Know your compass? Adventure race challenges adults, youth

    To help competitors prepare for the East Grand Adventure Race on Saturday, May 12, Outdoor Education Instructor Dave Conley offers the following advice to take a bearing in the field.
    To account for declination (which is the difference between magnetic north and true north), turn your dial until 17.5 degrees is lined up with the direction of travel arrow. Next, place your map on a surface free of interference from metal objects. With the bottom of the map closest to you, place the long edge of the compass on a longitude line (vertical line running true north and south), or on the line located on the right side edge of your map. Be sure south is toward the bottom (closest to you), and north is at the top of the map (away from you).
Photograph by Tammi Matula
PRACTICE RUN — East Grand students competed in Machias River Canoe Race last weekend. Taking first place in the Junior/Senior division were former outdoor ed student Alan McEwen and Philip Farley, while second place was Dave Conley and Chelsea Winiarski. In the High School division, Orono took the top two spots while East Grand’s Mitchell Bartlett and Kenneth Winiarski took third. McEwen of Danforth, stern, and Arthur Russell of Brookton, bow, take a practice run on Carrot Rips, Machias River the day prior to the canoe race.
    With the compass edge (long side), lined up on the longitude line, turn the whole map until the red end (magnetic north) of the floating needle lines up inside the Orienting Arrow. Be sure your compass edge does not move away from the longitude line when aligning the map. Your map is now lined up taking into account for declination.
    Be sure the map does not move even the slightest bit during this next part. Take your compass off the longitude line and place the long edge of the compass on the given direction of travel, point A to B.
    Now turn the dial until the red end of the magnetic needle is lined up exactly inside the orientating arrow. Read the degree number that is lined up with the direction of travel arrow, this is your degree and direction of travel, point A to point B. You can now put your map away and get ready to hike!
    Remember to check your compass from time to time and be sure that the red end of the magnetic needle is lined up inside the orienting arrow. If this is the case, then the direction of travel arrow is pointing in the direction you want to be moving!
    “At the race, you’ll be given a map with a starting point and a line drawn to the ending point  (A to B) where your bikes are located,” said Conley. “The compass hike is 1.5 miles long.”
    Conley is encouraging adults to take part in the Adventure Race.
    “This all new course is 20 miles and includes a 1.5-plus mile off-trail compass run (point A to point B); 10 miles of mountain biking on back woods roads and trails; 8.5 miles of canoeing on the Baskahegan Stream; an extra challenge or two along the way; and a climbing wall back at the school’s gym,” he said.
     Adults can enter as pairs in the men’s, women’s and mixed divisions. Another popular division adults can compete in is the Junior/Senior division with a teen 13 years or older.
    The open division allows for participants to take part by only doing one or more of the elements, explained Conley.
    “For example, the open division can be solo, teams of any size, relay, kayak or canoe,” he said. “In short, anything that doesn’t fit into the other divisions can compete in the open division.”
    High school divisions include boys, girls and mixed with a level of difficulty as the race will be physically challenging, Conley added. “It is not beyond the reach of those who are in reasonably good physical condition,” he said.
     The entry fee is $20 per person which includes trophies, T-shirts, lunch and over $1,000 in prizes for youth divisions. Registration deadline is Friday, May 11.
    For more information or to view pictures of last year’s race, view Bill Green’s coverage of this event. To download forms online, visit the school’s website at http://www.eastgrandschool.org/adventure-race or call race coordinator Conley at 551-8729.
    The event is hosted by the East Grand Outdoor Education program and sponsored in part by Ski Rack Sports of Bangor, the Woodie Wheaton Land Trust, and First Wind.