New Competitors:

-Before the competition, watch this great video made by WCA Senior Delegate Kit Clement with the basics of how it all works.
-There is also this written tutorial on the WCA website that is very helpful.
-We encourage first time competitors to test out the timing equipment before your first attempt! Feel free to ask a staff member how competing works.
-The competitors will be split up into groups for competing. You will be assigned a group, which you can find on the Groups Tab.
-On the day of the competition when your group number is called you bring your puzzle up and put it in the box that has a scorecard with your name on it and wait in the competitor waiting area until your name is called.
-It's a good idea to arrive before the scheduled time for your event because if you are not there for the last call you might not be allowed to compete.
-Read the "All Competitors" information below.

All Competitors:

-Be familiar with the WCA Regulations!
-We are going to need all the help we can get from volunteer judges throughout the day to make the competition run well. You may judge in any group you are not competing in and it is greatly appreciated!
-If you do not know how to judge all of the staff members are more than happy to teach you.
-Parents and spectators are welcome to judge too, it's a great way to have a new experience and be more involved with the event, other than competing!
-Flash photography is NOT allowed because it is very distracting to people while they are solving.
-You must NOT talk about the scrambles of an event while it is still in progress.
-Make sure all screens of any cameras or phones you have on the table are facing away from you and do not touch them during the attempt, otherwise this will result in a DNF (2i2).
-Please treat the venue with respect, pick up any trash, keep track of your puzzles, and respect other people's puzzles.

Schedule Changes:

-If the competition is running smoothly with plenty of volunteers and we get ahead of schedule, we will utilize A1a3 as much as possible to increase time limits and cutoffs to let as many people do their solves to the best of their ability as we can. However, if we are lacking volunteers or the competition begins to fall behind schedule, we reserve the right to make the limits stricter as needed. We don't want that to happen, so please consider helping out when you aren't competing!
-We will also actively utilize 9p3 in regards to second and final rounds. If you won't be present for a further round you made it to please let us know so we can drop you and move someone else into the round; similarly, if you aren't present when the further round begins we may assume that to be your withdrawal and drop you so the next competitor in the rankings can compete.
-If there are not at least 8 competitors registered for Feet solving on Friday (Oct 24) we will have to drop Feet round 2. This will likely result in pushing 5x5x5 Blindfolded 30 minutes forward in the schedule to start at 7:15pm instead of 7:45pm.
-For all rounds with a set number for how many advance to the next round, if that number is larger than 75% of the total competitors in that round only 75% will advance (i.e. for 21 competitors in 2x2x2 only 15 will advance instead of 16).

Concessions and souvenir sales will be available on Saturday and Sunday during the competition, excluding lunch hours.

Concessions

$1 – Cold drinks (water, apple juice, orange juice, Arnold Paulmer, Gatorade, coke/sprite)
$1 – Pringles, assorted chips/snack bars/candy/fruit
$2 – Hot drinks (Medium roast Starbucks coffee, hot chocolate, green tea, apple cider)
$2 – Rubik’s cube sugar cookies

Souvenirs

$16 – Competition T-shirts, competition info/club logo on front and early registered competitors names on back w/ Erno Rubik quote
$9 – Competition branded metal water bottles
$7 – Empty competition swag bags (you get one free with registration)

Swag - Stuff we all get

Everyone will receive a competition bag containing a couple snacks and an Ice Mountain water bottle as part of their $10 registration. You can collect this at registration :)

Live results will be available at this link during the event: https://live.worldcubeassociation.org/competitions/CopperCountryCubingFall2019

Note that we are using WCA Live for this competition, not CubeComps!

Note that Groups are subject to change until the start of the competition.

Legend:
    H = helping, judging or running puzzles
    S = scrambling
    D = delegating, any task needed and general overseeing/regulations enforcing

-The number in the main column such as "333" is the group you will be competing in, so bring up your puzzle when that group is called.
-The letter+number in the helping column such as "Helping 333" is the job you will be doing for that group. "H3" = helping group 3, "S2" = scrambling group 2
-In almost all cases you will be asked to help out with the group following the group you competed in, or in the first group if you're in the last group.
-We need all the help we can get to run the competition smoothly and on schedule, so please help where you are assigned and whenever else you can!
-We don't ever want to do it, but if we do not have enough volunteer judges/runners/etc and we call you up to help, refusal can result in you being disqualified from that event or the entire competition, via regulations 1e2 and 2k.

