| 2008-08-11 | Swimming I didn't find any notes in Rogaining rules about crossing rivers/lakes. |
| 2008-08-11 | In my interpretation of the rogaining rules swimming in the lake/river/ditch during the competition is not prohibited. (One could say that jumping off the cliff during the rogaine – the feet will also not touch the ground for a while – is also not prohibited.) However, it is strongly advisable not to do that! The water will not be warm! If you continue with the wet clothes, consider that nighttime temperatures may be low and you will face the risk of hypothermia. The course is planned so that crossing any lakes by swimming will not give any advantage. There are no major rivers on the competition terrain. However, there are some streams and a number of ditches. Some of the ditches are narrow and can be easily crossed, while others are wide and difficult to cross. Do not jump into a wide ditch! The bottom of the ditch may be muddy and you may be in a real danger. Look for trees fallen over the ditch or beaver dams. The main reason why some of the ditches are wide and filled with water is that beavers are active in this area. At the same time, beaver activity always means that there will be fallen trees (that’s what beavers do!) and beaver dams nearby. As the main rule – wider is the ditch, closer is the beaver dam. Nettles growing over the ditch – often a good indication of a beaver dam. Some of the beaver dams near controls have been mapped, but it has not been possible to map all the beaver dams and to indicate accurately the width of all ditches on the terrain of over 250 square kilometers. Therefore, depending on your route choice you may encounter some ditches which are difficult to cross. The amount of water in the ditches at the time of the event is rather sensitive to the amount of rain that will fall over the coming month. Last two weeks have been quite rainy! We will inform you about the general water level on the terrain just before the event. |
