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GF Point 2012: A Test Of Stamina & Airsoft Skills

Gungho Cowboy

Rarely do we hear about some tough airsoft competitions that occur around the world. We know of the Stirling Airsoft Selection process which follows the SAS Selection and it's so far the toughest in the world. Though the selection is more individual based, the GF Point is a more wide scale version, and also takes place in harsh conditions. Held last January 2012, the GF point gathered some of the more determined and tough airsoft players in Poland.

As described by Łukasz of Gunfire:

GF Point is an annual airsoft event organized by Gunfire. It is a combination of orienteering run and airsoft contest, that takes place in winter conditions. The participants have to face unforgiving weather and harsh mountain terrain, competing against the clock. They are divided into two categories – GF Basic and GF Pro. In case of the former only a uniform is required. The latter involves running with a replica, military equipment and a backpack – only well prepared contestants are ready for such a challenge. They not only need to prove themselves physically, but also mentally. The whole idea is to stay sharp and think clearly under extreme physical stress. At the beginning the participants receive a map showing locations of several checkpoints. They need to plan a route on their own and reach all of the checkpoints, crossing the finish line before the time expires. The shortest distance to pass is approximately 20 kilometers (Pro Category), but the daredevils don’t know what awaits them at the checkpoints… see if for yourself. The movie shows only a few surprises awaiting on the route.

I have to admit that I would not even reach the first checkpoint in this event, being a smoker and not really fit as a mountain goat. This is not about airsoft skirmishes alone, but it's also a test of your knowledge about airsoft, airsoft guns in particular. Even before catching your breath at a stop, you will be confronted with challenges. I wonder if any of the Popular Airsoft operators would even volunteer to take part of this event, which I doubt they will, being not the fittest of the bunch.

The professional category of GF Point is the more difficult and will require more skills on the part of the competitor. WMASG.pl has written an after action report which is detailed enough for you to understand what it takes to win in this competition. Here is an excerpt:

How can this year’s edition of GF Point be evaluated? The event evolved for sure if it comes to the difficulty level and the scale of the organization. Most of the people that I talked to said that the rote was not an easy one (just as I have aforementioned ) and that the points included interesting and varied tasks.  This event in a unique one and that is why next to the airsoft players, active duty soldiers, willing to prove themselves, take part in it. The GF Point is an orienteering event which has additional elements regarding physical fitness, your shooting skills and things like your knowledge and cleverness.  The process of the route planning was demanding itself:  you needed to evaluate on which points there might be jams and to which points head in such situations, the analysis of levels and defining the height differences which one needed to come by or just determining on which parts of the route you can run and on which parts one will lose some time on walking through a demanding terrain.

It seems that next year's GF point would even be more difficult. If you're up to challenges, then the GF Point will be one tough competition that can provide a difficulty. This is no ordinary orienteering challenge, as it provides more than just that for you to prove your mettle.

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