Orienteering in Somerset - Quantock Orienteers

Introducing Orienteering
Attending an Event
Registration to Finish
Safety
Event Types
Course Standards
Competitions
Glossary

Orienteering is a challenging outdoor adventure sport. The aim is to navigate between control points marked on a special orienteering map and decide the best route to complete the course in the quickest time. It does not matter how young, old or fit you are, as you can run, walk or jog the course and progress at your own pace.

Orienteering can take place anywhere from forest and countryside to urban parks and school playgrounds.

To start orienteering all you need is a sense of adventure and a pair of trainers. It's a great sport for runners, joggers and walkers who want to improve their navigation skills or for anyone who loves the outdoors.

Find out about our Permanent Orienteering Courses

Why not have a look at these videos:

Select your event from the events list. Note that many orienteering events are in obscure rural areas so plan your journey to the event carefully. You can arrive at any time within the start time range, but to avoid being under time pressure, novices are advised to arrive early.

On arrival novices will be able to get lots of help and advice from those at registration.

Please bring:-

Comfortable clothes and footwear for walking or running in, that you don’t mind getting dirty. We do not recommend wearing shorts as you could get cuts and scratches
A compass if you have one - not strictly necessary but will make navigating much easier.
A whistle is a useful safety measure if you get lost or injured.
Money to pay your entry fee

When you come you will get:-

A map
A "dibber" or a control card - a dibber is an electronic device that records when you go to a control, a control card is a manual equivalent
Control descriptions - but these are really only used by experienced orienteers

The Registration Routine used will depend on the system used to record your passage around the course. ie. Electronic Punching - you carry an electronic punch which you use to record your visit to each control point on the course. This system has almost completely taken over from Manual Punching. - You carry a control card and a pin punch is provided at each control point to enable you to punch your control card and thereby record your passage round the course. (Each punch has has a different pattern of pins!!)

However irrespective of the type of punching used the basic routine is -

1. Decide which course you want to run, details at Registration.

2. Collect Registration Slip/ Control Card and Control Point Description Sheet and pay for your entry.

3. Fill out your control card/registration slip.

4. If electronic punching hand in your registration slip and collect your electronic punch.

5. By this stage you will have been told or asked what time your Start time is. More and more events are geared to allow the competitor to go to the start and start as soon as a start spot becomes available.

6. Go to the start and if you have a control card tear off the slip on the side of the card and give it to the start official.

7. Run your course recording your arrival at each control point in the correct way.

8. Hand in your Control Card or download the information on your electronic punch. With electronic punching the record of your run is immediately available and the course results are usually available before you leave the event. With Control cards overall results will take a day or two to work out. Final Results are usually available on the net within a couple of days or can be posted to you if you fill out results envelope provide at registration on the day. Snail mail is however not always offered as there are now so few takers.

When you have visited all the controls you must report to the finish and hand in your control card. EVEN IF YOU DONT FIND ALL THE CONTROLS IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU EITHER HAND IN YOUR CONTROLCARD AT THE FINISH OR TAKE YOUR ELECTRONIC PUNCH TO THE DOWNLOAD POINT SO THAT WE (AND YOUR FRIENDS) KNOW THAT YOU HAVE FINISHED AND ARE NOT LYING INJURED IN THE FOREST. IF YOU LOSE YOUR CARD OR PUNCH YOU MUST TELL THE PEOPLE AT THE FINISH/DOWNLOAD.

AS AN EXTRA SAFETY MEASURE IF YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN AND WISH TO BE CHECKED BACK IN LEAVE A NOTE WITH THE START OR FINISH TEAM AND THEY WILL MAKE SURE A CHECK IS CARRIED OUT

There are several forms of Orienteering events:

Colour coded events - These are the most common type. Several courses will be on offer with different colours to show how long and difficult each course is. For each colour a separate map is provided. The map will show a sequence of controls which must be visited in the order given. The fastest to correctly complete the course is the winner.

Score events - In a score event a large number of controls will be shown on the map. The idea is to visit as many as possible within a time limit. The "score" is given by the number of controls visited less any penalty for being over the time limit.

Junior, or "Come and try it" events - These are aimed specifically at children or families who are new to the sport. These are on a more informal smaller scale, and are less competitive.

String course - These are for the very young. Follow the string to find the controls.

Relay events - A team event. There are several different types of relay but they usually involve several individual runs being combined into a single score.

The table below gives an idea of the relative difficulty of the colours. Precise guidelines can be found in BOF Rules. Although the age of children has been used as a guide for some of the easier courses even the adult beginners would benefit from going round an easier course first just to get the idea of map scale, symbols etc.

Colour	Technical difficulty	Physical difficulty	Remarks
WHITE	1	1	Suitable for young children of 7 to 8 who should be accompanied. All on paths
YELLOW	2	2	A doddle for experienced 12 year olds. Some route choice all on paths.
ORANGE	3	3	Controls on features a little way off paths or on line features. Adult beginners shouldn't attempt anything harder.
RED	3	3 to 4	Not often provided. Basically a long Orange.
LIGHT GREEN	4	3	Transitional course for improving skills.
GREEN	5	3	For those with good navigational skills but with limited energy or running speed
BLUE	5	4	For good navigators getting near their sell by date or who want less than the physical challenge of the Brown course!
BROWN /BLACK	5	5	For fit and competent navigators who are usually 16 plus.

NOTE: A GOOD ORIENTEER IN GOOD PHYSICAL CONDITION WILL TRAVEL AT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 6 AND 10 MINS PER KILOMETRE DEPENDING ON THE TERRAIN.

However before you start on your course you have to register.

