May 23 – World Orienteering Day

nPosted on May 23, 2019

Key points

n(Fourth Wednesday of May)

A map.

nA compass.

nA stretch of unfamiliar wilderness.

nAnd…a timer?

nOrienteering is the name for a group of sports that deal with navigating in an unfamiliar landscape, while moving as quickly as possible.

nIn most events, the participants are given a specially-prepared topographical map. This kind of map shows features such as hills, mountains, ridges, valleys, and canyons, usually using contour lines.

nThe numbers show if the land is going upwards or downwards. In sections where lines are farther apart, the rise or decline in elevation is fairly gentle, but when lines are close together, the slope is very steep.

The “specially-prepared topographical map” means that it has more information than a regular topo map – information included so that the orienteering tasks are still very challenging – but are possible.

nSo…what are these orienteering tasks?

nMoving through the wilderness (or sometimes towns), the participants have to use their map-and-compass skills to find a series of locations, or “control points,” which are typically marked with orange-and-white flags, and then to find the finish. Everyone has an electronic or paper control card that is presented at the Start, punched or marked at each control point, and then handed in at the Finish. Naturally, the winner is typically the person with the fastest time – AND who has hit every control point, of course – but because orienteering is often done with staggered start times, everyone has to wait until all participants are in to learn who won!

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nAs you can imagine, participants are not given the special maps until their start time. People who start later don’t get extra time to study the map!

As I write this, I used the words “moving” – and what I normally mean is running. Foot orienteering is the most popular sort in this sport. However, there is also orienteering on mountain bike, skis, canoe, car, and horseback.

Special types of orienteering include Trail-O (trail orienteering), mountain marathoning, radio direction finding, Street-O (orienteering in a town or city), adventure racing, team / relay orienteering, night orienteering, micro-orienteering (mazes and labyrinths, sometimes set up indoors)…and I could go on!

In a relay, the control card is handed off.

nBeginners and kids sometimes do “string orientation,” following a string along a course and noting what they find along the way.

nA few orienteering events are not timed but rather test participants’ ability to precisely match the map.

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nOrienteering tends to be much more popular in Europe than elsewhere in the world, and Scandinavians are especially into this sport. Out of 20 countries with the best world rankings in orienteering, Sweden leads with 157 medals, followed by Norway with 132. Finland is #4, and Denmark is #7. The only two non-European nations among the top 20 are Australia (#14) and New Zealand (#16); the United States isn’t on the list!