Photo: Mike George 2007 Team Members US Events World Events Ski O’ Links

Team Information The 2007 World Ski-Orienteering Championships will be in the Moscow region of Russia starting February 23. In March 2006 we held a two-day team trial at Garnet Hill in New York and were pleased by the number who applied for spots on the team afterwards.  Interest was so strong that we were able to name alternates, a luxury indeed.  The United States will be sending its strongest team in at least a decade, with five veterans returning and three exciting newcomers. We’re already looking forward to the 2009 World Championships in Japan and hope that US skiers are thinking about them too. There’s a huge difference between international ski-orienteering and ski-orienteering in the United States. In the US, competitors are primarily foot-orienteers who take a stab at skiing, which means a good cross-country skier with moderate orienteering skills can dominate local competition and often medal at the US level. We tend to have our meets at the same cross-country centers year after year and the trail networks really aren’t that challenging. International ski-o, on the other hand, is in unfamiliar terrain, with complex networks of very narrow and often very steep trails, which have been created specifically for orienteering. While the bi-annual World Championships are for the elite, there are other World-level opportunities too.  The World Masters Championship is for skiers 35 and up and the World Juniors Championship is for 20 and under.  This year the Masters event is in Asarna, Sweden, the site of the 2004 World Champs, and the Juniors are in beautiful Salzburg, Austria.  We would encourage as many US athletes as possible to attend.  In fact, for skiers aspiring to membership on the A-team, the Juniors and Masters are excellent venues for tuning and showcasing your skills. 2007 United States Ski Orienteering Team : Men’s A Team Scott Pleban Alan Oprsal Greg Walker Carl Fey Alternates: Alt 1     Randy McGarvey Alt 2     Orlin Stanev Women’s A Team Sharon Crawford Alex Jospé Julie Raymond Candi Raines Alternate: Alt 1     Brenda Giese For more information about the US Ski-O team or participation in the World Masters or Juniors, please contact acting team manager Aims Coney (GlideXC@Yahoo.com).

Competition US Events CALENDAR (updated calendar coming soon)   World Events World Championships Krasnogorsk/Moscow region of Russia Feb. 23–March 3, 2007 World Masters Championship Asarna, Sweden, January 11-14, 2007 All skiers age 35 and older eligible, no limits Junior World Championship Salzburg, Austria, Feb. 11–18, 2007 W-17, M-17, W-20, M-20 All age-eligible US skiers are encouraged to attend US team credentials available   Related Links USOF Rules for Ski-O, Section E IOF Ski-O pages "Starting Cold," article about Ski-O "Get to Know Ski-O" article about Junior Ski-O Ski-O basics

Last Update: November 16, 2007 Back to USOF Home