Friday 6th August 2021

Today is a long distance event and a World Ranking Event

New to orienteering but first mapped two years ago as an area showing great potential.  The massive crags of Creag Dhubh just to the southwest of the area are legendary in mountaineering circles.

The area itself is on the southwest flanks of the hill in an open birch forest (Coille na Creige Duibhe) but longer courses will climb up onto the Cluny Estate and open moorland beyond the line of sight.  The town of Newtonmore is just a mile to the northeast.

Location


Gallery

A selection of images from the race area…

Image Caption: Extract of the map from Craig Dhubh

Image Caption: Cluny Estate and Creag Dhubh Credit Tom Baker Photography

Image Caption: Parking and Race Arena

Image Caption: Northern Terrain at Creag Dhubh

Final Details

Many thanks to the Wildcat Centre in Newtonmore for permission to use the images of their painted cats for the String Courses. There are around 100 cats dotted about Newtonmore (can you spot them?) and a 6 miles Wildcat orbital trail round the village. More information from the Wildcat Centre opposite the post office.

Please support the cafes and shops in Laggan, Newtonmore and Kingussie. They know about the event and will give you a warm welcome.

Important Information

Organising clubs
GRAMP, RR, BASOC
Organisers
Paul Duley (GRAMP), Tim Darlow (RR)
Planners
John Tullie & Eb Rooney (RR), Helen Rowlands (GRAMP)
Controllers
Trevor Hoey (FVO), Tim Griffin (GRAMP), Ted Finch (FVO, IOF Advisor)
Directions
A82 towards Inverness (10 miles) and then A86 towards Newtonmore (36 miles) before turning left into field (GR NN699979)
Parking (P)
Flat fields accessed from A86. No entry after 1230.
Event Services (ES)
Adjacent to parking (same field)
Starts
Along small faint paths (allow 15 mins)
Maps
LIDAR and photo plot by Stirling Surveys, survey by Stirling Surveys (2018), updated 2020. 1:10000 for courses 1-7, 1:7500 for courses 8-22
Terrain
Rough open birch forest on fairly uniform slopes either side of a spur projecting from Creag Dhubh with longer courses out on rough open moorland.  Boulder fields and areas of scree.  Bracken areas are generally navigable.  Slow runnability for the majority.
String
adjacent to car parking field
Safety
Cagoules may be mandatory if bad weather, whistles advised. One or two Highland cows may be encountered and goats and adders may be in area. They will be more afraid of you – do not provoke if seen.
Junior courses
white tape will be used where routes are unclear
Special instructions
Day 5 includes a world Ranking Event (WRE). Courses will start from the Red start and information has been communicated in WRE bulletins. Day 5 will use the same area and courses as Day 4. To make the competition fair please do not look at Day 4 courses beforehand.
Dogs
are allowed in the Car Park field and there will be a dog-exercising area. The land owner’s instructions are that you must PLEASE PICK UP AND TAKE AWAY YOUR DOG EXCREMENT.
Departure
No exit before 1300. Take care joining the A86.

Course Information

Course Class Length Climb Scale Start
1 M21E 12.7 610 1:10000 Red
2 M21L M20L M35L 7.6 360 1:10000 Red
2E W21E 7.7 385 1:10000 Red
3 M40L M45L 7.1 390 1:10000 Red
4 M18L M50L 7.0 315 1:10000 Red
5 M16A M55L W21L 6.1 275 1:10000 Red
6 M21S W18L W20L W35L 5.8 240 1:10000 Blue
7 M60L M20S M35S W40L W45L 5.4 230 1:10000 Blue
8 M65L M45S M40S W50L 5.2 225 1:7500 Blue
9 M50S M18S W16A W21S 4.7 190 1:7500 Blue
10 M70L W55L 4.6 180 1:7500 Blue
11 M55S W60L 4.4 175 1:7500 Blue
12 W18S W20S W35S Green 4.2 130 1:7500 Green
13 M75L M60S W65L W45S W40S 3.8 140 1:7500 Green
14 M65S W50S 3.4 125 1:7500 Green
15 M70S W70L W60S W55S 2.8 120 1:7500 Green
16 M80 M85 M90 M75S W80 W75L W70S W65S 2.0 75 1:7500 Green
17 W75S  W85 W90 1.7 45 1:7500 Green
18 M14A M16B 4.0 145 1:7500 Green
19 W14A W16B Light Green 2.7 130 1:7500 Green
20 M12A M14B W12A W14B Orange 2.6 95 1:7500 White
21 M10A M12B W10A W12B Yellow 2.4 50 1:7500 White
22 M10B W10B White 2.3 35 1:7500 White