54th OMM Eryri Director’s Report: Stuart Hamilton gives his thoughts on the challenges of triumphs faced at this year’s event.
54th OMM, Eryri: Race Director’s Report
Dave Chapman
What a fantastic area! The contrast between the runnable terrain of the northern Carneddau and the rocky southern area. The gentle slopes to the north and the steep descent to the A5 and then up onto the Glyders. The stunning beauty of the mountains; I remember many years ago seeing Tryfan for the first time whilst running the Glyder ridge from Pen-y-Pass and down to Llanberis, and deciding there and then that I had to scale it, probably adding 800m of ascent to my day, but what a mountain it is! I know that we didn’t give anyone that challenge, but I do hope that you can make a return journey in the future.
A Difficult Ask
In June 2021 we were approached by Plas y Brenin who wondered if we would be interested in re-running the 1971 race – they had found a report in their journals of the event. Our response was to suggest that we run the OMM in its current format with PyB as the Event Centre. A lot of discussion, land ownership exploration and outline planning followed, but it became clear that it wouldn’t work; an overnight camp at the right distance from the EC wasn’t available and some of the farmers were known to be reluctant.
We decided it would work, albeit with a significant challenge on getting cars in and out!
We’re On, Sort Of
Gradually our plans migrated west, toward using National Trust land as the majority of the competition area; we had already been talking to NT who were very supportive. We still needed to extend the area to the east of the NT land north of the A5, and I approached RWE who were supportive subject to their tenant’s agreement, which I then obtained.
We are not the only people who wish to access these areas and for many, especially in North Wales, they are permanent place of work and livelihood which can be disrupted by temporary influxes of visitors. As with other beautiful, wild but delicate areas, subject to regular use by other events, there is the potential for friction. Mindful of this (and hoping to be invited back one day!), there were several Out of Bounds areas on the map to reduce the possibility of any conflict but did pose a challenge to the course planning.
A Place to Call HQ
We still didn’t have an Event Centre so I explored a few options on the NW of the map, but was turned down on each. Then my contact at NT suggested Tan-y-garth so Stuart and I went along to evaluate. We decided it would work, albeit with a significant challenge on getting cars in and out! We agreed a deal with Richard Temple-Morris.
Meanwhile NT had suggested that their fields in Ogwen Valley could be used, and when Stuart and I visited we were blown away – a fantastic location for the O/N site with magnificent views, yet only a couple of hundred meters from the A5. The event was on.
Graham then had the challenge of course planning around the limitation of the OOB areas and from all the feedback I’ve heard and seen its agreed that he did a magnificent job.
I recruited a small army of local runners, mainly from Eryri Harriers to go out on Sunday afternoon; they did a great job and we had every control in on Sunday evening
Hill Team & Marshalls
The event benefits from the support of an army of volunteers – some of you (Orienteers) may have read the article that I wrote for Compass Sport magazine after last year’s event. My team of volunteers is the Hill Team and I would like to commend them for their efforts. In June we spent 4 days checking and validating the control locations and the map, which also enabled us to consider some of the walls and fences to be negotiated. In the week leading up to the event the same team assisted the Planner and I in getting all the controls out and in the right place; a couple of them also built the stile that many of you will have used as you approached the O/N camp.
For the first time we didn’t have any marshals at controls. I’m sure that long-standing participants will have missed their warm welcome, but we decided that with the tracking system, and the publication of the availability of mobile signal, we didn’t need them for their safety role. One of the tasks that marshals have helped to fulfill is collection of controls after the event. Instead, I recruited a small army of local runners, mainly from Eryri Harriers to go out on Sunday afternoon; they did a great job and we had every control in on Sunday evening, so my great thanks to them.
Harvey Maps
Harvey Maps are always great for Hill Walking/Running but perhaps many of you who were first-timers won’t have experienced them before. I’ve seen some discussion around the use of 15m contour interval which is the Harvey standard. Harvey’s position, and I agree with them, is that a 15m CI shows the shape of mountainous land well without cluttering it up – they use form lines (contours) to indicate detailed shape where necessary. Another feature unique to Harvey’s is the use of black contours to indicate rocky ground – have another look at the map to spot where brown contour lines change to black.
Out Of Bounds and Uncrossable wall markings are there for a reason, and crossing them is likely to make access permission more difficult in future.
Mapping, Out of Bounds & Markings.
One of the good points about working with Harveys is the fact that we can make map changes when necessary. We identified a number of map corrections during our June Recce which were then made to the competition map. I know some were disappointed at the lack of names on the map but we arranged for them to be removed to avoid obscuring detail. We also chose to remove all height markings from the map in order to minimise the benefit of using an altimeter.
OOB and Uncrossable wall markings are there for a reason, and crossing them is likely to make access permission more difficult in future. The tracker system enables us to see all transgressions, and we have made those who did break these rules non-competitive in the results.
One team in particular may be more observant of these next time!
Finally, thanks to you, the competitors, for entering and making all of the hard work worthwhile. From the feedback I’ve seen most people enjoyed it.
I hope to see you all next year when we move north to Scotland.
Dave Chapman
What a fantastic area! The contrast between the runnable terrain of the northern Carneddau and the rocky southern area. The gentle slopes to the north and the steep descent to the A5 and then up onto the Glyders. The stunning beauty of the mountains; I remember many years ago seeing Tryfan for the first time whilst running the Glyder ridge from Pen-y-Pass and down to Llanberis, and deciding there and then that I had to scale it, probably adding 800m of ascent to my day, but what a mountain it is! I know that we didn’t give anyone that challenge, but I do hope that you can make a return journey in the future.
