Orienteering… despite how it sounds is not going from sushi bar to sushi bar. You can thank our “beginners instructor” for that awesome joke! Just kidding on the awesome part…

Orienteering is defined as a family of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain (Wikipedia definition).

It turns out there are several “sports” such as car, ski, bike and foot orienteering. Who knew?

A few of my friends are doing an adventure race in about a month where they are required to kayak, swim and run while orienteering. They had never been orienteering before, so yesterday they dragged me along for their practice day.

It turns out yesterday was National Orienteering Day, and although I participated in it, I’m still not exactly sure what it meant.

We arrived at the state park around 9:30 in the morning. After gathering our gear (I will list suggestions below) and putting our shoes and sunscreen on, we walked towards the check-in. We were greeted by some very nice gentlemen who helped us newbies through the process.

When you go orienteering, you are given a race number, a map, an electronic key or punch and for beginners, a cheat sheet. Once we had everything, we were sent over to the instructor who is retired military and was trained in orienteering by the US Government. While he was old and a little crazy, he knew exactly how to explain orienteering to us in a clear simplistic manner.

The fundamentals of orienteering are being able to read a topographical map (where squigily lines represent the incline or decline of a mountain), using a compass and recognizing key attributes of the land. Orienteering maps have far greater detail than a regular topographical map.

You will soon become familiar with symbols that stand for “distinctive tree” or “Y in the road.” My friends and I were wondering though… what qualifies a tree as distinctive?

He described orienteering as a three step waltz. The first step is your brain, second is the compass and third is the map. The compass is used to link steps one and two.

Keep in mind that I am not an expert, and since I have only had one experience with orienteering, I am definitely NOT an instructor. So this is where my instruction will end. Go out and find an orienteering club near you, and they will undoubtedly be able to teach you better than I could ever possibly try. The clubs usually host an event once a month, and most never EVER repeat a course twice. Even REI (and possibly other sporting goods stores) offer classes.

Once we finished our first course, we decided we wanted to do another! Not only did it only cost us $2 each for our first course, but it only cost $2 TOTAL for our second. Can we say CHEAP! Great way to spend time with friends or family. Plus it is a great way to exercise. It is two days later and my legs are still a little tired!

Everyone who is semi-active, outdoorsy or likes to camp or hike should hit up an orienteering class or event. You never know when or what could happen in the forrest or dessert, and you may find yourself using orienteering techniques.

Things you will NEED

• Clothes meant for hiking or camping (you will want to make sure you are covered – long sleeves and pants (many people use special bottoms to ensure the undergrowth does not get in their pants or shoes))
• Sunscreen of course
• Compass
• Water

Usually you will not need to bring a map since they will hand it to you just before the event starts…. just to ensure fairness.

You WILL have fun orienteering. Bring a few friends the first time you go and you are sure to have a blast. Keep in mind 4 heads are better than 1 (well usually).

HAVE FUN!!

Categories: Exercise, Travel, Uncategorized, cheap, friends, health, horse back riding, life, money, orienteering, outdoors

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 5:59 pm and is filed under Exercise, Travel, Uncategorized, cheap, friends, health, horse back riding, life, money, orienteering, outdoors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.