Depleted....
Courses/routes from the weekend --
Saturday morning, M21 semi-final.
Problems: #9, route was shaky, then didn't hook left enough at the last bit and was 30-40 right of the flag. #11, don't know why I had too check out another flag higher up then mine. At least I knew where it was for the afternoon.
Saturday afternoon, M21 final.
Problems: #1, overran it, just too low, went 40-50 meters too far. #16, shaky at the very start, getting the right line out of 15.
Sunday morning, M60.
Problems: #6, route turned out to be slow, not sure if it was inferior or just all the walking/stopping I was doing. #8, 30-45 seconds in the area, could make the cliffs match the map. #12, should have gone straight leaving 11, then took wrong trail for a little bit. #16, off on my line after passing the first marsh.
Overall, nothing big either day.
-------------------------
So, a question -- were any of the control sites questionable? And I don't mean, were they wrong. Everything seemed right, and the map was exceptional.
What I'm referring to is the following from the USOF course setting guidelines (not that anyone reads them): "Vision is a major problem for the older orienteer. Try to keep controls out of areas that have much fine detail on the map. This tends to become a large blur and therefore promotes luck instead of skill."
The courses I ran Saturday were both M21, so this is not a concern. But look at this section of Sunday's M60 course....
I'd say that controls 6, 7, and 11 are really pushing the envelope for folks with eyesight that is not perfect, and may be quite a ways from perfect. Compare to 8, 9, and 10, all also in complicated terrain, but at each of them it is a lot clearer what you are looking for.
I'm not trying to dumb down the orienteering, especially as many of us have been orienteering a long time and like a good challenge. But still....
I always figured one good test was that you ought to be able to write the control description so there was no doubt which feature the control was on. But the clue for 6 is "upper cliff" (but there's one higher), for 7 "upper cliff" (but there's one at the same height), for 8 just "cliff" (and there are 4 in the circle), for 9 just "cliff" (and there are 5 in the circle), and for 11 "middle cliff" (and there are about 10 in the circle).
Just wondering.