Orienteering is an outdoor sport where competitors navigate through unfamiliar terrain using a map and compass to locate control points. It began in Sweden in the late 19th century as military training and has grown into a competitive sport open to civilians. Participants use maps, compasses, and control description sheets to navigate through forests and find orange and white kites marking the control points, checking in using a finger stick. The goal is to locate all controls in the fastest time while using the map's symbols like contour lines to determine elevation changes across the landscape.

1. Orienteering

2. What is Orienteering?
The exciting sport of
navigating through the
woods with map and
compass.
Control locations are marked
on your map and your goal is
to find them in the woods.

3. History of Orienteering
Began in the late 19th century in Sweden.
The actual term "orientering" was first used in
1886 and meant the crossing of unknown land
with the aid of a map and a compass.
Grew from military training in land navigation
into a competitive sport for military officers, then
for civilians.
The first orienteering competition open to the
public was held in Nor way in 1897.

4. Equipment Control
Description
Sheet
Compass
Finger Stick Map

5. General Information
You can orienteer solo, or in
small groups.
You are competing for the
fastest time.
To ensure fairness bet ween
competitors the map is not
provided until the start, and
starts are staggered with
competitors starting at
intervals.

6. How to Orienteer
Using your map and
compass, you search for
the controls in the woods.
They are marked by
orange and white
triangular kites.
When you find a control,
you “check-in” using your
finger stick.

7. Holding Your Map
If you hold the map properly, it will show you where to go.
Hold the map with your "weak" hand (left hand if you are
right-handed, right hand if you are left-handed.)
Always keep your map parallel to the ground (horizontal)
and never up in front of your face (vertical).
Always hold the map so that the features on the map are in
the same directions around you as they are on the ground.
Keep your "weak" thumb on your present position on the
map at all times. That way you always know where you
are!

8. Map Key
Blue = water
Yellow = open area
Green = ground vegetation
Black = rock features or man-made
objects
White = forest you can move through
easily
Brown = contour lines, which show the
shape of the land

9. Understanding the Map Key
White means forest you can
move through easily.
It does not mean open, empty
land!

10. Understanding the Map Key
Black can be either rock or cliff, or a
man-made feature like a trail, road or
building.
Use common sense: rocks aren't long
and thin (trails are), and humans don't
leave little dots of buildings out in the
woods (but rocks are shown that way).
Remember that if blue has a black line
around it or if there is a patch of dark
green, that means NO GO for ANYONE:
it's just too hard.

11. Contour Lines
Those brown squiggly lines. They
are called contour lines, and they
are actually the most important
thing on the map.
Experienced orienteers rely greatly
on contour lines, because they
show the actual shape of the land.
To start with, learn that a closed
circle is the top of a hill, so
everything around it is downhill.

12. Contour Lines
Lines close together show a steep
hillside.
Lines far apart show much
flatter land.
Also, it is helpful to remember the
little tabs on the cliff symbol on
the map always point downhill.

13. The Course
The orienteering course
is marked in purple or
red on a map.
A triangle is used to
indicate the start and a
double circle indicates
the finish.
Circles are used to show
the control points.

14. Control Description Sheet
Competitors receive a "control
description sheet" or "clue
sheet" which gives a precise
description of the feature and
the location of the kite.