What is Orienteering?

What is Orienteering?

By definition orienteering is a sport involving a map and a compass.

The goal of orienteering is to complete a course in point-to-point order. In other words the goal is to find a series of control points in order. The controls are marked with triangular orange and white flags. A typical orienteering event offers five, six, or seven
different courses of varying difficulty. The courses are named using colors:

• White, beginners (2-3km)
• Yellow, advanced beginners (2-3.5km)
• Orange, Intermediate (3-5km)
• Brown, short advanced (3-4km)
• Green, longer advanced (4-5km)
• Red, even longer advanced (5-7km)
• Blue, really long advanced (8-12km)

Controls are often shared by more than one course. You might see someone at your control and be tempted to follow them, but they could be on a different course!

Although we talked above about the fastest person winning, many people enjoy orienteering for the challenge it offers and are totally uninterested in their time. Likewise, many families go as a group on one of the easier courses.

The orienteering map

The map is a very detailed map of a section of woods or parkland. Streams, trails, hills, depressions, rocks, etc. are all mapped in great detail and very accurately located.

First, notice the colors:

• White background indicates open woods. You can walk/run through open woods easily.
• Green background indicates underbrush. The darker the green the harder it will be to get through.
• Orange background indicates open fields. The darker the orange the easier it will to walk/run through.
• Light brown or tan indicates paved areas.

Next, let’s look at some of the features:

• Dashed black lines are trails.
• Blue lines are streams. Generally blue indicates water
• Black dots indicate rocks
• Brown lines are contour intervals (topographic lines)

What about the course? Courses are generally drawn in purple although sometimes red is used. Purple is preferred because it is more visible to those with color blindness. The course symbols are:

• Triangle – indicates the start. This is where you will be when you turn the map over at the start
• Circles – indicates a control point. There will be numbers beside the circle indicating the order of controls to visit
• Two concentric circles – indicates the finish.
• Straight lines are used to connect the controls. They are used to show the general course. You do not have to follow the lines. You are free to take any route from one control to the next, but you do have to visit the controls in order.