Report from Afar – Lagganlia 2000

In the second week of the summer holidays, 2 junior orienteers from every region in the UK made their way by train, to Aviemore. I started my journey at Kings Cross in London. I got on the train early in the morning and got off again at Edinburgh to change trains. We then took another train, taking us all the way to Aviemore. Once in Aviemore we were collected in the minibuses to be taken to Lagganlia where we would stay for a week. When we arrived at Lagganlia, it was raining! All the boys in our minibus departed through the rain to our accommodation (a wooden hut). After finding out which one of the two rooms we were to stay in, we unpacked our things and went over to the main hut where we had dinner and discussed plans for the week. After Keith Marsdon (SEJS) had explained about who’s who and what’s what we went over to our hut and went to bed. The next day we were awoken by David Nixon who was staying in our hut.

The week’s plan was as follows:

Sunday	Lagganlia	Compass Exercise
Sunday and Monday morning (3x ½ day sessions)	Inshriach	Control Visualisation & Control Pick
		Line Course & Attack points
		Timed Runs & Compass Exercise
Monday Afternoon	Strathmashie	One man relay
Tuesday	Craigbui	Simplification, Compass and Pacing & Attack Points
Wednesday	Anagach	Control Flow, Attack Points & Route Choice
		Rest Afternoon
Thursday	Docharn	Relocation & Short Course
		Short Race
Friday	Insriach	Classic Race
		3 man relay

At the end of the week everyone was exhausted and I for one learned a lot. Lagganlia 2000 was well worth the effort and the organisation. Whilst we were there we made some new friends and also learned new techniques to help us to become the best orienteers in England. I think more tours like this should be held because it makes you see how others are orienteering as well as yourself.

Finally I would like to thank everyone who helped on the tour to make it a really good and exciting week.

Josh Jenner (CHIG)