Check out this gem of an orienteering video made in 1968 by Orienteering Ontario.
Tuesday 26 September 2017
1968 video fron Orienteering Ontario
Check out this gem of an orienteering video made in 1968 by Orienteering Ontario.
Tuesday 25 July 2017
1978 Ontario - Quebec Multiday
From a1978 Ontario - Quebec Multiday. They gave out yellow shirts to all category winners each day.
Leave a comment or send us an email (oc50th@orienteering.ca) if you can help us identify any folks in this photo.
Submitted by Oivind Naess
2016 Sass Peepre National Junior Training Camp
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| 2016 Sass Peepre Junior National Training Camp |
1977 Canadian Orienteering Championships
The 1977 Canadian Orienteering Championships where held in Wentworth, Nova Scotia. Arne Naess was the meet director and this was the first time they were hosted outside of Ontario or Quebec. It was also the first time the event was moved to the middle of the summer instead of the fall to take advantage of the summer break and give competitors a chance to make a vacation around it which is now the norm.
Although I don't know the actual number of competitors that came to the event, it was quite well attended due in part to a creative marketing program. At the 1976 COC’s in Ottawa the year previous, all the competitors from Nova Scotia had large white patches (approve 6x12 in) sewed on to the back of everyones orienteering suits that read “FOLLOW ME TO NOVA SCOTIA”. The front of all the suits had the provincial flag. Additionally, as all of the folks were leaving on the last day of the event, we had a dozen maritimers handing out Nova Scotia flags, pins and information packets to everyone and invited them personally to attend.
Although I don't know the actual number of competitors that came to the event, it was quite well attended due in part to a creative marketing program. At the 1976 COC’s in Ottawa the year previous, all the competitors from Nova Scotia had large white patches (approve 6x12 in) sewed on to the back of everyones orienteering suits that read “FOLLOW ME TO NOVA SCOTIA”. The front of all the suits had the provincial flag. Additionally, as all of the folks were leaving on the last day of the event, we had a dozen maritimers handing out Nova Scotia flags, pins and information packets to everyone and invited them personally to attend.
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| Oivind Naess from Day 1 at the 1977 COCs |
The two day classic races were both held on the Wentworth West map which had been field worked by two well know Swedish mappers named Anders Timner and Kjell Larson in 1975. Final field checking was done by Phillip Fisher who was the executive director at OANS (Orienteering Association of Nova Scotia) and then the map was drawn by Arne Naess. Other volunteers that played a significant role in the event were Marg and Dick James, Barry Wheeler, Kirk Meldrum, and Freda Wales who was one of the key people who started orienteering in the province.
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| Anders Timner and Kjell Larson, mappers of the 1977 COC terrain |
Here is the map featuring the H12 course from day one:
Pictures and story submitted by Oivind Naess
Pictures and story submitted by Oivind Naess
Team Canada at WOC 1987
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| L to R > Magali Robert, Gilles Quenville, Ted de St. Croix, Mark Adams, Oivind Naess, Ross Burnett |
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| L to R > Mark Adams, Oivind Naess, Ted de St. Croix, Ross Burnett |
Here are some pictures and article from the local newspaper in France from the 1987 World Champs. The team was:
Magali Robert
Ted de St. Croix
Mark Adams
Oivind Naess
Ross Burnett
The team leader was Gilles Quenville but we all called him the “Silver Fox".
The mens relay team finished in 9th place which continues to be Canada’s best results ever in a World Orienteering Championships.
Submitted by Oivind Naess
Arne Naess
Submitted by Oivind Naess
Guelph Orienteering Conference
Guelph conference back in 1974, 1975 or 1976 (can someone help us confirm?)
L to R
Back row: B1, Brian Malone, B3, B4, Ted de St. Croix, Dick de St. Croix
Middle row: M1, M2, ? Bailey, Leif ? (Dane), Arne Naess (with hat), Pat Dunlavey, M7, M8, Jack Lee, M10, M11, M12
Front row: Colin Kirk, F2
Can you help us identify folks in this picture - and the year. Send an email to oc50th@orienteering.ca or leave a comment.
