Kainuu Orienteering Week - an immersive orienteering and holiday week in Kainuu at Joutenlampi, Kajaani
Published: 21.02.2024
Orienteer through stunning terrains and breathtaking landscapes using top-class orienteering maps during the upcoming summer's Kainuu Orienteering Week at Joutenlampi, Kajaani, from June 30 to July 5, 2024. Both recreational orienteers and elite orienteers can enjoy the diverse terrains of Joutenlampi's pine forest and moor-terrain areas simultaneously. The rest days can be spent orienteering or exploring the extensive program offerings in Kainuu and Kajaani.
Photo: Summer atmosphere in Joutenlampi.
"Next summer's Kainuu Orienteering Week competition centre is situated in the midst of one of Finland's broadest moor-terrains transferred to orienteering maps. Another characteristic feature of Joutenlampi's orienteering arena includes fast-paced lichen-covered heaths with ridge formations. Elevation differences are significant – orienteers should consider the deepest kettle holes and steepest ridge slopes in route choices. Crystal-clear ponds and bright pine forests glimpsed from the middle of the heath landscapes leave their mark on the natural beauty of the region. Further away, strategically planned for the longest routes, denser and more challenging forest types can be found," describes Pasi Jokelainen, a map expert from Mapline Oy, in our article published in the fall of 2023.
Photo: The competition centre at Kainuu Orienteering Week offers comprehensive services, including a restaurant with nourishing home-cooked lunches, café treats, grilled dishes, daily changing soup specials, a delicacy point, and traditional delicious meter-long licorices from the Kainuu O Week shop selection.
Versatile orienteering routes for open courses (recreational orienteers)
Kainuu Orienteering Week's open courses categories offer something for everyone, whether it's families, children, youth, beginners, recreational orienteers, competition categories or elite orienteers.
Photo: The family orienteering route (Family-RR) can be orienteered by the entire family or group together. In the Family-RR category, each member of the group receives their own orienteering map and one shared Emit punching card.
– Next summer, Kajaani's Joutenlampi is a dream terrain for orienteers, enabling the planning of routes suitable for orienteers of all ages and skill levels, adds Jokelainen.
Kainuu Orienteering Week 2024 open courses, categories/routes
| Categories: | Scale | Skill level | Distance |
|
A long |
1:10000 | Hard | 8,5 km |
| A middle | 1:10000 | Hard | 6,0 km |
| A short | 1:7500 | Hard | 4,5 km |
| B long | 1:10000 | Medium | 6,0 km |
| B middle | 1:10000 | Medium | 4,5 km |
| B short | 1:7500 | Medium | 3,5 km |
| C long | 1:10000 | Easy | 4,5 km |
| C short | 1:7500 | Very easy | 2,3 km |
| Family-RR / Open-RR* | 1:10000 | Marked route | 1,8 km |
| Activity route** |
Marked route |
0,5-1 km |
* Participation fee includes maps for the whole family and one Emit card. The route is the same as in the H/D8RR categories. The entire family/group can orienteer with the same participation fee.
** In adventure track, participants receive a small prize each competition day. The entire family/group can orienteer with the same participation fee.
Chief of competition Jarmo Kämäräinen is pleased that the KOW2024 Orienteering Week offers versatile and fast-paced orienteering tasks in swift terrains for both open courses and competition categories.
– Route choices and smooth orienteering at high speeds play a significant role, says Kämäräinen.
Explore and learn more about Kainuu O Week’s open courses on our website, where we also showcase sample routes from different categories using map examples.
Photo: During the Kainuu Orienteering Week's recreational orienteering week, there is an extensive selection of various-level and length open courses recreational routes.
Finland's orienteering elite converges at Joutenlampi
In conjunction with the 56th Kainuu Orienteering Week, the Finnish national team's EM qualification competitions and the World University Orienteering Championships qualification competitions will be held. In practice, this means that almost the entire elite of Finnish orienteering will compete to prove their excellence during the Kainuu Orienteering Week.
– The qualification competitions will take place in the H/D21E elite categories in connection with the first three stages on Sunday, June 30, Tuesday, July 2, and Thursday, July 4, says Jukka Liuha, the event's secretary general. We believe that quite a few elites will also enjoy the last race on Friday, July 5, because there is a total of €9,000 in prize money for the main categories, Liuha anticipates.
The winner of both main categories, H21E (men) and D21E (women), in the Kainuu Orienteering Week 2024 will receive €2,500, the second-placed €1,250, and the third-placed €750.
– Kainuu Orienteering Week can be described as an orienteering event where both beginners and elite orienteers run in the same terrains and partly on the same control points, says Liuha.
Photo: Eetu Savolainen won the men's H21E elite category at last year's Kainuu Orienteering Week in Jämäsvaara, Kuhmo.
A wealth of options in the Orienteering Week program
The Kainuu Trail – trail running event in the Hossa National Park kicks off the Kainuu O Week event week on Saturday, June 29. Trail runners can enjoy the magical landscapes and delightful needle paths of Hossa National Park on routes of 10, 21, 38, 55, and 78 kilometers. There is also a youth category for 12–17-year-olds on the 10-kilometer route.
Photo: On the 55 and 78-kilometer routes of the Kainuu Trail, you get to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the Julma-Ölkky canyon.
In connection with the Kainuu Orienteering Week, the third Kainuu MTBO Week will be organized for the entire week, starting with the Finnish Championships competition in Kajaani's Vimpeli on Sunday, June 30. Nearly all of Finland's top MTB orienteers are expected to attend. The Kainuu MTBO Week also offers recreational orienteering in open courses categories, allowing participants to try the sport with low standards of entry.
Photo: The Kainuu MTBO Week offers a full-service mountain bike orienteering week for both competitors and open courses cyclists.
During the Kainuu Orienteering Week, there is also an open sprint orienteering event on Monday, July 1, and various orienteering events on rest days, which can be explored further on our other things to do website.
For those hungry for culture and other events, there is a comprehensive package – legendary dances at Naapurinvaaran Huvikeskus during rest days, Kainuu Orienteering Week horse racing at Kainuu Horse Race centre, Kajaani Market Street, Kajaani Poetry Week, and the Kajaani Fest live festival with top artists over the weekend.
Photo: Kajaani Market Street is part of Kajaani's regular summer program, attracting a steady flow of visitors.
Welcome to spend your summer vacation in Kainuu and Kajaani for orienteering, relaxation, and leisurely enjoyment!
The next cheaper entry step will be closed on 29th February at 23:59,59.
