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Huddart Park

Date: (Sun.) Sep. 29, 2024
Location: Woodside, CA
Event Director: - 707.567.3496
Course Setter: Werner Haag
Type: C; Score-O event: Find as many checkpoints you can within the time limit, individually or as a team; beginners are welcome (free beginner instruction will be provided)

Related Event Information

Event Results Attackpoint Event Page (http://www.attackpoint.org/eventdetail.jsp/event_58673) Latest Previous Event (2021)

Please note that fees and time limits apply. Events are typically not canceled due to bad weather.


Reminders from the Event Director (Sept. 27)

The BAOC Score-O event at Huddart Park in Woodside on Sunday will have a slightly unusual format for BAOC, on a lesser-used map, so I'm sure there will be some surprises. Please carefully review all the details on this page.
Here are a few things in particular for your attention:
  • I could still use several volunteers for control pick-up starting at 2 PM. If you are planning to run later in the day, this is a great way to "get your money's worth", and to get to see the map a second time at a slower pace. I always find control pickup educational. Please let me know if you can help. And many thanks to all those who have already volunteered for other roles.
  • There is a $6-per-car park change collected at the entry kiosk. Please bring exact change if possible.
  • All competitors run on the same map, with the aim being to visit as many controls as possible in any order within the 90-minute time limit. Simple.
  • There is no mass start (i.e., a mass start is common for Score-O courses). Starts open at 10 AM, first-come, first-served as usual. Because of the Score-O format, we will (probably) be sending people out at one-minute intervals. There might be a short wait for a start time if you start between 10 and 10:30 (which is always by far the busiest start period).
  • Starts close promptly at 12:30 PM and the course closes promptly at 2 PM. If you are still out on the course as 2 PM approaches, please return directly to the Finish (be aware that volunteers will start picking up the outlying controls at 2 PM). You must check in and download regardless of when you finish.
  • There are 32 controls on the map, and we expect strong runners to easily "clear the map" in 90 minutes. Therefore, if you think you might be one of those people, please bring an E-stick that can hold all 32 controls. If you don't have a high-capacity E-stick, they will be available for rent. (See information about E-sticks below.)
  • There is a stiff penalty for finishing late that is accrued per minute (and fraction) of lateness. If at all possible, come back within your 90-miunte time limit!
  • Advanced runners will not be permitted to review the map before their start. Your route planning will be on the clock. Beginners will get the map at registration, and can review/plan at their leisure before their start. Everyone is, of course, trusted to "do the right thing".
Let me know if you have any specific questions that are not dealt with below. See you Sunday!
Graham Brew, Event Director (and BAOC Event Coordinator) ()

Additional Note from the Course Setter (Sept. 27)

All the controls are worth 10 points each, so the competitor with the most controls wins — except that with equal points, the faster time wins.
Some controls are easy, and most legs are relatively short, but there are some advanced controls that should be interesting technically for advanced orienteers.
Werner Haag, Course Setter/Mapper


BAOC returns to the dramatic redwood forests of Huddart Park (http://parks.smcgov.org/huddart-park) on the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains above Woodside. We plan to offer a Score-O course for everyone (see below for an explanation). The usual event schedule, but not the usual fee structure, will be in effect; electronic punching will be used.

Note to beginners: Please do not be deterred by the unusual course offering. Beginners are welcome to do the Score-O course, and there will be beginner instruction.

Huddart is a steep park. The club map from the 1990s had a contour interval of 7.5 meters, and suffered from some imprecision in contour lines (typical of redwood forest). We now have a new map that is based on 5-meter LIDAR data! That makes the map more precise, but unfortunately does not make the slopes any less steep.

Huddart Park is popular with equestrians, and it is mandatory that all runners yield to horses. If you encounter people on horseback, you must stand by the side of the trail and let them go by. It has been suggested that when approaching a horse and rider, say "Hello" to the rider at a distance so that the horse knows you are a human being, and thus will not be spooked. If you are about to emerge from the woods onto a trail, look and listen for horses first, and wait if they are nearby. The worst thing you could do is burst out of the woods onto a trail near a horse.

There are likely to be hikers and other group events in the area. Please be considerate of them, too.

No dogs are allowed in the park.

For more information, or to volunteer to help (😉), please contact , the Event Director.

What is Orienteering?

An adventure! Discover the outdoors and discover yourself! You can explore a course by yourself or go as a team with your friends. You will get a highly detailed orienteering map, probably unlike any map you have seen before. The map will have a lot of detail on it, such as fences, boulders, lone trees, vegetation boundaries, and anything else you might see.

At a "normal" point-to-point event, the course is printed on the map as a sequence of control locations that must be visited in the order shown.

However, this event will be different. For a Score-O event, the map has a large number of control locations indicated with the usual circles, but there are no lines connecting the controls to show a prescribed order. Instead, participants can visit the controls in any order, and can visit as many of the controls as they want — within the (90-minute) course time limit, or up to the course-closing time at 2:00 (possibly incurring penalty points, which will affect placement in the results, but will not affect the fun).

Orienteering is easy to learn, a challenge to master, and incredibly fun!

Location In The Park

The assembly area will be at the Zwierlein Picnic Area. From the entrance station, proceed straight ahead at the first stop sign; the road will take you to the picnic area (which will be on your right, opposite a large open field).

There are several parking areas around the loop that starts about 200 m (~1/8 mi) after the park entrance. The picnic area is on that loop.

The Start and Finish, picnic tables, and restrooms are all nearby. A children's playground is about 200 m from the picnic area.

