NEWS

Photos 2026

Photos from this year’s camp have been published

Silva Camp is over

long live the Silva Camp!

CZE

ESP

ISR

POL

TUR

SVK

POR

USA

GBR

UKR

HUN

LAT

BRA

BUL

Silva O´Camp

Every summer more than 170 young orienteers meet at the biggest trainign camp organised in the Czech Republic – Silva O‘ Camp at Vidnava in northern Moravia. The name for the camp was used for the first time in 1998, however the tradion of summer training camps organised by orienteers from the WOC 2008 host city Olomouc spans across much longer period. Since the very beginning the camp the organisers have promoted and realised the idea of an orienteering camp for all young people interested in the sport. For this reason they decided to work with rather unusual large age spectrum of the participants – group of children aged between 8 to 20 years of age.

In 2003 the camp welcomed a group of orienteers from a distant and exotic country – a group of students from China. In 2006 the internationality of the camp was even bigger and thus you could hear, for example, such languages as Hebrew, Chinese, Swedish, Hungarian or Slovenian spoken in the camp. However, the official language, apart from Czech, is, and always will be, English.

These are the main and most important aspects on which the profile of the camp was built. The camp itself is situated in the middle of one of the most beautiful orienteering terrain in the Czech Republic. In recent past there were several times organised the Czech National Championships as well as multi-day international events.

However, orienteering training is by far not the only activity at the camp. The organisers try to find good balance between running and other sport activities, which inseparably belong to holidays and young people. Fun and Entertainment In the evenings the participants of the camp meet to have fun and enjoy themselves. Every evening there’s an exciting menu ready for them – discotheques, meetings with Czech National Team runners, or the famous ‚Miss Vidnava‘ contest.

The team of the camp leaders is based on volunteers with great sense of humor and love for the job they are doing, none of which they lose despite the enormous responsibility they have. The optimum number of two leaders per team is a guarantee that everyone of the children will be taken care of with all the needs they may have.

SILVA O´CAMP 2026

DAY1 — Our first day brought every kind of weather imaginable, from sunshine to a heavy downpour during the very first training session. By the evening, however, the skies had cleared, allowing us to officially open this year’s camp in a festive atmosphere. We wrapped up the day with our first disco night, the perfect way to kick off the true Silva Camp spirit.

DAY 2 — The second day of the training camp brought the first real dose of training. The morning session was dedicated to there and bacl loops, featuring short route choices, challenging control approaches, and a beautiful forest full of rocks, pines and detailed contour features, and diverse terrain formations. In the afternoon, we took on a memory training exercise, one of our favorite sessions, which tests our orienteering brains to the very limit. The ability to memorize routes and make the right decisions under pressure proved crucial once again. We wrapped up the day with a team relay, our iconic Vidnava Tiomila, which traditionally delivered plenty of battles, emotions, and great team spirit.

DAY3 — Today´s schedule featured two demanding training sessions, one of which took place in the most beautiful yet also the toughest part of the forest. The legendary uphill challenge to Misky hill, tested the participants not only physically but also technically. The second training session focused on detailed route planning. During the KO Sprint, all athletes had several course options available and selected their route at the start. They then continued in a head-to-head racing format with their competitors, resulting in a number of exciting battles throughout the course. The evening grand finale, a punching competition, was a great success with both spectators and athletes.

DAY4 — The first competition day of this year’s Silva Camp! The morning stage 1 had its event centre at the football field in nearby Velká Kraš, while the finish arena was located right next to the camp. Today was also marked by big shopping. Our long-time partner Oland sport opened its sales booth at the camp. The afternoon was dedicated to team relay races. Mixed teams across different age groups, genders, and nationalities once again strengthened the camp spirit and demonstrated that orienteering is not only about individual performance, but also about cooperation and mutual support. Evening hihlight was the traditional Nations Presentation. All 14 countries represented at Silva Camp showcased a part of their culture, traditions, and national identity.

DAY5 — The fifth day began with a technically demanding training session called the Swiss Game. The campers ran on a specially modified map where only the areas around the control points were shown on a white background. As a result, the map resembled the famous Swiss Emmental cheese. The afternoon program featured a triathlon combining swimming, running, and micro-orienteering. A night race with a mass start was on the schedule at the evening. The atmosphere of starting together in the dark was a memorable experience for everyone and a perfect ending to another action-packed day.

DAY6 — We kicked off Friday with loop training on a brand‑new map above Velká Kraš. The fast and technical courses earned praise from both athletes and coaches. Still, the morning session was only a warm‑up for the second stage in the afternoon, held right in the streets of Vidnava. After five days spent navigating forest terrain, the urban sprint brought a refreshing change of pace. And a camp wouldn’t be a real camp without roasted sausages. In the evening, we lit a fire and enjoyed a second dinner together — classic Czech buřty, each prepared in our own style. The atmosphere around the fire was a perfect way to wrap up a demanding day.

DAY7 — Saturday morning began with the final stage of the Silva Cup. The middle-distance race with a chasing start significantly reshuffled the overall standings, even in categories that had seemed all but decided. The afternoon was dedicated to the camp Olympic Games. The event was ceremonially opened with the raising of the Olympic flag, the lighting of the Olympic torch, and the singing of the national anthem. This was followed by an exciting program full of competitions, sporting achievements, and team spirit.

DAY8 — The camp concluded with the traditional and highly popular **One Man Relay** training session. The individual relay races pushed the children to their limits, leaving them pleasantly exhausted but full of smiles as we handed them back to their parents at the end of the day.
For most of the international groups, however, the program was not quite over yet. A final night in Prague awaited them, providing a fitting and memorable conclusion to this year’s **Silva O’Camp**.

SILVA O´CAMP

Every summer more than 250 young orienteers meet at the biggest training camp organised in the Czech Republic – Silva O‘ Camp at Vidnava in northern Moravia. The name for the camp was used for the first time in 1998, however the tradion of summer training camps organised by orienteers from the WOC 2008 host city Olomouc spans across much longer period. Since the very beginning the camp the organisers have promoted and realised the idea of an orienteering camp for all young people interested in the sport. For this reason they decided to work with rather unusual large age spectrum of the participants – group of children aged between 8 to 20 years of age.