Submitted by Oivind Naess
Nova Scotians at the 1978 Canadian championships in Halton Falls ON
Here is a story from the 1978 Canadian championships in Halton Falls, Ont:
After successfully hosting the 1977 COC’s, the Orienteering Association of Nova Scotia sent a large group of 47 competitors to the 1978 COC’s in Halton Falls, Ontario. The team booked a full VIA train cart and travelled together up and back from the event. Although a long trip to take on the train (about 24 hours) everyone had a ton of fun with lots of card games a laughter to pass the time.
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| Peter Jennegren, Oivind Naess and Anne Katherine Naess. |
Peter Jennegren, Oivind Naess and Anne Katherine Naess were the Nova Scotians who won medals at the event with the train in the background.
Submitted by Oivind Naess
Sunday 9 July 2017
Canadian Orienteering Newsletter - Special Bulletin - November 1966
Click on image to view the pdf file.
Submitted from Jack Lee's files
Saturday 8 July 2017
Team Canada at WOC 2008
top row from left: Charlotte MacNaughton, Heather Smith, Brent Langbakk, Magnus Johansson (Coach), Jon Torrance, Mike Smith, Wil Smith
bottom row: Victoria Smith, Sandy Hott, Andrea Balakova (Team manager), Nick Duca, Patrick Goeres
Submitted by: Orienteering Canada
Team Canada at WOC 2010
top row from left: Wil Smith, Jon Torrance, Mike Smith, Nick Duca
middle row from left: Louise Oram, Patrick Goeres, Carol Ross
bottom row: Magnus Johansson (national team coach and team leader)
missing: Sandy Hott, Will Critchley
Submitted by: Orienteering Canada
Team Canada at JWOC 2010
from top left: Jeff Teutsch (assistant team leader), Colin Abbott, Lee Hawkings, Damian Konotopetz, Graeme Rennie, Randy Kemp (team leader)
from bottom left: Emily Ross, Emily Kemp
Submitted by: Orienteering Canada
Ontario Orienteering Association July - August Bulletin 1969
Click on image to view the pdf file.
Submitted from Jack Lee's files
1968 Orienteering Clinic Outline
Click on image to view the pdf file.
Submitted from Jack Lee's files
First Ontario Orienteering Championships Program 1967
Click on image to view the pdf file.
Submitted from Jack Lee's files
C.A.H.P.E.R. Report On Orienteering 1968-69
Click on image to view the pdf file.
Submitted from Jack Lee's files
1968 Annual Report of the Ontario Orienteering Association
Click on image to view the pdf file.
Submitted from Jack Lee's files
Team Canada at WOC 2015
Team Canada at the 2015 World Orienteering Championships in Inverness, Scotland
Back row L to R: Raphael Ferrand (Coach), Will Critchley, Robbie Anderson, Damian Konotopetz
Front row: Tori Owen, Emma Waddington, Louise Oram, Emily Kemp, Meghan Rance (Team Manager)
Missing: Brian May
Submitted by: Orienteering Canada
Team Canada at WOC 2013
Team Canada at the 2013 World Orienteering Championships in Vuokatti, Finland
Back row L to R: Toni Louhisola (Coach), Kerstin Burnett, Will Critchley, Robbie Anderson, Serghei Logvin
Front row: Eric Kemp, Louise Oram, Emily Kemp, Meghan Rance (Team Manager)
Submitted by: Orienteering Canada
Thursday 29 June 2017
Humbling start - Orienteering Ottawa & Allan Gravelle by Colin Kirk
One evening in mid- August, 1968, a friend, Allan Gravelle, called me about an article in the Ottawa Journal on a new sport, Orienteering. The Montreal Orienteering Club was organizing the 1st Canadian Orienteering Championships at Camp Fortune on August 18 and conducting an Introduction to Orienteering clinic at Carleton University the next evening. I was unable to attend but Allan did and reported it seemed an activity worth trying and suggested we attend the championships and give it a try.
1st Canadian Orienteering Championships. On August 18, 1968, Allan his son Shawn and I made our orienteering debut in the Canadian Championships. The event was held on the original Camp Fortune map. The Event Centre and Finish were at the XC Ski Lodge. Allan and I were members of the Ottawa Valley Track Club and thought we could easily handle one of the longer courses but the organizers insisted we compete on the 2.9 km Beginner Wayfaring course.