Schedule

  9:00 AM – 11:59 AM: Registration open
  9:30 AM – 10:30 AM: Beginner-clinic instruction (free)
 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Starts open
                  2:00 PM: Everyone must have returned to the Finish
Note: At registration, all juniors (i.e., under age 21) must be accompanied by parents or legal guardians, or bring with them a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian. (The registration form is available here [PDF/12KB].)

Note that you can register and start on the course anytime during the open times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" at 9:00. (You can if you want, but please don’t show up earlier and expect to be served.)

Beginner clinics are 15–20 minute, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to find controls on the Score-O course.

Note that everyone must return to the Finish by 2:00 PM, and then promptly go to the E-punch download tent, even if they have not completed their course. Please do not leave without checking in! If there are unaccounted people after 2:00, we must initiate a search for them.

Registration and Costs

Since there is one course for all participants, there are no "beginner" course fees.

The following fees will apply for this event:

  $5 for each junior
$15 for each adult member
$20 for each adult non-member
  $1 for a compass rental (optional)  
  $5 for an electronic fingerstick rental (if you don’t own one; each group will need one to complete their course)
$15 for the lowest-cost individual one-year BAOC membership (optional)  
Notes:
  • Juniors are age 8 through 20 (under age 8 is free).
  • At the event, we can accept payment by cash, check, or credit/debit card (but no electronic payments — e.g., PayPal, Venmo).
  • Members of other orienteering clubs can pay the "member" fee. (We hope your club would do the same for our members. 🙂)

At the event, each group that has not registered online will need to fill out the standard entry form (PDF/12KB) (everyone will use the "INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED COURSE" section for entry fees). You can print the form and fill it out in advance to save some time at the event. (You will need one entry form for each group of people going on the course together.)

Optional Online Registration

Online registration has closed, but you can still register at the event.

Notes:
  • Online registration is not required​—​you can register at the event.
  • You can see who is registered here (https://eventreg.orienteeringusa.org/eventregister/reglist/home/huddartpark2024) (but keep in mind that others will register at the event).

What to Bring

For beginners, comfortable outdoors attire is fine, but you should wear sturdy running or hiking shoes.

Due to the dry weather, matted leaves, and loose soils, we recommend O-shoes or shoes with cleats for people who expect to visit the "harder" controls on the course.

We also recommend long pants and gaiters for those people.

A compass is not necessary, but can be helpful. We have compasses available for a $1 rental fee.

We time courses with the SPORTident system, so each entry/team needs to have a SPORTident fingerstick. If you don't have your own, you can rent one at registration for $5 (note that there's a significant charge for a lost rental). (Use of the "E-punch" system is easy. You can learn how at the event, or read about it here.)

Course

This event offers the Score-O course format that we seldom use. Unlike a "normal" (point-to-point) course, on a Score-O course the controls can be visited in any order. Also unlike a "normal" course, there is a set "time limit" for completing the course. The objective is to visit as many controls as you can within that time limit. So, the challenge is to figure out which controls would be "best" for you, and to estimate the time you will take to visit the controls.

Notes:
There will not be a "normal" point-to-point course for beginners. Beginners will be able to visit the "easier" controls closer to the Start, and hopefully venture farther out to some other controls (most of the other controls will be Yellow [advanced-beginner] level).
You are not required to "obey" the course time limit. You can look for controls as long as you want (except that you must obey the 2:00 course-closing time). Just be aware that your place in the results will be based on your "score", which would be reduced by penalty points if you exceed the time limit.

Each control you visit earns you 10 points. However, beware that there will be 10 "penalty points" (i.e., a reduction) for each minute (and fraction of a minute) that you finish over the 90-minute time limit (e.g., 1 minute 15 seconds late would result in 20 penalty points).

The winner is the person with the most points. If there is a tie on points, the order is determined by the faster time.

Here is preliminary information about the course:

Note: If you think you might be able to visit more than 30 controls, you will need an E-stick with sufficient capacity (i.e., not an SI-5 or SI-8 [see here]). If necessary, you can rent a high-capacity E-stick at the event.

Hazards

Steep hillsides: As mentioned above, Huddart is a steep park (the trails are generally fairly tame, although more indirect because of that). Be mindful when planning routes, and be careful when traveling off-trail on slopes.

Poison Oak: Participants on the Score-O course will encounter some poison oak, which you will be able to avoid. There are photos and comments here. Washing clothes and shoes and bathing exposed skin with dish-washing soap or a commercial product such as Tecnu is recommended to remove the irritant oil.

Ticks: Although the course setter has not seen any (yet), ticks are found in this area and may carry Lyme disease. Be sure to check yourself after completing your course.

Non-Hazard Items

Horses always have the right of way. If you encounter a horse, you must stop running and respond to the rider's direction.

Request for Volunteers

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to help so far.

To make the day run smoothly, we could still use a few more volunteers for control pickup at 2:00.

Please contact , the Event Director, if you can help.

Driving Directions

From the Bayshore Freeway (US 101) or Interstate 280 on the Peninsula, go west on Highway 84 (Woodside Road). About a mile west of I-280, you will come to a stop sign at the intersection of Mountain Home, Cañada Road, and Woodside Road (near Roberts Market). (Note: Heed the 25 mph speed limit in Woodside!) Continue straight for 0.7 miles to Kings Mountain Road. Turn right (northwest) and follow Kings Mountain Road for 2.1 miles to the park entrance.

Pay your fee at the entrance station and follow the park signs to the Zwierlein Picnic Area (proceed straight ahead at the first stop sign). Park in any of the designated areas along the road. (The road loops around the area of the picnic area, with parking available all the way around the loop.)

There is a park entry fee of $6 per vehicle. Please bring exact change if possible. If the entry kiosk is not staffed, you must use a self-service process nearby (which involves putting exact cash in an envelope).