally pretty open, but beware of leaf litter and wait-a-minute vines that will trip you up. The leaves on the ground are also slippery on the slopes.

First-level green bar is also pretty open, but will slow you down some. Second-level green bar can be picked through and slows you down more, but is generally not impenetrable.

Flagged legs are flagged with blue flagging tape.

All courses have water stops at least every 2.5km.

Course Vetter's Notes – Bill Cheatum

Rick has constructed a challenging set of courses. Terrain awareness will be the key strategy to a satisfactory race. Heed Sam's comments on small boulders and degraded rootstocks and take advantage of his wonderful rendering of the terrain contours. Green is generally not a big factor in navigation choices except on the first day's indications of felled trees and the second day's clear cuts. Keep an eye out for the piebald deer on Day 2.

Mapper's Notes – Sam Smith

This is the park where I learned to orienteer, many, many years ago, by getting repeatedly lost on the west side in the old abandoned farmland. So I am always happy to work on this map! It's been through many revisions over the decades. The most obvious changes are to the vegetation - the pine trees on both sides of the creek were thinned. These areas are mapped using the wide green bar symbol. The thinning was more aggressive on the east side, with large areas removed. I also added many boulders and cliffs to the east side map, especially down in the almost inaccessible gorge. Some of the boulders that I added are small. If it was the only boulder around, and it is obvious, I added it. None of the courses go down to the really rugged places in the gorge, which is probably a good thing.

Other than that, the terrain is very typical of Georgia: ridges and reentrants, spurs and saddles, some rock, some rootstocks. Old decayed rootstocks (no obvious tree left) are mapped as dot knolls. The west side has more abandoned farmland and ruined buildings, as well as the civil war era ruins. The east side is steeper and more rugged. The gorge is deep and impressive when the water is high. There is only one place to cross - at the new bridge (hopefully this one will not wash away soon).

Drinking water on Courses

Drinking water will be provided on the courses as required.

Restrooms

There will be portable toilets and a wash station at the Group Shelter Meet HQ. There will be ONE portable toilet adjacent to the start/call-up area on Day1 and a toilet block on the walk to the start on Day 2.

Warm up/Walk to Start

Small maps of the Meet site and showing the Group Shelter Meet HQ, parking, start and download station for both days will be provided in your meet packets. You may warm up around Meet HQ and anywhere on the sample map that is not shown as out of bounds. Please be careful not to interfere with runners finishing the course or on their way to the download.

Call Up

Be at the Call-up line at least 5 minutes before your Start time. Call-up is 3 minutes before your start time. There will be three one-minute stages at the Call-up, Middle and Map lines. Loose control descriptions will be available at the Middle line. At the Map line you will receive your map. Write your bib number on the back of the map with the marker provided. If you finish before the last start, we will collect your map at the finish. You may retrieve your map once all competitors have started. There are only sufficient maps for each person to have one each day, so please do not take anyone else’s.

Clothing return

Warm-up clothing may be left in the bags provided at the start waiting area and will be returned to the Group Shelter Meet HQ. Please ensure that you can identify your warm-ups and pick them up promptly after your run.

Recreational Orienteering (Map Hike)

A limited number of non-competitive Orienteering spaces are available on a beginner's level (White/Yellow) course. Beginner instruction will be available. The Map Hike will NOT be the same as any competitive course. Register at the Meet HQ Saturday 11am-1pm, Sunday 10am-noon. $10 per map. Map Hike will use manual punching.

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Extreme-O (Monday)

Extreme-O is patterned after a three-day military competition held in a member NATO country each year. Typically, competitors orienteer from several different types of maps, including aerial photographs, quads and topographical maps. Past events have included rope bridge crossings, canoe legs, culvert controls, memory legs and other interesting tests. Due to the nature of the event, advance registration is a must and space is limited to approximately 75. The cost is $15 per set of materials/maps. Couples or groups sharing a set of materials/maps count as one and pay a single fee. The event begins by 9:00am on Monday and everyone must be finished by noon. First start will be announced at the briefing on Sunday afternoon.

