About Orienteering
What is orienteering?
In orienteering, the aim is to navigate round a set course, typically 3-8 Kilometres, in the quickest possible time using a map and compass. A series of checkpoints, or ‘controls’, marked on the map must be visited in order and these are placed at various land features which you can navigate to: eg a boulder, a path junction, or a contour feature such as a spur. At these checkpoints there will be an orange and white kite with an identifying code or number and a punch, so that you can prove that you have been there. At small events, this will be a needle punch which imprints a distinctive pattern on your control card, whilst at larger events electronic punching is used.
From this basic definition, there are various different types of orienteering events. Traditional orienteering takes place on foot, but there also events for mountain biking and wheelchair users. Similarly, there are several different types of foot-based events such as Sprint or Short course, Park-O (a possible future olympic sport due to its spectator friendly format), relays, Score events (where each checkpoint carries points and you choose which to visit in the allotted time) and night-time orienteering, where darkness adds to the challenge. The ultimate orienteering events are the two day mountain marathons where courses will be over 20 Kilometres each day such as the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) and the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon (LAMM).
Orienteering events are held in a wide variety of locations. Most areas are forrests or open hillside/moorland, but events can also be held in parks (such as Park-O) or even town centres. Essentially, anywhere that has been mapped can be used.
However, all of these different versions essentially rely on the same basic skill: being able use a map and compass in unfamiliar terrain to get from A to B, via X, Y and Z, in the quickest possible time.
For more information about the sport please see our Links page for links to the Scottish Orienteering Association and the British Orienteering Association’s Homepages
How do I go orienteering?
The best way to find out about Orienteering events in your area is to contact your local club. To find out who that is then please go to our Links page or use BOF’s graphical guide to clubs and associations.
If Roxburgh Reivers is your local Club, then you can either use our Fixtures page or you can contact the club seceretary, who’s information is displayed on the About Us page.
Roxburgh Reivers usually run several events a year. These include a Summer Series (from the beginning of May to mid June) designed for beginners to ‘Come & Try It’ and an South of Scotland ‘O’ League (this is part of a series of events running from August to March each year on a Sunday). The SoSOL, as it is known, has courses for all abilities – from beginners to experts. The courses are based on colours, usually White, Yellow, Orange, Light Green, Green, Blue and Brown. White is the easiest and shortest – usually about 1.5km, whereas Brown is the hardest and longest, typically 8-10km. There is no limit to which course you can do, and you can work at your own speed through the different levels, advancing up a class as you become more competent.
The club sometimes also run a round of the Scottish Orienteering League (formerly called the Scotlandsgallopen) during the year as well. The Scottish Orienteering League (SOL) is similar to the South of Scotland League in that results from each round are then put into a league format, with the winner being the person with the most points.
The main difference between the two series is that the courses used at the SoSOL events are colour-coded, whereas in the SOL the courses are done by age class within colour-coded courses and these are almost always pre-entered. This means that you are restricted in your choice of course by your age and thus badge classes are not really as suitable for beginners, as in general the older you are, the harder and longer the course you do. The exception to this is the junior courses, which have recently changed to dispense with age requirements, thus making the class system similar to that used at colour-coded events.
At large events such as SOLs your course will be pre-marked on your map and electronic punching will be used. If you do not have a SportIdent ‘card ‘ (used for electronic punching) then you can usually hire one for a small fee.
It should also be noted that many badge events also offer colour-coded courses along side the badge classes. For details of where and when these events are being held, please see the fixtures page.
There are also a number of permanent orienteering courses in Scotland. For information about permanent orienteering courses in the Scottish Borders, see the Permanent Orienteering courses information page.
What equipment do I need?
Although we would all love to spend our time orienteering in nice weather and dry areas, this is not always the case. Most events take place between September and May (with the notable exception of Summer festivals like the Scottish Six-Days), and as such are prone to the usual Scottish weather…. Therefore, for an average Orienteering event, we advise you bring:
- a change of clothes – with old clothes to run in
- a change of shoes – again with an old pair of trainers to run in
- waterproof jacket – highly advisable in bad weather and sometimes mandatory in bad weather
- a compass and the ability to use it – this will probably not be required at first, but it makes good practise to bring one anyway
- map bag or case – an A4 (or bigger) see-through polythene bag
- red pen for copying your course down at local/come and try it events
- food and drink
As you become more regular, more experienced (and, hopefully, better) you will find large numbers of people willing to take your hard-earned pennies off you for ’specialised orienteering kit’. While this is probaby unnecessary at first, it is advisable to eventually buy a proper pair of O-shoes and running gear of some sort – either nylon trousers or lycras and a top, and most clubs have their own design – ask them for details.
