Compass Sport Cup & Trophy - The TrossachsSun 22 Feb

Parking - on hard standing at Loch Katrine pier using the normal public car park. Parking is charged at the usual rate, with payment by cash or card. Parking rates as of end December 2025 included tarriffs of £5 for 4 hours or £8 for 8 hours.

Please be aware that the Dukes Pass Road from Aberfoyle north to the event, although the most scenic of routes, may not be gritted during the winter months and is liable to closure.

World Class Trossachs terrain. 

The Trossachs is one of Britain's very best orienteering areas, offering a notable physical and technical challenge with lots of rock and much intricate contour detail on steep slopes.

The forest is natural deciduous woodland, with open and semi-open areas.  There is generally heather underfoot, though some valley bottoms are grassy. There are many marshes, crags and boulders.  The terrain is steep, with complex contours.  The high points of the area being used are about 300m above the road level. For maximum grip, competitors are recommended to wear footwear with a good deep stud pattern.

There are a number of marsh areas that are marked out of bounds on competitors maps which must be respected. This is a condition of our use of the area. Anyone entering the OOB will be disqualified. The OOB areas offer slower running than the surrounding forest in any case.

There are almost no distinctive paths or tracks, however there are indistinct animal trails (deer) which are of course not mapped but which may offer better running.
Brand new LIDAR map by legendary mapper Martin Bagness. 

Scale: will be 1:7,500 or 1:10,000 depending on the course per table below. ISOM. 5m contours.

Standard Compass Sport Cup courses.

Near-final course lengths and climb as of 8th February. The courses will be amongst the most physically and technically demanding in the UK.

Competitors on the Orange course (10) should be aware that the Trossachs is rugged terrain with very few normal line features to follow. We have therefore had to use overhead wires, streams, edges of marshes, and lines of crags as line features on these courses; and where there are no line features at all there will be red/white tapes to follow between controls on some legs. You can get a good idea of what will be involved by looking at Routegadget from the last SOL held here. 

Children/Big Kids - Free string course and a few sprint type courses in the enclosed glamping pod area which will be adjacent to the finish. Different courses than the Saturday to keep things interesting :-)

Read more about Course lengths and Difficulty here

Pre Entries have closed. We have around 2 maps left for each course for Entry On the Day (as of 18th Feb @8.29pm). Best to email email hidden; JavaScript is required if you want to reserve a map. It will be fiddly to offer start times in the middle of the day so EODers will likely be started at either c1030 or c1230 (balancing club allocation where we can).

Starts

• Start Times will be 1030-1230. Start times have been allocated by club captains. Start times will be on the web by 2359 on Wednesday 18th February. Any start times on SI entries before this time are DRAFT.
• There will be two starts. The routes to both starts head South out of the car park and are common for the first c0.7km before they branch off. Routes to both starts involve walking along the access road to the pier and therefore Under 16s (on the day of event) must be supervised by a parent or guardian to the start.
• WEST START: Courses 1-3. c1.6km from assembly, pretty flat on good surface. -4 minute call up
• EAST START: Courses 4-10. c1.5km from assembly on good tracks with c30m climb to a PRE-START. Runners will be called up at -12minutes at the PRE-START. There will then be a further 0.3km and 15m climb taped route through terrain to the EAST START where there will be the traditional -4 minute call up.
• Competitors must punch the start unit before picking up their map.

Punching

• SI Air will be activated.
• Note that some controls may not be "woken up" in SI Air mode on Sunday morning by the organising team (we may be too tired from day before to trudge around kms of the Trossachs). Therefore if you are an early starter you may need to physically insert your dibber into the punch rather than swipe. (FYI all controls will be "woken up" on Saturday).

Finish

• There will be a single finish c250m from assembly (same finish as Saturday).
• Competitors must punch the finish unit (it will not be in SI "Air" mode)
• Unfortunately there is no space for club flags or tents at the finish (or assembly). Better to gather around the cafe / download / enquiries etc.
• Competitors should clean their shoes in the trough provided after the finish
• Courses close at 1445, all competitors MUST report to Download in assembly promptly after returning from their run

• Enquiries - located indoors in the Steamship cafe. Will include SI hire pick up, car key drop off etc
• Cafe - Steamship cafe will be open and keen for your custom with extra staff being laid on for hungry/(cold?) orienteers. The cafe runs a wholesome but efficient menu which is linked from here, with toasties, soup, fish & chips, hot drinks etc. Please do support the cafe which is run by the Walter Scott Steamship charity who have been instrumental in supporting this event.
• Toilets - we will be using the existing toilets provided by the pier/Sir Walter Scott Steamship . Plenty of toilets.

Competitors take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety.This is high, mountainous terrain. There are many high crags across the area and competitors are strongly advised to take extra care and never attempt to ascend or descend crags.

Whistles:  Carrying a whistle is strongly recommended.  If you are injured and need assistance, the alarm signal is six long loud blasts, repeated after a one minute interval.

Bad weather:   Please wear adequate clothing for the conditions.  In the event of bad weather, the Organiser may require competitors to have some or all of:

• waterproof jacket with a hood,
• hat/buff and gloves
• waterproof trousers 

If severe weather conditions occur or are forecast to occur, the Organiser may decide to postpone the event; if so, a notice will be placed on the club's website.

Safety bearing:  If you get completely lost, then follow valleys downhill to the public road that leads to Loch Katrine pier.  

Travelling Alone: As an additional safety check, competitors who are travelling alone are encouraged to leave their car keys at Registration (in a named envelope) whilst they are out running their course.

First Aid: There will be First Aid available at enquiries.  The nearest hospital is Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Stirling Road, Larbert, FK5 4WR.