Orienteering

By Joel Suñé

Orienteering races have their origins in Norway in 1897, when the very first race was organized. Today orienteering is most popular in Nordic countries such as Finland and Norway, but it is known and organized all over the world.

What is an orienteering race?

An orienteering race is a trial and participants need to pass by different checkpoints marked on a map of the course handed out at the start of the race. A compass can be used.

The map

The map is very complex. It indicates the type of terrain, the altitude and level of curves, as well as individual elements such as trees or rocks, rivers, roads and highways...

The compass

There are two types of racing compass for orienteering: the finger compass and the neck compass. A finger compass is used by top racers. It indicates north very quickly and it is very small. A neck compass goes round the neck and it is sometimes uncomfortable. It is larger and slower than a finger compass.

Formerly, each checkpoint had a clip, each with a different symbol, with 16 spikes, one for each contestant’s control sheet, but nowadays a system called SPORT-IDENT is used. This has the form of a chip card or PIN that passes through the checkpoint to record the time, so that each participant’s progress can be charted at the end of the race.

Orienteering has its own regional, national, continental and world championships but also federated championships for schools and clubs are also organized at a local level.