From Alison Weston…

Nea and I took part in the Swiss version of the OMM this weekend, starting from Klosters. We entered the score class with 5 hours running each day.

It was a nice idea for all runners to get a cable car to the start but a storm came before everyone was up, and the cable car stopped running. We took shelter under a ski lift to wait, adding increasing number of layers, until the cable car re-started and the remainder of runners arrived.

Most of day one was above 2,200m on mainly rocky terrain with the controls in easy to spot places. We dithered a bit with route choice, as is usual with Nea and I, but overall were pretty happy with our day one score. Overnight camp was at the top of the cable car, shared with lots of cows (and lots of bells) and we were treated to some Alphorn music!

Day two started misty but soon cleared and the terrain was a mix of small paths, rough trods, no trods, dense forests (with very well hidden controls) and gorgeous alpine meadows. We stuck to our initial route plan and tried hard to navigate on the go – less dithering! Both days we had less than 15 minutes to spare but no penalty points.

We didn’t understand a word of the prize giving (in German) but heard our names called out which was a nice surprise – 3rd female team in our class!

Definitely recommend this event to runners, orienteers and walkers of any age, families with young children included.