Get into Orienteering

Think treasure hunt against the clock, with cross-country running thrown in, and you’re at the elite level. Or have a wander round the woods with the children. See, orienteering works at all levels!

WHAT IS IT?

In a nutshell, orienteering is one of the most accessible, fun and cheap sports that you can do in the outdoors – all you need is a bit of enthusiasm. The aim of the game is to navigate, in the correct sequence, between a set of control points, which are all marked out on an orienteering map.

It’s up to you to decide the best route to get to all the controls and complete the course in the quickest time. Events range from Level A to D, with Level A comprising big events like the British Orienteering Championships, while smaller profile, local club events will fall under the Level D category.

The events are held in locations across the country, from the mountains of the Peak District to the forests of Nottinghamshire, or in the grounds of stately homes and country parks. Courses at all events are graded (with a colour code) according to their length and technical difficulty, so you can choose to progress onto longer courses or those that will prove a greater challenge to navigational skills. The easiest (and child friendly) versions are white, while the hardest are black.

And, ideal of those for you with young children, many clubs organise ‘string courses’, which are made up of controls that are joined together by a long piece of string so that little ones cannot get lost.

Whatever level you choose, to complete the orienteering course you need to prove that you’ve visited each control in the correct order. To do this you need to ‘punch’ – punching a control registers that you have visited it and is done with an electronic card. Cards are usually available to hire for about £1 at events and, if you get serious, you can buy your own for £18-£50 (the two main brands are: Emit and Sport Ident).

As well as your orienteering map, to help you navigate to each control, you’ll be handed a control description sheet when you register, which provides you with either written or pictorial descriptions that tell you what kind of feature the control is on, such as a track, small hill or by a boulder.

A BIT OF HISTORY

The sport of orienteering was first introduced to the UK back in the 1950s after it was invented as a military exercise (training officers to cross an unknown landscape with a compass and map) in Sweden during the 19th century, and then quickly became a competitive sport for the wider public. A

s the sport became more popular in Britain, the British Orienteering Federation was set up in 1967 – today it is simply known as British Orienteering. More than 150 clubs are now members of the federation, organising hundreds of events throughout the UK, usually held on Sundays during the spring and summer months.

Club events are known for being friendly and welcoming, with volunteers on standby to offer coaching to newcomers. If you’re interesting in finding out about orienteering events in your area, then visit britishorienteering.org.uk for more details.

MAPPING IT OUT

Orienteering maps are drawn to a large scale to make them easy to use, most commonly 1:15000 (1cm=150m) or 1:10000 (1cm=100m) but for orienteering in parks you use a map drawn in a scale of 1:5000. Orienteering maps are also drawn using magnetic north rather than ‘grid’ or ‘true’ north.

You can buy specially designed orienteering clothes, but when you’re just starting out, you don’t need to invest heavily in new gear. One of the great things about orienteering is just how little a hit your wallet takes when you take it up as a sport.

Fancy a go? Make sure you’ve got the right orienteering gear.

More stuff that you might find interesting

• Natural Navigation - how to read the stars
• C2C Scotland gear guide and advice
• The Killarney Adventure Race
• Walking Boots: Merrel Chameleon Arc 2 Rival
• Walking Boots: Hanwag Tatra Wide
• Trail Running Gear - OAG’s picks
• Battling Beauty and the Beast
• The ultimate trekking kit
• How to finish an adventure race (and survive to tell the tale)
• Approach Shoes: Salomon X-Over