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Orienteering Courses
Most orienteering courses are of the point-to-point variety,
with a start, a series of controls to be visited in a designated
order, and a finish. Usually the orienteer does not see the map
and the course until after starting. However, at small local
events the map may be familiar and orienteers may be allowed
to copy their courses from a master map before starting. There
are usually several courses available at an event, ranging from
yellow (a short beginner's course) through orange, red, green,
and blue to brown (a long, technically and physically difficult
course).
This is an example of a beginner's course. It has five controls
which must be visited in the order in which they are connected
and numbered - though the orienteer is not constrained to
following the lines (it's easier to go out of your way a bit and
use a track etc.). With the course comes a description sheet,
describing the exact location of the control flag within the
circle drawn on the map. The description sheet for this course is given below:
| YELLOW, 3.5km, 75m climb |
| Start | Corner of field |
| 1 | DV | Path Junction |
| 2 | AE | Stream Junction |
| 3 | LK | SW Corner of Veg. Change |
| 4 | TJ | SW Side of knoll |
| 5 | OP | Reentrant |
| Navigate 350m to Finish |
The description sheet defines:
- The number of the controls (as shown on the map)
- The control code (usually two letters or numbers) that
will be attached to the flag that is at the correct location
- A description of the control feature, including (where
appropriate) the part of the feature where the flag is hung
Since verbal descriptions can be somewhat variable as well as
specific to the language of the event organisers, experienced
orienteers tend to use a system of symbols to define the
descriptions. These description symbols are related to the map
symbols and the symbol system
is well worth learning once an orienteer progresses beyond the
beginner stage, as they are commonly used at national events.
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These pages were last updated during May 2000 by Conor Creedon.
Comments and suggestions to conorcreedon@bigfoot.com.
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