Details

Events

There are 3 competitive events at this Rogaine:

    • Pyrenees Ponder 24hr rogaine = Australasian Rogaining Championships 24hr (ARC22)
    • Pyrenees Ponder Non-Championships 6-hour rogaine (Pyrenees Ponder 6hr = PP6)
    • Intervarsity Championships for full and part time university students (24hr) – see below

Location

The Pyrenees Ranges

Nearest Towns:   Avoca (30km, 25min)
St Arnaud (70km, 50mins)
Ballarat (100km, 70mins)

www.visitpyrenees.com.au
Avoca Visitor Info Centre,
email: aic@pyrenees.vic.gov.au

Accommodation

There are no permanent accommodation options at the Hash House. Free bush camping is available on the Hash House site, with the nearest town amenities in Avoca, St Arnaud or Ballarat.

There are no permanent accommodation options at the Hash House. Free bush camping is available on the Hash House site, with the nearest town amenities in Avoca, St Arnaud or Ballarat.

Camping

Free bush camping is available on the field at the Hash House site. Toilets and water facilities, along with communal tents (for eating) available at the Hash House. You may camp overnight at the HH on these dates

    • Friday 7 Oct
    • Saturday 8 Oct (24hr +6hr event date)
    • Sunday 9 Oct

Facilities

  • Hash House with various amenities including fresh water, toilets and catering
  • All Night Cafe, provided at the far end of the course with food, drinks for competitors in the 24hr event

Schedule

Friday 30th September 2022

    • Entries close. You can no longer enter the event after this date.
    • Final Instructions available, confirming event details, schedule, mandatory gear requirements.

Friday 7th October 2022

    • 12:00pm (noon) Camping area open (24hr + 6hr entrants)
    • 2:00pm Bus pick-up (Melbourne CBD at Southern Cross Station)
    • 2:30pm Bus pick-up (Melbourne Tullamarine Airport) – 2.5hrs to site
    • 5:30pm Estimated bus arrival time
    • 5:00-8:00pm Admin/Registration open
    • 7:00-9:00pm Dinner (optional extra + volunteers) [Hash House]

Saturday 8th October 2022

    • 7:00am Admin Opens (queries, breakfast, etc)
    • 7:00-8:30am  Breakfast (optional extra + volunteers) [Hash House]
    • 9:00am 24hr Registration opens, maps issued
    • 10:00am 6hr Registration opens
    • 11:45am  Mandatory Event Briefing – all events [Hash House]
    • 12:00pm (noon) Event start – all events (Hash House)
    • 4:00pm  Hash House catering opens (Hash House)
    • 6:00pm 6 hour Rogaine finish – (Hash House)
    • 6:30pm  6 hour Rogaine awards and presentation
    • 10:00pm All Nite Cafe (ANC) opens for 24hr entrants (open 10pm Sat – 6am Sun)

Sunday 9th October 2022

    • 7:00-8:30am  Breakfast (volunteers only) (Hash House)
    • 11:00am  Hash House opens for lunch
    • 12:00pm (noon) 24 hour Championships event finish
    • 1:00pm  Championships Awards and Presentations
    • 2:30pm Bus departs for Melbourne (Hash House)
    • 3:00pm  Hash House site closes
    • 5:30pm Estimated bus arrival at Airport
    • 6:00pm Estimated bus arrival at Southern Cross Station

Environment

    • Weather in October is usually cool and dry.
    • Average temperatures: 6 – 20°C
    • Average Rainfall in October: 48.1mm, 7 days of rain
    • Sunset and Sunrise: 7:35pm and 6:50am
    • Full Moon: Mon 10th October 2022 at 7:45am
    • Moonrise and Moonset: 5:48pm and 6:36am

Map

The Rogaine map is at 1:30,000 scale with 10-meter contours. It is aligned to magnetic north, with magnetic north-south lines at 1km intervals.

Map size is A1 and will be printed on:

    • 24hr event = Pretex (waterproof) paper
    • 6hr event = Pretex (waterproof) paper

Mandatory Gear

Each team member is required to carry:

    • Compass
    • Whistle
    • Headlamp or torch

Each team is required to carry:

    • First Aid Kit
    • Mobile Phone

The team first aid kit must include

    • 1 heavyweight compression bandage for snakebite
    • 1 roller bandage
    • 1 triangular bandage (or blood absorbent cotton pads)
    • Sticking plaster
    • VRA first aid instruction sheet

Travel

The Hash House site is on private land in Warrenmang, Victoria.

