BASIC ORIENTEERING INSTRUCTIONS

Orienteering is competitive sport involving finding your way with a map and compass. Reading an Orienteering map involves reading the natural aspects of the land as well as the man-made objects found on the more common maps.

LEGEND -- the explanation of the symbols used on the map.

SCALE -- the proportion of the map; used for measuring distances.

CONTOURS -- lines of elevation; several lines viewed together form hills, valleys, and re-entrants (a re-entrant is the "draw" between two high places where rain would collect and flow downward).

CONTOUR INTERVAL -- the difference in elevation between any two contour lines.

 

Parts of the Compass

  1. Magnetic needle -- the red side always points North.
  2. 360 degrees dial with North arrow -- the dial turns to line up North on the compass with the magnetic declination lines on the map.
  3. Base plate with direction of travel arrow -- lines up the compass with the desired route on the map.

How to Use a Compass

  1. Lay the compass on the map with the long side edge of the base plate along the intended route on the map with the direction of travel arrow pointing toward the destination.
  2. Holding the base plate still, turn the dial until the North arrow on the dial is parallel to the magnetic North lines on the map.
  3. Your compass is now set; pick it up and hold it with the direction of travel arrow pointing in front of you.
  4. Turn your body around until the red end of the magnetic needle is over the North arrow inside the dial on the compass; keeping the needle over the arrow, follow the direction of travel arrow to your next position.

Pacing

Once you find out how many paces it takes to go a given distance, you can tell how far you have gone by counting your paces. To find your pace, use the following steps:

  1. Mark off a distance of 100 meters.
  2. Count your strides for this distance, first walking, then running.
  3. Using the ruler on your compass base plate and the bar scale on the map, you can convert this pace to any distance on the map.

How to follow an Orienteering Course

  1. Follow your map in numerical order to each control point, check the code on the marker for identification, punch your card with the coded punch, and go to the next control point.
  2. Check in by the time limit even if you have not found all the control point markers.
  3. Have fun!

 

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