The Start was at the TV station at the top of the Camp Fortune Ski slopes. We were instructed that we must report to the Finish whether or not we completed the course. We thought we would blitz the course in 15-20 minutes and then try one of the longer ones. Then we were off to the 1st Control - Knoll, south side.
We had received some basic instruction on compass use, map scale and contour interval but nothing on distance measurement. We went barreling down the road from the TV station stopping every so often to peer in the woods to try and detect a knoll with a red/white marker. After 50 minutes we had still not located the control and were now closer to the Finish than the Start. We decided orienteering was not for us and headed back to the Start to hand in our control card. As we made the last turn towards the TV station a woman crossed in front of us, climbed onto a small hill at the side of the road and stopped at a red/white marker. We checked the marker number and, lo and behold, it was the one we had been searching for. The knoll was not more than 150 metres from the Start and, in fact, could be seen from the Start.
Re-energized at finding the control we continued and completed the course without further major problems. The 1st Canadian Championships results show the team of Allan, Shawn Gravelle & Colin Kirk placed 2nd in Junior Wayfaring in the time of 1:41:16 for the 2.9 course, overall 7th fastest of 17 groups competing in the various Wayfaring classes. At least 50% of our time had been spent searching for the 1st control.
On numerous occasions I have stated that if I had not found the 1st control that I would have given up on orienteering and never returned – I think Allan had similar feelings.
Three local orienteers: Michael MacConaill, Irene Jensen, (Viking Ski Club), and Pierre Brassard (Montreal OC) competed. Irene won the Senior Ladies and Pierre won the Junior Men category. Michael and Pierre are current members of OOC and Irene a member of Loup Garou
A Walk Down Memory Lane – Control #1 Re-visited
On May 3, 2009, I organized an event from the P7 Parking Area on Kingsmere Road, using an updated version of the Camp Fortune map. While hanging markers on May 1 my route took me close to the TV station – in 1968 two small wooden buildings, now a massive concrete structure surrounded by a 10 ft high chain link fence.
In The Beginning – A Giant Leap Forward
In the month following the Canadian Championships we participated in three Montreal area meets at Oka, St Benoit, Morin Heights, always as Wayfarers on the Novice course – Allan with son Shawn and I with another son, Paul.
The final 1968 meet was the Ontario Championships in early October, near Kingston. There were only four categories: Senior Men, Senior Women, Junior Men, Junior Women. With no Wayfaring category we had to compete in Senior Men. In the space of 6 weeks Allan and I leapt all the way from Beginner Wayfarers to Senior Men category.
The championship was organized by Professor Jake Edwards of Queen’s University. In addition to competing on my first Advanced level course the meet is memorable for a couple of other items:
A. The Start was in a tent. When your start time was called you entered the tent, copied your course from a Master Map then exited the tent through a rear door. Your time started from the minute you entered the tent.
B. Unique Control Descriptions. The first three control descriptions on the Senior Men course were:
1 Crease in the hillside – (Re-entrant)
2 Rising Green Island - (tree covered knoll)l
3 An Evergreen Density – (Cedar thicket) It was necessary to crawl under the trees to reach the control marker.
We did surprisingly well considering our previous experience had been on Novice courses. I placed 7th (1:51:04) and Allan 9th (1:56:58) of 26 competitors in Senior Men – a 9 km course. The terrain was much easier than the Gatineau and Laurentian regions: few boulders or cliffs, less hostile underbrush, excellent visibility and many open areas.
I can’t remember if Allan started before or after me and didn’t see him until near one of the last controls, a fairly short leg in a hilly area. The control was between two hills with was a wide valley about the mid point – a large wide swamp filled most of the valley. The decision: “Do I go around on the left or on the left? Allan had taken a third option – straight through the swamp. He was in the middle of the swamp, up to his waist in water, slowly turning around and heading back the way he had come, taking care to keep his map dry and above water. I am quite certain my margin over him was gained entirely through his excursion in the swamp.
On the journey back to Ottawa from the 1968 Ontario Championships the first seeds were sown to start an orienteering club in Ottawa the next season. During the winter I received a job transfer to Montreal and when the 1969 season started I was a member of the Montreal Orienteering Club and Allan was on his own. He nurtured the seeds throughout the winter, planted the seedlings in spring 1969 and cultivated their growth until reaching maturity as a fully grown healthy tree and one of the most successful orienteering clubs in the country.
