The Arctic Orienteering Club is excited to announce the third Arctic Orienteering Festival! Please Join us for 3 days of spectacular Alaska orienteering and experience the long summer days in a land of rugged beauty!
About
The Arctic Orienteering Club is the premier (well only) orienteering club in Alaska. Located in Anchorage Alaska, we host about 20 events per year, that often see upwards of 100 participants per event. Find out more about us on our website https://oalaska.org.
Our goals for the Alaska Orienteering Festival are
- Have as much fun as we did last year!
- Gain more experience hosting a National Ranking Event.
- Introduce orienteers from outside Alaska to our excellent orienteering venues.
General Info
Overview
The first event is on Thursday evening (June 25, 2026) in Anchorage. It’s a sprint on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and surrounding parkland which provides a mix of urban and forrested terrain. We typically offer options for a short course and a long course at our sprints. Think great spectating and exciting competitor interaction!
The Saturday (June 27, 2026) event will be at Mirror Lake about 24 miles north of Anchorage. This classic forest event with White, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green, Red, and Blue courses features mostly open birch and spruce forest with lots of low ferns for ground cover. This is a National Ranking Event (NRE) sanctioned by OUSA..
The final event on (June 28, 2026) will be a long/extra long classic in a spectacular alpine venue. Use your medium to advanced navigation skills as you traverse the foothills, tundra, and ridges of the Chugach Mountains that overlook the city of Anchorage and the upper arm of the Cook Inlet. This is what Alaska orienteering is all about!
Cost
| Regular (thru June 18) |
Late (after June 18) |
|
|---|---|---|
| June 25 – UAA Sprint | $15 | $25 |
| June 27 – Mirror Lake NRE | $50 | $60 |
| June 28 – Chugach Mountains | $15 | $25 |
Arctic Orienteering Club season pass holders have the cost of regular registration covered by their pass. As always, children under 18 will not be charged an entry fee.
Electronic punch finger stick rental will be $5/day.
Start Times
We will not be assigning start times before the events. You can start as soon as there is an opening on your course (maintaining a minimum 2 minute interval).
Punching
All courses will use the SportIdent punching system. For Staturday’s event, we will be operating in beacon mode, so contactless punching will be supported, as well as standard punching. Due to technical difficulties, there will be no contactless (air) punching. We got a waiver from OUSA and punching will be done by inserting the SI finger stick into the control.
Standard (non-contactless) SportIdent cards (finger sticks) will be available for rent at each venue.
Weather
The weather in Alaska can be fantastic for orienteering. Even when sunny, it is rarely too hot for running in steep alpine terrain. However, the weather can also be fickle and sometimes downright nasty. Despite the conditions at the start of your race, you should be prepared for the weather to turn cold, wet, and windy while you are on the course. Hypothermia is always a concern in the alpine country of Alaska, and you need to be prepared for it.
Water
We will provide a limited amount of water at the start/finish area. There will be no treated water out on the course. Due to the generally cooler, wetter conditions in Alaska, most orienteers here do not need water during a race; however, you need to judge your own needs and bring water if you may need it on the course. We also encourage everyone to bring their own water in case we run out.
Wildlife
The good news is that there is a lot of cool wildlife in Alaska, and the chance of seeing something while here is high. More good news is that we do not have any snakes and other venomous terrors like scorpions. However, we do have an abundance of large furry mammals. Moose and bear encounters are possible on all of our courses; however, these animals prefer to be left alone and will typically leave you alone. The alpine country provides good visibility, so you are unlikely to surprise anyone, and you and the animal can give each other a wide berth. In the wooded areas, it is good to make noise and carry bear spray. We will have bear and moose awareness literature available at the start/finish area. There is also plenty of good information available online, and you are encouraged to do your homework and come prepared.
The other significant “wildlife” we contend with in Alaska is the mosquito (aka the state bird). The nuisance factor can range from 0 to unbearable (“I got eaten alive every time I slowed down to read my map”). Fortunately, the location and the time of year should make for a low mosquito factor, but this can’t be guaranteed. We will have a limited amount of insect repellent (we call it “bug dope”) at the start/finish area, but we recommend that you bring your own and carry some with you. If you sweat a lot you may need to re-apply.
