Orienteering?
What is Orienteering?
Orienteering is a sport that involves finding your way
across country with the aid of a map
and sometimes a compass. Orienteers
follow a course as accurately as they can between control points, usually
marked by orange and white flags, using their skill in map reading to choose
the best route.
The map is the central focus of orienteering and map
reading is the most important skill.
Orienteering maps are different from normal maps in that they show a lot
more detail, so if you are confused by normal maps don't despair. An example of
part of an orienteering map and course is shown overleaf.
Orienteers can walk or run, alone or in a group. Fitness is not a necessity, although it does
help, particularly in serious competitive orienteering. Orienteering can be treated as a race, or
simply as a stroll, with the search for controls providing an additional
element of interest.
Who goes Orienteering?
One of the nicest features of orienteering is that it
can involve the whole family. There are
courses to suit all levels of skill (or lack of!) so the entire family can go
out for the day and each do something at their own level of ability and/or
speed.
Competitors range in age from six or seven to well
over seventy. To reach the top you need to be extremely fit as well as a first
class map reader, but MOST people orienteer because they like the challenge of
map reading and finding the control points, as well as the chance to get out in
the fresh air.
Don't I need a compass?
Once upon a time people were taught that Orienteering
was all about a compass. This led people to being able to use a compass but not
to be able to read a map. Nowadays,
especially with better quality maps, reading the map is the main skill.
Compass skills are introduced only when basic map
reading is mastered. The compass is
seen more as an aid to navigation and too much reliance on the compass often
leads to navigational problems. However the Club does have compasses at events
that can be hired if you feel the need!
What do I wear?
Just wear clothes suitable for walking/running on
farmland or city parks. In wet weather
it does get muddy at times! Experienced
competitive orienteers wear studded touch rugby type shoes, especially if they
intend to go fast, but any kind of walking/running shoe will do.
What does it cost?
For non Club members the cost is $5 per map. If you
decide to do a course as a group you only need buy one map so it only costs $5
(Club members pay $2) If you want to do
more than one course you can use the same map so the only cost is the first
cost of purchasing the map. Maximum
cost for a family is $15 ($6 for Club members)
When, where, how?
In January through to March each year the Club holds
the promotional Summer Fun Series of events on Wednesday evenings and the
occasional Sunday. For the remainder of
the year events are held every third or fourth Sunday in farmland as well as on
the City parks. Sunday event start
times are between 11am and 1pm and course lengths vary so you could take
anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours to
complete your course.
Full instruction on what to do is shown on
noticeboards at each event and Club members are available to give you personal
instruction or just a helping hand.