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Occassional thoughts about orienteering


Monday, January 03, 2005

H is for H-towns

 

Part of the fun of working my way through the alphabet A-to-Z is getting stuck. What should I do for H. Harriman seemed obvious. But, obvious isn't always the most fun.

Driving home a few minutes ago, watching a cold drizzle fall and wondering when the ice storm will hit, I came up with an "H" -- H-towns: Halden, Hamilton and Houston.

Halden. Wouldn't it be great to live there? Great terrain and maps surrounding the city (and here are some more maps). The strongest elite club in the world, at least for the last few years.

Hamilton. If I were a young and ambitious orienteer and wanted to reach my best, but didn't want to move to Europe, I'd try to move to Hamilton. It looks like the best place for a serious orienteer in North America. Take a look at the GHO "High Performance Program." Do any other North American clubs take training this seriously? The club looks well organized and active. The terrain is varied and interesting (take a look at some samples here).

Houston? What is Houston doing in this list? Aside from beginning with the letter "H", I think Houston has something else in common with Halden and Hamilton. A well organized O' program. The La Porte High School program is, as far as I can tell, the best organized high school program in the U.S. (and probably one of the best organized O' clubs in the U.S.). The La Porte program's success is remarkable given the complete lack of decent terrain. La Porte has demonstrated, I think, how much organization and effort matter.

posted by Michael | 7:54 PM

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