Vegetation
The vegetation at our venues in Alaska can be challenging. Our maps use dark green to indicate heavy vegetation that is very difficult to travel through such as thick alders, painful devil’s club (see below), and dense mountain hemlock. However even our more “runnable” terrain has thicker vegetation underfoot.
Alaska has no poison ivy or poison oak, but some meadows and fields do have cow parsnip (aka hog weed), which can cause a rash when the toxin is activated by the sun after exposure to the skin. It is easy to spot and easy to avoid. It is harmless if a broken stem doesn’t contact bare skin. While not hazardous, devil’s club is the other noteworthy plant to avoid as the stems and undersides of the large leafs are very prickly. You are more likely to encounter these plants at the Mirror Lake and Chugach Mountains venues.
Schedule
Events will take place on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from June 25, 2026 to June 28, 2026. See the event program for details
Logistics
Useful information for visitors coming from out of state:
Getting Here
We recommend flying into the Anchorage International Airport and renting a car. The distance from the airport and the Saturday venue is about 30 miles. The the Thursday and Sunday venues are closer in town. It’s best to book early as hotel and rental car availability can be limited in the summer months.
Where to Stay
There are numerous lodging options in Anchorage to choose from, but book early as the summer months can be very popular.
Event Program
Details are subject to change.
Thursday, June 25th
Sprint at University of Alaska Anchorage
The University of Alaska Anchorage campus and surrounding parkland provides a mix of urban and forrested terrain. We plan to offer options for a short course and a long course.
- Starts will be every two minutes from 5pm until 7pm. Start times will not be pre-assigned, you should be able to start shortly after you check-in/register.
- There will be no contactless (air) punching at the sprint. All punching must be done by inserting the SI finger stick into the control.
- The start/finish area is on the West Quad of the UAA campus, just to the east of the Beatrice McDonald Hall (BMH).
- Parking on campus will be free for this event in West Parking Lot, which is just to the west of Wendy Williamson Auditorium (WWA).
- Please wear highly visible clothing since routes may cross campus roads.
We will have more course details published soon.
Saturday, June 27th
Classics at Mirror Lake
Come enjoy the beautiful forest running on a newly-expanded Mirror Lake map. Starting at the Girl Scouts’ Camp Singing Hills on the east side of the Glen Highway on Edmonds Lake, this National Ranking Event boasts white, yellow, orange, brown (short green), green, red and blue (long red) courses through open birch forest. Stick around afterward for the cookout at the finish area!
- There will be a 20 minute walk to a remote start for orange level courses and up. Arrive in plenty of time to park and register at the camp before walking to your start.
- Starts will be every two minutes from 12pm until 2pm. Start times will not be pre-assigned, you should be able to start shortly after you arrive at the remote start.
- All punching will be via inserting your SI stick into the control box. There will be no contactless punching.
- Consider your personal safety when deciding whether or not to bring bear spray, a snack, and/or water. Whistles are mandatory equipment.
- Stop and look both ways at road crossings to ensure your own safety.
- Come back by the course closing time of 5:00 and sign in whether you finish your course or not!
- Enjoy the after-party!
Course Setters Notes
Put down your salmon rod for a few hours Saturday and come look at your reflection in Mirror Lake for this year’s one and only National Ranking Event hosted at the Girl Scout’s Camp on the north shore of Edmunds Lake. We hope the image looking back at you will have a big smile on its face!
New Mapping!!
The already good running Mirror Lake map has been added to east of the highway and offers new and interesting terrain around the lakes and into the foothills of Chugach State Park. We will have 7 different courses set to National standards from a 2 kilometer White all the way up to a 9 kilometer Blue challenge. White and Yellow will stick to the extensive trail systems in and around the lakes while Orange through Blue will venture into the beautiful birch forests with challenging terrain features and surprisingly little downed timber or alder. Bring your repellent for bears, moose and mosquitoes. All have been sighted during set up.
