St. Malo Snow-O City Park Meets

Organizer: Thomas Graupner (Event Director)

Map: St. Malo Park

The St. Malo Snow-O is an orienteering event where participants can walk, run, ski, or snowshoe. The objective is to score as many points as possible within the 90-minute time limit. First start will be at 12 noon. For safety reasons, all competitors must check out and back in with the organizers. Drinks and snacks will be provided at the end of the race.

Please bring a watch, a compass, and a completed membership/waiver form if you are not yet a 2020 member. This event is free for 2020 members since it will be your first event of the year. Depending on your mode of transportation (skiing, running, etc.), you may also want to bring something for holding your map. The maps will be on 11 x 17 inch paper inside 12 x 18 inch plastic map cases. Finally, don't forget to bring warm clothing.

Parking will be at the organizer's parents' home, which is across the lake from St. Malo Provincial Park. See the road map below. The actual start/finish will be on the lake, about 100 m from the park.

If you intend to come, please register by using this web site or by contacting Thomas Graupner (thomasg@cottonwood.ca or 204-292-4209). Please register by Thursday, February 20th to ensure that a map will be printed for you.

Choice of Category (mode of transportation)

The course can be completed on skis, snowshoes, or just running shoes or winter boots. Runners are usually the fastest. Here are the organizer's recommendations for choice of footwear:

1. If you're at all worried about damaging your skis or snowshoes, then wear running shoes or winter boots.
2. Whatever your mode of transportation, make sure your footwear is warm and durable.
3. Until the weather and trail conditions are known, be prepared to run in case skiing becomes impractical.

Scoring and Ranking

There will be 18 controls worth 10 points each.

Going from an odd-numbered control to an even-numbered control or vice-versa is worth an extra 2 points, but only the first 10 times this is done (i.e., 20 bonus points maximum). For convenience, the 9 odd-numbered controls are shown with red circles and the 9 even-numbered controls are shown with blue circles.

There will be no penalty for being late, but controls punched after the time limit won't count.

Participants will be ranked according to number of points. Participants with the same number of points will be ranked according to total time (from start punch to finish punch).

Conditions as of Monday, February 17th

There is less snow than previous years and almost no deep drifts to go through. On Saturday the 15th there was actually bare pavement in a few places, but it has since snowed. On Monday, the ski trails were in good condition.

Walking/running should be faster than usual due to less snow. Even on unplowed roads there is often a snowmobile trail that makes it easy going.

Skiing should also be faster than usual due to the lack of deep drifts. There is still thick snow nearly everywhere, but the few areas with thin or no snow could cause damage to skis.

Snowshoes may help in some areas, but not as many as in previous years. Snowshoes that are easy to detach, carry, and reattach would be best.

Location