A Difficult Ask
In June 2021 we were approached by Plas y Brenin who wondered if we would be interested in re-running the 1971 race – they had found a report in their journals of the event. Our response was to suggest that we run the OMM in its current format with PyB as the Event Centre. A lot of discussion, land ownership exploration and outline planning followed, but it became clear that it wouldn’t work; an overnight camp at the right distance from the EC wasn’t available and some of the farmers were known to be reluctant.
We decided it would work, albeit with a significant challenge on getting cars in and out!
We’re On, Sort Of
Gradually our plans migrated west, toward using National Trust land as the majority of the competition area; we had already been talking to NT who were very supportive. We still needed to extend the area to the east of the NT land north of the A5, and I approached RWE who were supportive subject to their tenant’s agreement, which I then obtained.
We are not the only people who wish to access these areas and for many, especially in North Wales, they are permanent place of work and livelihood which can be disrupted by temporary influxes of visitors. As with other beautiful, wild but delicate areas, subject to regular use by other events, there is the potential for friction. Mindful of this (and hoping to be invited back one day!), there were several Out of Bounds areas on the map to reduce the possibility of any conflict but did pose a challenge to the course planning.
A Place to Call HQ
We still didn’t have an Event Centre so I explored a few options on the NW of the map, but was turned down on each. Then my contact at NT suggested Tan-y-garth so Stuart and I went along to evaluate. We decided it would work, albeit with a significant challenge on getting cars in and out! We agreed a deal with Richard Temple-Morris.
Meanwhile NT had suggested that their fields in Ogwen Valley could be used, and when Stuart and I visited we were blown away – a fantastic location for the O/N site with magnificent views, yet only a couple of hundred meters from the A5. The event was on.
Graham then had the challenge of course planning around the limitation of the OOB areas and from all the feedback I’ve heard and seen its agreed that he did a magnificent job.
I recruited a small army of local runners, mainly from Eryri Harriers to go out on Sunday afternoon; they did a great job and we had every control in on Sunday evening
Hill Team & Marshalls
The event benefits from the support of an army of volunteers – some of you (Orienteers) may have read the article that I wrote for Compass Sport magazine after last year’s event. My team of volunteers is the Hill Team and I would like to commend them for their efforts. In June we spent 4 days checking and validating the control locations and the map, which also enabled us to consider some of the walls and fences to be negotiated. In the week leading up to the event the same team assisted the Planner and I in getting all the controls out and in the right place; a couple of them also built the stile that many of you will have used as you approached the O/N camp.
For the first time we didn’t have any marshals at controls. I’m sure that long-standing participants will have missed their warm welcome, but we decided that with the tracking system, and the publication of the availability of mobile signal, we didn’t need them for their safety role. One of the tasks that marshals have helped to fulfill is collection of controls after the event. Instead, I recruited a small army of local runners, mainly from Eryri Harriers to go out on Sunday afternoon; they did a great job and we had every control in on Sunday evening, so my great thanks to them.
Harvey Maps
Harvey Maps are always great for Hill Walking/Running but perhaps many of you who were first-timers won’t have experienced them before. I’ve seen some discussion around the use of 15m contour interval which is the Harvey standard. Harvey’s position, and I agree with them, is that a 15m CI shows the shape of mountainous land well without cluttering it up – they use form lines (contours) to indicate detailed shape where necessary. Another feature unique to Harvey’s is the use of black contours to indicate rocky ground – have another look at the map to spot where brown contour lines change to black.
Out Of Bounds and Uncrossable wall markings are there for a reason, and crossing them is likely to make access permission more difficult in future.
Mapping, Out of Bounds & Markings.
One of the good points about working with Harveys is the fact that we can make map changes when necessary. We identified a number of map corrections during our June Recce which were then made to the competition map. I know some were disappointed at the lack of names on the map but we arranged for them to be removed to avoid obscuring detail. We also chose to remove all height markings from the map in order to minimise the benefit of using an altimeter.
OOB and Uncrossable wall markings are there for a reason, and crossing them is likely to make access permission more difficult in future. The tracker system enables us to see all transgressions, and we have made those who did break these rules non-competitive in the results.
One team in particular may be more observant of these next time!
Finally, thanks to you, the competitors, for entering and making all of the hard work worthwhile. From the feedback I’ve seen most people enjoyed it.
I hope to see you all next year when we move north to Scotland.
Dave Chapman
Dave Chapman completed his first OMM (then KIMM) in 1977, going on to complete 26 of 28 started. Since then, Dave has been Race Director for 10 years, after serving his apprenticeship, making him a proud member of the OMM 40 Year Club. In his time on the Hill Team, he has negotiated some of the most challenging access agreements yet, allowing competitor's access to previously unexplored race territory.
Dave Chapman completed his first OMM (then KIMM) in 1977, going on to complete 26 of 28 started. Since then, Dave has been Race Director for 10 years, after serving his apprenticeship, making him a proud member of the OMM 40 Year Club. In his time on the Hill Team, he has negotiated some of the most challenging access agreements yet, allowing competitor's access to previously unexplored race territory.
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