The final orienteering meet of the year took place under the cover of darkness Friday.

Twenty-five competitors gathered at Wolf Creek Campground to tackle a sprint map using the glow of their headlamps.

“Night-O” meets differ from regular events in that competitors use a powerful headlamp to navigate around the map and the control markers have special reflective tape that is highly visible when a light is shone on it.

Most Yukon orienteers find it quite challenging, since few of them have the kind of powerful headlamps that are used elsewhere for night meets, said event organizer Jim Hawkings.

Consequently they have a bit of trouble seeing the features around them and have to focus on what lies immediately ahead in the dim glow.

The event saw racers tackle a brand-new sprint map prepared for the event. Sprint maps are printed at a scale of 1:5,000 rather than the normal 1:10,000, allowing more detailed mapping of features.

Of the nine tackling the 2.6-km expert course, which included gruelling climbs up the bluffs on both sides of the campground, two teenagers topped the field.

Caelan McLean finished in 25:48, three minutes ahead of Leif Blake. The two were neck-and-neck through all 16 controls except for one three-minute error by Blake on the difficult thrash between the first two controls.

Former national team sprint specialist Pippa McNeil was third in 34:45.

On the 1.9-km intermediate course, the team of Valerie Theoret and Sabrina Bouayd came out on top of the seven-team field in 24:33, followed by Darryl Bray at 28:17 and Helen Slama at 34:31.

A group of mixed-generation adventurers composed of Afan Jones, Barb Hinton, and Jocelyn and Doon McDowell were fastest on the 1.4-km beginner course in 25:52, followed by Maura Glenn and Elvira Knaack in 26:25.

Most participants took the opportunity to relax and socialize – comparing harrowing tales of survival in the wild darkness – around the campfire following the event.