Due to health problems Allan has not been active in orienteering for many years; most OOC members have probably never met him or unaware of his contribution and involvement with the OOC. Without his efforts and dedication there may not have been an OOC.
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| Early OOC Club logo |
Submitted by: Lorna Guttormson
Wednesday 21 June 2017
Biography of Sass Peepre
Sass Peepre
A Canadian Orienteering Pioneer
A Canadian Orienteering Pioneer
Alex "Sass" Peepre, a youth sports leader in Estonia, came to Canada with his family via Finland and Sweden, where, after the war he learned about the sport of orienteering. During his early days in Canada he organized basic orienteering events at youth and scout camps using topographic or simple hand-drawn black and white maps. In the mid-1960s, competitive orienteering got a big push when orienteering was taught at the national track and field coaches clinics held at the University of Guelph. Along with Britain's John Disley, Sass introduced many of the early Canadian orienteering leaders to the sport.
In 1966, Sass observed the first World Orienteering Championships in Finland, bringing that experience home to organize the first Ontario Championships near Guelph in 1967, and later, with Bob Kaill, the 1969 Canadian Championships. During these early days Sass organized orienteering clinics across Ontario, the Maritimes, in BC, and even for the US Marines out of Quantico. He also co-organized the first US Championships in 1970, in Carbondale Illinois. Sass was meet director for the popular annual Guelph Spring Festival orienteering as well as many high school and university events.
Sass was a founder of the orienteering association in Ontario, and also the COF, where he later served as President from 1974-1976. In 1974, pursuing his passion for leadership training, he organized the First National Orienteering Leadership Clinic at the University of Guelph.
Sass Peepre died in 1976. He is remembered for his endless enthusiasm in spreading the word about orienteering, and for his dedication to leadership and youth training. He has been called the Father of Canadian orienteering.
Submitted by Sass's son Juri Peepre
In 1966, Sass observed the first World Orienteering Championships in Finland, bringing that experience home to organize the first Ontario Championships near Guelph in 1967, and later, with Bob Kaill, the 1969 Canadian Championships. During these early days Sass organized orienteering clinics across Ontario, the Maritimes, in BC, and even for the US Marines out of Quantico. He also co-organized the first US Championships in 1970, in Carbondale Illinois. Sass was meet director for the popular annual Guelph Spring Festival orienteering as well as many high school and university events.
Sass was a founder of the orienteering association in Ontario, and also the COF, where he later served as President from 1974-1976. In 1974, pursuing his passion for leadership training, he organized the First National Orienteering Leadership Clinic at the University of Guelph.
Sass Peepre died in 1976. He is remembered for his endless enthusiasm in spreading the word about orienteering, and for his dedication to leadership and youth training. He has been called the Father of Canadian orienteering.
Submitted by Sass's son Juri Peepre
Tuesday 23 May 2017
Blue Lake History from George Murphy
Blue Lake Centre is situated in Switzer Provincial Park North of Hinton in the Alberta foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
In 1976 I attended the national "O" clinic in Hamilton and got hooked.
Sometime in summer 1978 Juri Peepre came to Edmonton and gave a clinic on "O".
After the clinic he and I chatted about pulling together a weekend clinic for Western Canada. I had been to Blue Lake on Winter survival and X-C courses and knew Jack Lee had been there teaching Orienteering so it was an easy thing to relate that centre to our thoughts of a clinic.
Our first year was July long weekend in 1979 and we carried on with the clinics until 1989. The first year saw us playing host to Eric and Anne Westerlund as coaches. I think that was the first year we ran the Blue Lake Follies but I do know we had a Follies for every year after.
While we did do a lot of serious coaching, teaching, and running through that magnificent terrain, the Follies was a great lot of fun and a serious stress reliever. I remember more than a few frustrated, and sometimes teary, souls trying to get heads around the skills of mapping and the difficulties of finding those blankety-blank controls!