Friday Groups

Saturday Groups

Sunday Groups

Groups for rounds 2 and 3 will be based on rankings from the prior round, so look at the results on WCA Live and listen to find out what the splits will be.

Legend:
    H = helping, judging or running puzzles
    S = scrambling
    D = delegating, any task needed and general overseeing/regulations enforcing

Legend:
    H = helping, judging or running puzzles
    S = scrambling
    D = delegating, any task needed and general overseeing/regulations enforcing

Sponsored by TheCubicle! TheCubicle will provide gift cards for those who podium at this competition. Make sure to check out their store for all your cubing needs! Cube With Us :)

We are also sponsored by Events By Anasie, LLC, who is providing several items for us at the competition! Thanks to them for helping out with sponsored concessions and souvenirs, and for doing a lot of the orchestration behind all that!

Every podium in each event will also be receiving a 3D printed custom cube stand displaying the competition name, event name, and placement. These will be gold, silver, and bronze as you'd expect for each medal.

Houghton can only be flown to from O’hare in Chicago, so any flights must connect through there. The airport is a 15 minute drive from campus.
Uber and Lyft are not heavily supported in the area, but there are taxi services:

-Copper Country Limo & Taxi (906-370-4761)
-Mak's Taxi (906-523-7477)

For driving, there are two roads that lead into Houghton:

-41 from the east (the Mackinac bridge aka Michigan LP or Ontario, Canada)
-26 from the South-West (aka Wisconsin and beyond)

Both of these will bring you straight to the Michigan Tech campus, which is on the Easternmost side of the city of Houghton.

We won't be reserving a block of hotel rooms for this event, but there are several hotels/motels to choose from. There are two that are in walking distance and several more in Houghton. Here are some, listed by distance to campus:

-Super 8: 1200 E Lakeshore Dr, Houghton, MI 49931
-Magnuson Square Inn: 820 Shelden Ave, Houghton, MI 49931
-Downtowner Motel: 110 Shelden Ave, Houghton, MI 49931
-Radisson: 919 Razorback Dr, Houghton, MI 49931
-Holiday Inn: 1110 Century Way, Houghton, MI 49931

Campus parking is free and not enforced on weekends or evenings, however, parking fees will be enforced on Fridays until 4pm.

For parking before 4pm on Friday you can use quarters or the Parkmobile app at a meter on campus or in Visitor Lot (27).

For Friday evening as well as Satuday and Sunday, you can park in any lot or at any meter for free except for lots 15E, 15W, 7W, 16, and dormitory parking. Lots are clearly labeled with large permanent signs.

The closest parking is the space by the J. Robert Van Pelt Library, but that will fill up especially since it’s used frequently by the rest of campus as well.

There is, however, nearly limitless parking by the Rosza Center on the far East of campus, which is less than a 6 minute walk to the MUB (on the sidewalk paths through the beautiful campus).

If you would like to eat on campus, you can purchase an all-you-can-eat buffet-style dining hall pass at the Wadsworth front desk, which is also the dining hall entrance. Full meal service is only available between 11am-1pm for lunch and 4-6pm for dinner (4-7pm on weekends). It's open between this, but will be sandwiches and cereal type stuff only. The passes are $12.95 (plus tax if you're not a student).

Less than a 5 minute walk from campus is a small strip mall (200 Pearl St, Houghton, MI 49931) containing:

-Dominoes
-Subway
-JJ’s Wok N Grill
-Rodeo Mexican Kitchen
-Jims Foodmart

Heading into downtown, which is still walkable but more like 15-20 minutes, provides plenty of other options, such as:

-Jimmy Johns
-The Ambassador
-Joey’s Seafood & Grill
-Victoria’s Kitchen
-Hunan Garden
-Armando's Restaurant
-etc

Food will not be allowed in the Ballroom or Alumni Lounge, and please only bring drinks with twist on or sealable lids. The Keweenaw Commons is a food court so you may have food there, but please be respectful of the venue.