All participants must attend a mandatory briefing on Sunday immediately following the awards ceremony at the Group Shelter Meet HQ. Important information will be presented that will be necessary for the competitor to be successful - such as instruction on how to plot coordinates. Further information and supplies will also be passed out as needed. After receiving the necessary information, the competitors decide if they will attempt the long or short course. Individuals can also be paired up with a teammate since it's more fun as a group.

Group leaders must pre-register for the Extreme-O and list the other group members in the Notes section of their registration.

Events Directors: Chuck & Linda Ferguson
Extreme-O Course Setter: Mal Harding

Start Times

First Starts will be 10am on Saturday and 9am on Sunday. Start Times will be posted on the Registered Racer List one week prior to the event.

The time limit on all courses is 3 hours. Courses close at 4 pm on Saturday and 3 pm on Sunday. You MUST return to the finish by the time the courses close, even if you have not finished your course.

The Extreme-O Courses will start before 9am on Monday and finish by noon.

Safety

All competitors are encouraged to carry a whistle and dress appropriately for the weather conditions. Whistles should only used in the event of an emergency or serious injury (three short blasts). Blowing the whistle otherwise will result in Disqualification. If you are lost after the courses close, you are already disqualified and it is an emergency. Please blow your whistle so that we can locate you before it gets dark. Although conditions in Georgia are often mild in January, you should be prepared for chilly and wet conditions.

If the ground is wet, exposed red clay will be extremely slippery. Please be careful not to slip on it.

Some gullies are extremely deep with very steep sides. If the ground is wet, the sides will be very slippery. Cross them with extreme care. Make sure you can see a way out before you get in one.

A large wild pig estimated to be 100 lb was seen last week.If you see a wild pig, do not approach it as they can be aggressive, especially when trapped or protecting their young.

The SAR coordinator is Steve Shannonhouse and his cell phone number is (404)295-7055. Program this into your cell phone now.

Weather and Daylight

Normal highs on January 19 are 51 F (11 C) and normal lows 31 F (-1 C). Records for the period range from highs of 68 F (20 C) to lows of 21 F (-6 C).

Sunrise is 7:41 am and sunset is 5:56 pm. Civil Twilight ends at 7:14am and begins at 6:23pm.

For real time weather, check Weather Underground

Lunches and Hot Drinks

Lunches on Saturday and Sunday will be provided by the Stockbridge High School Navy JROTC at the Group Shelter Meet HQ. Lunches are $6.50 each and must be pre-ordered when you pre-register online. Saturday lunch will be 2 hot dogs or 1 hamburger, chips, cookie and a drink. Sunday lunch will be a taco salad, brownie and a drink. Pre-ordered lunch tickets will be provided in your meet packet. Vegetarian options must be requested in the Notes section of your registration.

There will also be simple concessions from the kitchen for those who wish to purchase "extras" such as chips, candy, Powerade etc. Pastry items will also available to purchase for breakfast, although availability is not guaranteed.

Hot chocolate, coffee and lemonade will be provided for everyone.

T-Shirts

Commemorative T-Shirts may be pre-ordered when you pre-register online. The T-shirt will be a "Cool & Dry Sport Performance Interlock Tee" and they will be available in Men's, Women's and Youth sizes. Made of 100%, 4 oz polyester, they are moisture wicking and snag resistant with an athletic fit and a double-needle stitched crew neck. Both Men's T-shirts will be available in 4XL, 3XL, 2XL, XL, L, M, S. Women's T-shirts will be available in 2XL, XL, L, M, S, and XS. Youth T-shirts will be available in XL, L, M, S, and XS. You must pre-order your T-shirt with your pre-registration if you want one. We cannot guarantee that there will be any shirts left for sale at the meet.

Click to Enlarge

Babysitting

Babysitting will not be provided. We will NOT have heated indoor facilities, so please do not plan on just leaving your young child at the Meet HQ. Please let the Registrar know if you have special start time requests that would help your own child care arrangements.

Southeast Interscholastics (SEIS)

The Interscholastics will have 4 team competitions: School Varsity team, JROTC Varsity team, School Junior Varsity team, and School Intermediate team. Note: School and JROTC teams are not mutually exclusive. JROTC teams that meet school team requirements are also eligible for the school team award. Each school may field a maximum of 18 students in the SEIS competition. SEIS competitors will be ineligible for standard class awards.

