The Slades

"Heat map" showing routes and running speed on the Brown course
Credit: QO Routegadget

Planner Steve
Credit: Steve Rush

Starting off
Credit: Steve Rush

And they're off...heading up Will's Neck
Credit: Steve Rush

Richard S at the 2018 Compass Sport Cup final
Credit: Steve Robertson

Scattered runners, on the slopes near the Start/ Finish
Credit: Steve Rush

A junior from the winning Bristol team collects her map
Credit: Steve Rush

Directions / Parking

Parking will be in a grass field adjacent to Triscombe Stone car park.

Please approach from the north-east as the road up from Triscombe is signed as unsuitable for motor vehicles.

Parking charge of £1 per vehicle.

Please leave the public car park for other users.

The approach road is steep and narrow and unsuitable for full-size coaches.

Course Information

The Quantocks have a reputation for steepness - course lengths have been adjusted to take the climb into consideration. The stated climb is for the most probable route – for alternative routes the climb may be higher. The competition area consists of a northern forest area and southern open moor with some woodland, primarily in the valleys.

If you would like to help your club team score points, you need to run the course for your age class and be a current member of a participating club.

Compass Sport competition courses

All of the above courses use a map scale of 1:10000.

All courses use pictorial descriptions only, except Orange which uses both pictorials and text.

Courses 6 & 8A (Green), 8B & 10 (Short Green) and 9A & 9B (Orange) are the same.

Other courses

Courses available for those not taking part in the above competition:

Light Green's descriptions are pictorial only; Yellow and White use text.

Loose control descriptions will be available in the start lanes.

Entry Details

Compass Sport competition

All entries to the Compass Sport Competition must be done in advance via your club representative. You must be a BOF member to participate and need to run alone, not as a pair or group.

All other entries

If you're not running as part of the team event, you can enter on the day as usual. The following fees apply:

Lost dibbers will be charged for at their replacement cost of £40 (SI type) and £65 (SIAC) each.

* member = a member of BOF / QO or any affiliated club

Registration & Start Times

Registration & enquiries will be open from 10:00.

Competition courses will have pre-allocated start times allocated by your club's team captain.

For other courses just turn up when you are ready as usual.

Starts 10:30-12:30, courses close 15:00.

Timing system- SportIdent - mixed punching-i.e. both contact and contact-less (SIAC) modes are enabled

Terrain Description

Classic Quantock terrain with a mix of open heather covered hillside and commercial forest. ​Please note there are often wild ponies on the open hillside.​

Dog restrictions

There are no dog restrictions.

Weather conditions

The event centre is at 300m altitude and much of the area is exposed to wind. Waterproofs may be compulsory if the weather is poor. In the event of very poor weather the event may be cancelled.

We would only cancel if the parking field is out of action, the approach road is dangerous or high winds are endangering trees. Such a decision would hopefully be made a few days before and club captains will be informed straight away.

Please check the website before travelling.

The map

There is an east-west fence and earth bank that forms a boundary between the forest and the moorland – there are paths on the north and south sides of this bank and fence. For clarity, the fence is not marked on the map but all gates are shown. The longer courses that use both the forest and moor have been planned to go through the gates and not cross the fence. All of these courses include controls at each gated crossing point - the control kite will be on the side of the gate as the competitor approaches it.

There are patches of gorse and bramble in the open area – where these would impede the progress of the average competitor, they have been mapped. There are areas of bracken that have died back following the cold weather that are runnable and not mapped.

There are a number of mountain bike tracks in the forest area – where these are significant and include MTB jumps they have been mapped. In the open area, tracks and significant paths have been mapped – seasonal animal tracks caused by horses, deer and sheep have not been mapped.

The trig point at Wills Neck (the highest point on the Quantocks) is marked as a boulder on the map and the cairn symbol represents a clearly visible pile of stones – these are generally between 0.4 and 0.6 m high. In some cases the control flag may be visible before the feature.

Facilities

Enquiries, download, toilets and space for club tents are all in the parking field.
From enquiries there is a 500m walk to the start/finish.

In the event of wet or cold weather a tent will be put up at the start/finish where outer clothing may be left.

There will be a first aid station at the finish.

Sorry, owing to the modest anticipated attendance there is no catering, and there are no nearby shops or cafes. Please bring your own food & water.

A photographer will be in attendance (Steve Rush of Bristol OC) and it is anticipated a selection of these will be posted on Flickr after the event.

Competing Clubs

Each club's position at the 2018 final is shown in brackets.

Cup

Trophy

Link: Background article on other clubs in the South West

Another big event soon...

Th JK closing date is Sunday 24 March. If you have not yet entered, don't forget to do so in the next few days. The deadline for entering relay teams is the following Sunday (31 March).

More details at http://www.thejk.org.uk

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Steve Robertson 01823 430071 treasurer@quantockorienteers.co.uk

Controller: Alan Simpson DEVON

Organiser: Richard Sansbury 01823 288405 richard.sansbury@btinternet.com