Wily orienteering veteran Forest Pearson was at his best on the technical Lewes Lake terrain this week.

Seven days after missing out on the sprint title of the Yukon orienteering championship series by just 10 seconds, the 41-year-old claimed the mid-distance championship title with a time of 38:45 – 58 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

With the win, Pearson reversed the results from last week’s event, won by Trevor Bray.

In total, 13 people tackled the expert course. Caelan McLean finished third in the 3.7-kilometre, 13-control race, crossing the finish line in 42:31.

Both Bray, 20, and McLean, 17, are using the local orienteering championships as practice for the Junior World Orienteering Championships, scheduled for July 4 to 10 in Norway.

Forty-eight orienteers took on the challenging course at Lewes Lake Wednesday evening. The site, just off the South Klondike Highway, was used for the 2011 national championships.

“It is an amazing complex and technical orienteering,” said event organizer Brent Langbakk. “It is easy to make mistakes (and) a lot of people found it challenging.”

Pippa McNeil won the 2.4-km, 12-control advanced category with a quick 39:58, edging out runner-up Sabine Schweiger by nearly 10 minutes.

Savannah Cash won the 1.6-km, nine-control intermediate category in 17:37, ahead of the group of Rob Florkiewicz, Logan Florkiewicz and Kienna Baker.

A four-person team of Finn Pearson, Georgi Pearson, Maddox Hale and Stian Langbakk won the 1.4-km, eight-control novice category in 28:24.

The long-distance event goes next Wednesday at Long Lake.