Eligibility

School Teams

1. Members must be enrolled full-time at the same private or public accredited school one of these states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, or Tennessee. Varsity teams consist of 3-5 members from M-ISV and/or F-ISV classes. Junior Varsity teams consist of 3-5 members from M-ISJV and/or F-ISJV classes. Intermediate teams consist of 3-5 members from M-ISI and/or F-ISI classes.
2. Members must each be able to show school ID for the same school or, if the school does not issue ID’s, a letter from the principal stating that the students are enrolled full-time at the school.
3. Members must meet the eligibility requirements for Individuals in the SEIS competition.

JROTC Teams

1. JROTC teams competing only for the JROTC trophy must be made up of students who are enrolled in the same JROTC unit in accordance with the host military service requirements in one of these states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, or Tennessee. Members shall consist of 3 to 5 students who are registered in M-ISV and/or F-ISV classes.
2. JROTC teams may compete for the Interscholastic Varsity team competition if they meet the school team requirements.
3. Members must meet the eligibility requirements for Individuals in the SEIS competition.

Individuals

To win individual awards competitors must be competing in one of the SEIS classes and must be a full time student attending an accredited school one of these states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, or Tennessee.

Individual competition will be held for each of the 8 Interscholastic classes:

Interscholastic Classes
Class	Description	Course
M-ISV	Varsity Male	GreenX
F-ISV	Varsity Female	Brown
M-ISJV	Junior Varsity Male	OrangeX
F-ISJV	Junior Varsity Female	OrangeX
M-ISI	Intermediate Male	Yellow
F-ISI	Intermediate Female	Yellow
M-ISP	Primary Male	White
F-ISP	Primary Female	White

Note

Students ineligible for the SEIS classes must register in a standard class.

Scoring

Individual Score

Each individual starter shall receive a calculated elapsed time or an incomplete designation (DNF, MP, OT). The time will be converted into a score as described below in the Team Score section. The winning individuals are determined by lowest total score over the day or days competition.

Team Score

Scoring for team awards in two Interscholastic Team Categories, School Varsity and JROTC, will be done in accordance with OUSA Interscholastic competition rules as follows:

• For each interscholastic class, define AWT (the average winning time) as the average of the times of the top three competitors in that class who are competing in a team category.
• For each competitor in each class with a valid result, their score is computed as 60*(competitor’s time)/ (AWT for the class).
• For competitors with an OT, MP, DNF or DSQ result, their score will be the larger of 10+60*(course time limit)/ (AWT for the male class) and 10+60*(course time limit)/ (AWT for the female class) for that team category.
• The best three scores each day for each team are combined for a team score.
• Lowest overall team score wins.

Calculation and Display of Scores

Scores will be calculated by Bob Frost and verified by Carl Bridges' Excel spreadsheet for Interscholastic scoring. Scores will be displayed to two decimal places.

Tie Breaking

If two or more scores are exactly the same, break the tie by:

• First – consider the total times. If that fails:
• Second – consider the positions of the teams Fourth members if available. If that fails:
• Third – consider the time of the fourth positions. If that fails:
• Fourth – consider the same as above for the fifth positions. If that fails:
• Fifth – accept the tie. It must be valid.

Registration

Entry fees:
21 & older	$35/day
20 & under	$18/day
OUSA/IOF member discount:
Adult (21 and older)	$4/day
Junior (20 and under)	$2/day
Miscellaneous:
Extreme-O (No discount)	$15 per set of materials
Saturday Lunch ticket	$6.50 ea
Sunday Lunch ticket	$6.50 ea
GNC 2014 T-shirt	$15 ea
Late fee (after Dec 31, 2013)	$5
Change fee	$5 or $10 (See below)
Daily Park Pass	$5/day for autos, Pay at park

Capacities

USOF standard color courses (White, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green, Red and Blue) will be offered. Each course has a capacity of 90 entries on a first-come basis. We will have separate Orange and/or Green courses for the SEIS. THE SEIS courses will use the OrangeX and GreenX courses. Once this capacity on a course has been reached, no more entries for the course will be accepted.

Registration

All registration will be online.