Getting there and to the start
Take the Glen Highway north through Chugiak, get off at the Mirror Lake exit and follow the orienteering controls to the Girl Scout Camp. There is ample parking north of the main lodge and registration will be set up next to the lodge. Bring your finger sticks or get one at the registration table as we will be using electronic punching. Once registered White and Yellow have a 3 minute walk to their start area just up the hill east of the parking area. All other courses will have a remote start west of the Glen Hwy. It is a 1 kilometer walk or drive back along the road you came in on to the overpass, there is some parking west of the overpass if you choose to drive it. Once west of the under pass, turn right at the Do Not Enter signs and pick up the flagged route down the embankment and west ½ kilometer into the forest. You will arrive at the hold area and be released to the actual start when your start time arrives. Walk over a small, hill get your map, clear and start, and be on your way to fun and adventure. All finishes are in front of the registration area at the Girl Scout lodge. Mark Findlay will be serving up burgers and hot dogs with condiments under the awning outside the lodge after the finish.
Vegetation and other features
Most of the area is new growth birch, evenly spaced with limited undergrowth and limited areas of high bush cranberry, rusty menziesia, elder berry, rose bushes and some devils club patches (mapped as green lines), vegetation mapping has been updated and is pretty accurate with a tendency toward less green showing than mapped. Alder thickets show up along utility corridors and in disturbed areas. We have tried to avoid the slow green areas to the best of our abilities, but you can find yourself in it if you don’t pay attention. The stream channels are old glacial remnants and contain large cobbles to the extent that the stream flow disappears into the rocks in some areas. Running and crossing these areas offers uneven footing at best. As is common in southcentral the yellow mapped open areas offer good visibility but terrible footing, choose carefully. There are a variety of man-made features marked as either black X, or O. These range from old cars, piles of abandoned tires, log structures, picnic tables, fire rings and tent platforms.
Sunday, June 28th
Mountain-O in the Chugach State Park
See the Chugach Front Range from all new angles as you navigate your way around its spectacular peaks, flowering alpine meadows and troll-sized boulders. Starting from Glen Alps parking lot, a short walk takes you to the enchanting start/finish area for a 10:00-11:00AM interval start on your “Short” or Long Course. This is what Alaska orienteering is all about!
Photos from club event in the Chugach Mountains August 2025
- Consider bringing bear spray, a jacket, a snack, and water or water filter.
- There will be a 10 minute bike or 20 minute jog or 30 minute walk to a remote start up the Powerline Trail. Ensure you leave the parking lot in time to start between 10 and 11:00 am.
- There is a $5 fee to park (payable by credit card at an on-site kiosk) if you do not have a Chugach State Park season pass.
- All punching will be via inserting your SI stick into the control box. There will be no contactless punching.
- Consider your personal safety when deciding whether or not to bring bear spray, a jacket, a snack, and water/water filter.
- Whistles are mandatory equipment.
- Come back to the start/finish area by the course closing time of 4:00 pm and sign in whether you finish your course or not!
- Stick around to discuss your route choices and cheer for other finishers!
Registration
Registration with EventReg is encouraged, but on site registration will also be available. When registering with EventReg, the E-Punch Number is the number on your ePunch finger stick. If you do not have an finger stick, you will need to select the rental option during registration. Preregistration guarantees that we will have a map available for the courses you select. We will only have a limited number of extra maps for those that choose to register on site. You can use event reg to change your course selection up until 2 days before the event.
Attention Arctic Orienteering Club:
- EventReg, considers your club affiliation to be “ARCTIC” not “AOC”.
- This year, the festival events are covered by the season pass. Enter the coupon code “PASS2026” to get the discount code when you register.
- If you use EventReg you will need to complete another online waiver in the registration process.
See who is coming.
Results
Festival Photos! Please share your festival photos to this album.
Live results will be available on SportIdent if we have cellular data. We will also upload results to LiveLox and the ArcticOrienteering website as soon as possible after an event is finished.
- Thursday June 25 Sprints UAA
- Saturday June 27 Classics NRE Mirror Lake
- Sunday June 28 Mountain-O Chugach State Park