Forty-two came out on a grey and windy evening to take part in the final Wednesday night orienteering meet of the year, including newcomer to Whitehorse, Robin King, who will be training with the Yukon Ski Team this semester.

Also out Wednesday evening was a member of the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club, Benoit Turcotte.

Using the Yukon Waterfront map on the Riverdale side of the river ,the participants had the choice of two courses.

The longer one ventured over the Millennium Bridge and into the Robert Service Campground, back over the bridge again before heading north and around the schools and then west towards the river. The short course stayed on the west side of the river.

To add a twist, the courses were both "map memory" exercises. Participants were given a small piece of the map to look at before heading off.

The map reading technique showed only the area between the start and the first control. At the first control stand there was another section of map showing the area between the first and second control. This continued around the course.

This activity is usually used as a training exercise which encourages orienteerers to look at the main features and mentally simplify what they see on the map. It also forces them to plan their route to the next marker before leaving the control.

This added an extra challenge to the Wednesday night meet in what was an area that was not particularly technical.

Lots of laughter was heard in the finish area as participants recounted their challenges, and more then a few had to re-trace their steps to take another look at the small snippet of map before attempting the leg again.

This weekend, the Golden Aspen Orienteering Festival will offer two different events open to all.

On Saturday, the Yukon Orienteering Association is delighted to host the first ever event in Haines Junction.

Using a map created with assistance from Yukon Sport and Rec Branch, Sport 4 Life Funding, and Holland America, this will be a Sprint event.

Haines Junction residents are particularly invited to come out and try the family activity.

The day starts at 11:00 am at the St. Elias School with a free introductory workshop for any interested residents or visitors to Haines Junction. Beginning at noon, the main event gets under way. Registration is accepted on the day at a nominal cost.

On Sunday, the action moves back to the Whitehorse area and the Ear Lake map specifically.

Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. from the start location of the Railway tracks which cross the Miles Canyon Road near the Alaska Highway.

Top finishers in the short map memory category included Trevor and Darryl Bray, who finished with a time of 25:56, while Pippa McNeil wasn't too far behind at 28:45. Deb Kiemele rounded out the top three, coming in at 37:33.

Brent Langbakk finished on top of the long map memory distance by finishing at 31:43, while Afan Jones came in second with a time of 32:18

Pam James finished in third place at 33:28 and Dahria Beatty took fourth with her time of 35:50.

Story provided by Barbara Scheck, president of the Yukon Orienteering Association.