Online Registration --  Registered Racer List

Deadlines

All deadlines are considered to be at 24:00 EST (Midnight) on the stated date.

Registration Deadline

Registration will close at 24:00 EST (Midnight) on Monday, January 6, 2014.

T-shirts must be ordered NO LATER THAN 24:00 EST (Midnight) Monday, December 30, 2013.

Special Registration Instructions for Families and School Teams

If you are registering for a family or a team, each competitor will have to be entered one at a time. Once all the competitors are entered proceed to the checkout where all the waivers can be signed online or printed, and the entries can be paid for.

Please bear in mind that the contact information will be used in the event of a problem or an emergency, so use the address, phone number and email address that makes the most sense. In the case of a family registration, this might be one point of contact based in the family home. In the case of a school team, this may be the address of the school and the cell phone and email address for the coach or instructor.

Please note that if you use the same contact information over and over again, your web browser will probably remember these values and allow you to enter them by typing in the first character in each, perhaps using the arrow keys to select, then hitting Enter or tab as the case may be. This is very browser and setting dependent, but please give it a try.

Refunds

Full refunds will be made on cancellations received by January 6, 2014. Refund requests received after January 6, 2014 will be considered on an individual basis by the Meet Director.

Changes and substitutions

Changes to entries may be made by January 6, 2014 at no charge. After January 6, 2014, not all changes may be possible and are solely at the discretion of the Registrar and Meet Director. Please get us any changes as soon as possible, even if you are late.

Entries changed after Monday, January 6, 2014 and no later than Monday, January 13, 2014 will incur a $5 change fee.
Entries changed after Monday, January 13, 2014 will incur a $10 change fee.

While you are in the South...

Florida Orienteering Club (FLO) is hosting races in Florida immediately after GNC2014.

Check out their website: http://www.floridaorienteering.org/

Georgia Navigator Cup 2015 Meet Schedule

Friday, Nov 8, 2013
	Registration Opens	Register online	24:00am
Monday, Dec 30, 2013
	Last day for regular registration		24:00 EST (Midnight)
	Last day to order T-shirts
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013
	Late registration fees begin		24:00 EST (Midnight)
Monday, Jan 6, 2014
	Registration closes		24:00 EST (Midnight)
	Last day for free changes
	Last day for full refund
Monday, Jan 13, 2014
	Change fee increases		24:00 EST (Midnight)
Friday, Jan 17, 2014
	Park opens		7:00am
	Check-in opens	HQ Hotel	5:00pm
	Park closes		Dusk
	Check-in closes	HQ Hotel	9:00pm
Saturday, Jan 18, 2014
	Check-in opens	Group Shelter Meet HQ	9:00am
	Day#1 First Start	Group Shelter Meet HQ	10:00am
	Check-in closes	Group Shelter Meet HQ	11:00am
	Day#1 Last Start	Group Shelter Meet HQ	1:00pm
	OUSA Board Meeting	Comfort Inn, Douglasville	5:00-7:00pm
	Day#1 Courses close	Group Shelter Meet HQ	4:00pm
	Park closes		Dusk
Sunday, Jan 19, 2014
	Check-in opens	Group Shelter Meet HQ	8:00am
	Day#2 First Start	Group Shelter Meet HQ	9:00am
	Check-in closes	Group Shelter Meet HQ	10:00am
	Day#2 Last Start	Group Shelter Meet HQ	12:00 noon
	Day#2 Courses close	Group Shelter Meet HQ	3:00pm
	Awards	Group Shelter Meet HQ	2:00pm
	Extreme-O briefing	Group Shelter Meet HQ	3:00pm
	Park closes		Dusk
Monday, Jan 20, 2014
	Extreme-O First Start	Group Shelter Meet HQ	TBD/9:00am at the latest
	Extreme-O Courses close	Group Shelter Meet HQ	12:00 noon

Contacts

Event Director:	Charlie Bleau (gncdirector@gaorienteering.org)
Co-registrar(Correspondance):	Chun Bleau (gncregistrar@gaorienteering.org)
Co-registrar(Technical):	Andrea Berger (andikno@yahoo.com)
Course Setter:	Rick Shane (richardshane@comcast.net)
Extreme O:	Linda Ferguson (cior@aol.com)