The Follies brought out some great creativity on the part of the participants and the organizers. All those running in the Follies were encouraged to dress in costume. People would appear wrapped up as the "Michelin Man" (how she moved I don't know), or one with a hat with ear flaps proclaiming them as "Bullshit Protectors". One follies saw participants running through the forest with balloons tied to various parts of the body. Each popped balloon took points off your score or added time to your run.
Another time we had one "Bingo" control. The marker was placed in an almost featureless area and, if you found it, it was Bingo! That same year saw a sliding control (tied to a rope flung over a tree branch...as one approached to punch in, the control would fly upward, out of reach) and a movable control (attached to a Volkswagen in the parking lot...complete with driver). ["Punching in"...younger Orienteers, speak to your older friends!].
The terrain at Blue Lake was, and is, such an excellent area for "O". Lots of water features, great forest for running and awesome depressions of 15m or more.
There is also lots of wildlife in the area. Black bears, moose, deer and birds. There was the odd encounter with bears but no serious incidents. A young bear and I came face to face once but he beat me to an escape route.
One year Juri Peepre was hit in the forehead and eye by an owl and was bowled over a fallen tree. That same year runners were attacked by a Red-Tailed Hawk. As protection from this raptor, we took to carrying branches behind our back sticking up to cover the backs of our heads as we ran through its territory. We were still harassed but no one else was blooded as I recall.
At the time of our clinics, the Blue Lake Centre was owned and operated by the Alberta Government and had a live-in manager. During our time there, Juri was the technical guy and I was the one in charge of management details. Each year I would be called in to the manager's office to be dressed down for some infraction or another (who knew Orienteers were such a rowdy lot?). One year it was an "ice" storm. Participants had been freezing water in Styrofoam cups and peeling them down as the ice melted while applying ice to sore and injured knees, feet and other body areas.
Of course, the use of this ice was interpreted as being used in drinks of a banned substance (read alcohol!). My explanation was finally accepted but with the admonition that he, the manager, was ever alert and watching us.
In the early days the Centre was blessed with a large lodge used mainly for meals and featured a large kitchen, a Chef and staff and a large fireplace as a gathering lounge area. The accommodation was rudimentary, with crowded bunkhouses and unheated outdoor biffies.
Over the years the biffies got electric heat (especially great in Winter!) As time went on the bunkhouses were replaced with more roomy accommodation (still had bunks) and a proper washroom with flush toilets was built. That building also featured a real Sauna. Luxury abounded.
On my first visit to Blue Lake (Winter of 1972 with my University class) the cost for food, board and instruction was $8.00 per day. The Centre was home to an abundance of courses...Rock Climbing, Canoeing, X-C Skiing, Wilderness Survival and even Scuba Diving. Expert instructors were brought in and people came from various parts of Canada, and the world to participate. Over the subsequent years the cost increased to $16 per day and then went up in later years (memory slips here a bit). All this was subsidized by the Alberta Government and turned out a great number of people experienced in all aspects of outdoor recreation. Many of these have gone on to promote Outdoor Rec. throughout the world.
Blue Lake has great memories for many of us. It's where some got their first taste of the sport of Orienteering and went on to travel the world with much success. It's also where many leaders were developed and went on to administrative, mapping and competitive positions in our sport. Many friends were made and many long lasting relationships were formed.
I am so glad to have been a part of it.
George Murphy
Friday 5 May 2017
Map: Sisu O Club Event, ON 1970 Dufferin County Forest
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: Sass Peepre map KALEV event, 1970
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: Royal Canadian Legion and Ontario Orienteering Association Map No. 1, 1968
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: Hamilton Orienteering Association First event 1969 Mount Albion
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: Hamilton King's Foresters 1971 J Lee mapper
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: Hamilton King's Foresters 1970 4th Ontario Championships
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: First Ontario Champs 1967 Guelph
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: St. John's Outdoor Centre
"Enjoy yourself orienteering!!" "Remember good orienteerers don't litter!!... and they don't follow other competitors!!"
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: Competition Map, Guelph, 1971
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: Clarke Orienteering Club Event ON 1971
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: 1969 Arkel Hills, Guelph
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: 1973 Nova Scotia Championships
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map: 1972 Guelph Spring Festival
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
Map; 1970 3rd Annual Guelph Orienteering Meet (hand-coloured map)
Submitted by: Juri Peepre
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