Balls Bluff

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January 22
Saturday

Pre-registration is now OPEN and will close FRIDAY January 21st at 12 noon; there is NO day-of registration.

Welcome back to Ball's Bluff Regional Park for a winter (and *Saturday*) orienteering event along the high bluffs overlooking the Potomac River near Leesburg, Virginia. It’s a pleasure for QOC to have club member CAPT Bill Johns (ret) and the NJROTC cadets from Loudoun County High School back running our Ball's Bluff meet again after a COVID-induced hiatus last season and we thank them for being willing to help the club by putting on this event. In addition, Matt Smith, course-setting a QOC regular-season event for the first time, has designed a full of classic courses for your enjoyment (full stats are now below).

Note that this year, we will be starting and finishing at the Ball’s Bluff Regional Park main parking lot. (We are NOT using Edwards Landing Municipal Park, as we have in the recent past). See this locator map for details. However, please also note that main Ball's Bluff parking lot is too small to accommodate all of those participating in our event AND all the regular park users.

Parking and check-in will consequently also be at a new location—the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 801 Ball’s Bluff Rd. This address is at the intersection of Ball’s Bluff Rd and Battlefield Parkway. Orienteers will have the option of either taking a shuttle bus up to the main parking lot or walking the half-mile up Ball’s Bluff Rd to the park main entrance and in to the parking lot. The entrance road is narrow so please stay to the side to allow vehicles to pass. New! There will be a tarp laid down as a clothing drop point near the e-punch table at the Ball's Bluff parking lot.

Our thanks to the church for generously allowing us to use their parking lot. Please respect the grounds and facilities and avoid walking across any planted area on your way to and from the park. Port-a-johns will be located at the Ball’s Bluff Park parking lot—NOT at the church.

Also, we have once again received the generous permission of a local landowner to place some points of the southernmost segments of our courses on his land abutting the southern end of the park. Please be mindful of this dispensation as you negotiate the southern parts of your courses.

For those doing the white or yellow course, the northern part of the park has considerably less climb than the central and southern sections, so you can expect a less strenuous orienteering experience than you may have been used to at this venue.

ARDF Radio Orienteering Courses: We will also be offering ten-control "Fox-O" radio-direction-finding (ARDF) orienteering course designed by Mike Kholodov, a perfect complement to your classic course for those who would like to try a new orienteering experience. Click here for more details.

COVID Risk Reduction Protocols:

As with all 2021-2022 QOC events, this event requires pre-registration via the link below. QOC’s COVID risk reduction protocols, as also enumerated somewhat here, are in effect. Please read these guidelines carefully. Key points:

• PROPERLY WORN MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING ARE REQUIRED at all times when near registration, epunch and any other areas or queues where volunteers and/or participants are congregating.
• No water will be provided. Provide for your own hydration needs before, during, and after the event.
• There is no planned, on-site beginner instruction, but beginners are encouraged to watch relevant videos such as this one created by QOC's instructional guru David Onkst.
• There will be eight 15 minute check-in windows followed by two 45min windows (as for most QOC events this season).

• For those who are interested, here is an overview of the Battle of Ball's Bluff, fought on October 21st, 1861.
• The size of start teams (groups of individuals orienteering together with one e-punch) on a course must be no more than four (4) individuals (juniors and adults combined).
• Port-a-johns will be at the Ball’s Bluff main parking lot—not at the church.
• Pets are permitted in the park but must be leashed at all times.
• You're Invited! QOC veteran Sidney Sachs will host a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, January 25th at 8pm to review selected course legs and analyze the routes various orienteers took. Please contact Sid Sachs for the invite link.