This is approximately 25km west of Avoca, Victoria. It is a comfortable 2.5 hour drive from Melbourne on freeway. The most direct route is via the M8 Western Freeway to Ballarat, then B220 Sunraysia Hwy to Avoca, with the last 3km on a good gravel track.

Detailed travel instructions and the location of the Hash House will be included in the Final Instructions posted to the website one week before the event.

Transport Options

International and Interstate Flights:

Flights: Melbourne has two airports providing connections: Melbourne Tullamarine Airport and Avalon Airport. The VRA recommends that entrants fly into Melbourne Tullamarine airport due to greater facilities, flights and rental vehicles available.

Vehicle: the Hash House site is accessible by private or rental vehicle. Rental vehicles are available from Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, with the Hash House approximately 2.5 hrs drive.

VRA Bus – must be booked in advance online at entry time. Departure from Southern Cross Railway Station (a main Melbourne railway station in the CBD) on Friday afternoon (times listed above), with an additional pickup point at Tullamarine Melbourne Airport. The bus has an estimated time of arrival at the Hash House at about 5.30 pm. If flying into Tullamarine, please arrive early to allow for flight delays etc, which is unfortunately a common Friday afternoon occurrence into/from Melbourne.

Intervarsity Championships

To participate in an Australian Intervarsity Rogaining Championships, students must be enrolled at a tertiary education institution recognised by UniSport Australia.

Teams consist of 2-5 students from the same university. Both part-time and full-time students are eligible. There is no age restriction, ie. under-graduate, mature age and post-graduate students qualify.

The Intervarsity rogaining competition began in 1969 and from 1981 was coordinated by the Australian Rogaining Association.

The Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation (NAMSF) sponsored the re-establishment of the Intervarsity competition in 2007. NAMSF has provided a perpetual trophy for the winning Intervarsity team named ‘The Nigel Aylott trophy’.

The Foundation has in the past paid the travel costs for one university team from each state so that there can be a well-represented national competition.

State Rogaining Associations are responsible for determining their own selection criteria for the NAMSF subsidies (ie. a single qualifying event, or a cumulative point score from multiple events, whether 24 hour or shorter qualifying events). However, for the purposes of the subsidy, preference must be given to under-graduate full time students.

Entrants should contact their state rogaining association as soon as possible for details about their selection process for the state representative team.

Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation

NAMSF is the Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation, set up in memory of Nigel to encourage engagement in the outdoor sports of rogaining and adventure racing.

NAMSF activities may include the following:

  1. Promoting outdoor sports, health, safety, enjoyment and fitness, particularly supporting participation in Australian rogaining and adventure racing;
  2. Payments and distributions towards team travel expenses for participation in rogaining and adventure racing events;
  3. Subsiding and funding mini-adventure sports races and rogaines for young novices;
  4. Organising, subsidising and funding training sessions and coaching clinics for skill development in skills related to rogaining and adventure racing;
  5. Promotion of safety in rogaining and adventure racing by encouraging the worldwide application of safety audits and standards for developing and conducting events;
  6. Distributions, funding and grants to other organisations for projects or activities that meet the purposes of the Association.

Who was Nigel Aylott
Nigel Aylott showed some talent as a long-distance runner at school but at university got into the full range of outdoor activities available through the Monash BushWalking Club, which included skiing, kayaking, and rogaining. As his endurance and navigation skill developed, so did his success at rogaining, eventually winning the World Rogaining Championships in 1998 and the Australian Rogaining Championships in 2000 and 2001.

As adventure racing developed, Nigel saw it as the natural progression from long-distance running and rogaining. He loved experiencing the different locations in which the adventure races were set. Nigel competed in several Southern Traverse and EcoChallenge events before teaming up with Tom Landon-Smith, Alina McMaster, and Matt Dalziel to form the successful team AROC. Nigel was tragically killed in the 2004 Primal Quest race after being hit by a large boulder dislodged at the top of a gully.

Nigel was highly regarded in the community and friends encouraged Nigel’s family to set up this foundation to leave a legacy by supporting the sports Nigel loved and gave so much to.

Final Instructions

Our final event instructions will be made available on the Rogaining Victoria website and emailed on Friday 30th September (one week before the event).

The Final Instructions contain an event waiver and confirm all event details, the location of the Hash house and directions, mandatory gear requirements, start times, and any last-minute changes.