Many thanks to all who filled out the mapping surveys. The two surveys were filled out by about 25 club members, most of whom identified as committed member who are serious about our maps, tend to run the expert courses, and support the club by volunteering and donating to its efforts.
I won’t spend a lot of time breaking down the data, since the results were fairly clear. I’m happy to share the results with anyone who really wants to inspect them.
My conclusions are pretty straightforward:
- Almost all club members feel that the volunteer mapping efforts are sufficient for our needs (11 of 16 who answered that question think we should not spend money on professional maps). Club members are generally well satisfied with our maps (professional and volunteer-made), but believe that updates, particularly of trails and vegetation, are warranted.
- Everyone (14 of 14) supports the idea of paying to acquire LiDAR data to aid in the production of club maps and there is strong support for further upgrades to digital timing (rated as a higher priority than hiring mappers).
- Without question, those who took the survey identified the FNBP as the map most in need of revision (17 out of 22 who answered the question).
- There was no real consensus on which areas should be newly mapped. The winner was an expansion of the Ruth Arcand map (12 out of 22 responses), but many other maps were identified as being desirable. A number of club members made pointed comments that mapping areas far from Anchorage are unlikely to be heavily used.
- Members unanimously support the purchase of fancy Belgian beer for volunteer cartographers!
Another mapping note: I have posted a series of four videos on the club’s new YouTube channel (Search “Arctic Orienteering”). These videos demonstrate how you can collect and contribute data using your phone to revise our existing maps. I encourage you to check out the videos and the channel (created by youth orienteer Springer Moore!). We have plans to post more to it.
–Dorn Van Dommelen