NEWS

Youth Camp Forum with OUSA – hear the COC Youth participants this Thursday (Sep. 25)

September 22, 2025 by

This July, three COC youth athletes – Finlay Rebbeck, Zoe Liu Coates, and Ally Liu Coates – joined 250 athletes from around the world at Silva O’Camp, an IOF-endorsed orienteering camp in the Czech Republic. They were supported by three US coaches, including COC’s own Training Coordinator, Caroline Sandbo.

The camp balanced serious training with plenty of fun. In the beautiful Czech forests, athletes tackled Memory-O, downhill courses, O-intervals, relays and race simulations, plus a sprint in the streets of Vidnava. Off the map, they cooled off with river dips, played endless card games, gathered around campfires, and joined in Olympic-style games, discos, and even a triathlon (swim, run, orienteer). Along the way, new international friendships were forged and the USA cabin was buzzing with laughter and camaraderie.

For young orienteers eager to grow their skills – whether aiming toward EYOC or JWOC qualification, or just wanting to combine summer-camp adventure with the sport they love – Silva O’Camp is an unforgettable experience. (Parents beware: once they go, they’ll almost certainly want to return!) And for those wondering about costs: the camp itself is quite reasonable – travel is the biggest expense.

You can read more about the experience on the OUSA site. Even better, hear directly from athletes and coaches at the OUSA Forum this Thursday September 25 at 5:30pm PT, via Google Meet.

Corn Maze!! – Registration will close today Thursday at midnight

September 11, 2025 by

Registration will close tonight Thursday Sep. 11 for the Corn Maze. The event will be this Sunday morning at Bob’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Farm in Snohomish. There is NO day-of-event registration for this event. We’re trying to expedite the check-in process and stay on schedule since we need to be completely out of the maze by 10:00am. Event info page here. Online pre-registration here. This is the favorite event of many and you don’t want to miss it!

Shopping Cart Feature Added to Cascade OC’s Public Registration

August 6, 2025 by

You asked for it and you got it! Thanks to everyone who filled out the surveys we sent out after every Winter League meet last season.  We heard you loud and clear on the request for a shopping cart when registering for multiple events or registering multiple family members for an event. Thanks to the programming work of the amazing Peter Golde, we have added that feature to our Public Registration. When you select pay with credit or debit card you will get the screen shown and you should now notice a “Continue Shopping” button at the bottom.  Thanks for the feedback and a huge thanks to Peter for making it happen!

Drive with pride displaying Cascade Orienteering Club

August 3, 2025 by

Help give Cascade OC more visibility as you drive around. These magnetic signs are Letter-sized, 8.5 x 11 inches, and cost $10. If you are interested in buying a sign for your car—or fridge!—email info@cascadeoc.com or contact Ing. Limited supply so act fast.

Help Us Grow Cascade Orienteering!

July 12, 2025 by

Ever wonder how we’re able to put on 30+ orienteering events per year, of different types, across all seasons, for thousands of participants without any paid employees? It’s thanks to a HUGE number of volunteers—both in the one-day roles of helping to run each event function and in the larger roles behind the scenes that make entire seasons happen.

And right now… We’re short of leadership volunteers in two critical roles:

1. Equipment Coordinator. This is the person who makes sure that our equipment in our locker in Kenmore is ready for the next series. Everything from tent canopies to first aid. Does anything need fixing, replacement, or restocking.

    • Our prior Equipment Coordinators have moved on to other substantial volunteer roles, so we have an urgent gap that needs filling ASAP.
    • Even if you’re not ready to make a role commitment, now while the weather is good is an excellent time for someone to announce and lead a one afternoon tent-cleaning/fixing party opportunity to get us all set for the equipment-heavy Winter League season. Otherwise, we’re not ready!

2. Series Director. All our series—Winter League, Ultimate Orienteer, Weds Evening, Choose Your Adventure, and (recently) Winter Wednesdays—already have directors leading them. So why are we looking for new series directors? Because these are all great sets of events that deserve sustainability over time, and that means succession planning.

    • That also makes now the best time to get involved in series directing, when there’s still someone else in charge to shadow to make the learning curve so much easier.
    • A series director decides where to have meets and works with the rest of the amazing team members—land permissions, mapping, course design, e-punch—to pull it all together. What series would you like to see continue and grow?

Interested? Contact me at bob.forgrave@flatbike.com.

Bob Forgrave
President, Cascade Orienteering

Next COC event is this Wednesday – Meadowbrook Park with a new map

July 7, 2025 by

The fourth event in the 2024 Wednesday Evening Series will be held at Meadowbrook Park on Wednesday July 9. This is a new map and courses by Mack Malloch.

The Wednesday Evening Series is our most relaxed and casual series of events, held in local parks around Puget Sound. We typically offer a barbeque afterward for all participants.

Events in the Wednesday Evening Series are generally less challenging (both physically and navigationally) than many of our other events, and are great for beginners and those less experienced with orienteering – while also offering a challenge to longtime participants of the sport.

Pre-registration is here and it will close Tuesday night at 9:00 PM. We will be offering day-of event registration in addition to pre-registration. There will be no start time pre-signup.

We will also have COC control description holders for $5 each.