Did ya know that there will be a US Relay Champs in 2001? Somewhere far, far away on the Left Coast...

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), January 12, 2001

Answers

That's OK by me as long as it's not in tbe Bay Area or Seattle area.

-- Snorkel (danielmeenehan@aol.com), January 14, 2001.

I suspect that the multiple A meets in Seattle that Kean was talking to Mike and myself about this weekend and the relays are somehow interconnected.

-- Snorkel (danielmeenehan@aol.com), January 15, 2001.

Dan and I were talking with Kean yesterday. He mentioned a relay event as part of the "north west O' fest" (or something like that). He didn't say it was a national champs. But, perhaps it will be the national champs. As far as I can tell, there haven't been any bids.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), January 15, 2001.

Deeply placed sources I can not reveal for fear of placing their missions and lives in grave danger have sent back conflicting reports. One said: "Yahoo, yahoo, Yahoo!", and may have been trying to indicate something to do with the Bay Area. HOwever, that particular agent may have succumbed to unimaginably vast internet pressures and may now be working to proselytize certain internet portal companies.

THe other source, which I judge to be more reliable, has intercepted highly secret, 128 bit encrypted messages which suggest there is a very high probability that a cult group in the Los Angeles area is preparing to host the US Relay Champs in December, and that additionally the terrain is believed to be in part desert-like with rattlesnakes in residence, and that the map being constructed will draw in part from a previous map over the area and in part from brand new surveys of previously un-orienteered terrain.

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), January 15, 2001.

Mary tipped me off to a possibility...the Los Angeles O' Club might be hosting the US Relay Champs. They've got a two day A-meet scheduled for December 8-9, 2001. (Would that conflict with the Possum Trot?). It sounds like an interesting possibility. According to the LAOC web page, the event will be at a place called Vasquez Rocks:

"Vasquez Rocks County Park, in the Antelope Valley, 45 minutes drive N of Los Angeles. Come see where The Flintstones was filmed....The terrain is very different from any other area that LAOC uses. You will find wide open areas with scrub brush. This is complimented with sheer rock structures and boulder piles, offering some complicated navigation on the advanced courses.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), January 16, 2001.

Anyone with a little lamb with fleece as white as snow is very credible on these matters. Mary has pierced straight to the truth.

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), January 16, 2001.

I've been checking out some links to Vasquez Rocks Park. The terraserver photo doesn't show a whole lot, but the topozone map gives some idea of the terrain. There are a lot of web sites with photos of the park too, especially the rock formations. Try this one or this one. One even has a web cam that you can use to pan around the horizon.

What we'll need is a copy of the actual o' map. Does anyone have the right contacts for that? Any suggestions?

-- tofkam (everett@psi.edu), January 16, 2001.

If it's Vasquez Rock in Dec, I'd better start serious technique training. Last San Diego meet run was a bomb. Also bombed at Garden of the Gods. The "second A-team" may be looking for a replacement if my O'skills aren't up to minimum team standards ("finish, don't DQ"). If this is not at high altitude, our chances imrpove. . .

-- mean gene (gmw@ku.edu), January 21, 2001.