At QO you will come across the following competitions:

The QO Forest League, or QOFL - our main series of events usually in forest areas. All are colour coded with courses from white to blue. Suitable for all from novices to experts, and children to experienced adults. Plenty of advice available. The league runs from Autumn through to Spring.

The Galoppen - similar to a QOFL but this is part of a regional league and hence draws a bigger attendance. Colour coded courses from white to brown. Still suitable for all from novices to experts.

Club championship - an annual competition is held to find the club champion. Usually a score event with an age handicap applied to give everyone a fair chance of winning!

The glossary below will help you to get to know the key terms which are associated with orienteering:

Age class	Your age class is determined by your sex and year of birth
Aiming off	Technique where you deliberately aim not to hit the control straight on but instead to approach it from a certain direction, usually from either the left or the right
Attack point	When the route to a control is not along a line feature, an attack point is somewhere from where the competitor will head on a compass bearing to the control or a catching feature
Badge event	The old name for a Regional event
Bingo control	Not a good thing! A bingo control is a hidden control which is likely to be found by accident rather than by navigational expertise
BO	An incorrect abbreviation for British Orienteering, the national body which sets the rules and provides the framework for the sport.
BOF	British Orienteering Federation, now prefers to be known as British Orienteering, but BOF when abbreviated
Cairn	A stack of stones
Catching feature	A line feature which stops the competitor overshooting a control by too far
Clear Station	A special box of electronics which clears previous data stored on your dibber
Collecting features	The act of taking note of mapped features while you navigate, especially when you are keeping in contact with the map
Compass Sport	An independent magazine dedicated to orienteering
Compass Sport Cup	An annual inter-club competition. Each region holds a heat, the winners qualify to attend the national final
Contouring	A navigation technique involving staying at roughly the same height while navigating across a slope
Control	What the competitor is looking for! A course consists of visiting a sequence of controls each of which is marked by a circle on the map. At each control you will find an orange and white "kite" and a punch
Control descriptions	A list of controls on the course with a set of symbols describing their positions
Controller	The person who ensures the competition is fair, appropriately challenging and conducted according to the rules.
Decision point	A place where the competitor needs to decide which way to go, e.g. a path junction
Dibber	When an electronic punching system is used each competitor is given an electronic card. This is a small device which docks with the controls to prove the time at which the control was visited.
Dogleg	A pair of legs forming a v-shape such that competitors running towards a control will see other competitors running away from that control but towards them
Download	The process of reading a dibber at the end of the event
Emit	An electronic punching system by some orienteering clubs. An Emit "brick" is held in the hand which docks into the control to register the punch. As a backup a pattern of pins will mark a card attached to the brick. In some models the brick has a digital display.
EOD	Entry On The Day. Means it is not necessary to pre-enter
EPS	Electronic Punching System. A way of recording when competitors reach a control
Foot-O	Normal orienteering, i.e. running or walking between controls
Forest league	The local league which takes place every year. Six events take place between Autumn and Spring. There are trophies for the winners in each course.
Gaffled courses	A technique of making courses slightly different by shuffling some of the controls so they are not the same. Often done in large scale relay events.
Gaiters	Like a sleeve that fits to the lower leg. Often padded to provide protection against brashings
Galoppen	The regional league which takes place every year from the Autumn until the Spring. Each of the nine clubs in the South West puts on one event. Galoppen is the Swedish word for league
Handrailing	Navigating by following a line feature
Harris Relay	A relay event but in which all team members run simultaneously. Some controls must be visited by all in the team, the rest are to be visited by one of the team. The time for the team is when the last team member finishes. The technique is to divide up the controls equally within the team according to ability.
JK	The JK is a national event that takes place over the Easter weekend each year. JK stands for Jan Kjellstrőm who helped establish orienteering in the UK
Joe Lee	An electronic punching system in which a small green dibber makes electrical contact with the top of a control which then flashes
JOG	Junior Orienteering Group. Weekly low key events are held in term-time. These are suitable for juniors and seniors alike
Kite	The orange and white fabric triangle which marks a control
Knoll	A small earth mound, possibly only 1 metre high
Leg	The journey from one control to the next
Leg cover	Means wearing long trousers. Reduces scratches and the chance of catching ticks. Strongly advised in forests! Normally compulsory
Levy	Part of the entry fee that the club pays to BOF and SWOA
Line feature	A long narrow feature such as a track, path, river, earthbank
Linear course	The most common type of course. In a linear course all the controls on the map must be visited in the order shown.
Local event	Most events are local events. Most competitors will be club members and it will form part of a local competition. Colour coded courses will be available.
Long-O	A much longer distance event than normal. A course probably takes several hours. Not recommended for novices
Map contact	As in, 'keeping in contact with the map', or knowing where you are at all times
Map memory	An advanced form of the sport in which competitors are not allowed to carry a map. Maps are hung at controls and the competitor has to memorise sufficient detail to find the next control. A real challenge for experienced adults only.
MBO	Mountain Bike Orienteering. Competitors must stay on tracks and paths but otherwise quite similar to normal orienteering
Mispunch (mp)	Not completing a linear course correctly, either by missing one or more control out or by taking controls out of order. Unfortunately means disqualification
National event	A rare and very large scale event which will attract competitors from all over the country and even from overseas. National events include the British Championships and the JK. Courses will be arranged by age class
Night event	Normal orienteering, but in the dark. Orienteers usually use powerful headtorches. Very difficult!
Nopesport	An online community of orienteers, including people who take the sport and their own performances very seriously
Novelty	A less serious event often with an unusual format
Organiser	The person who organises all aspects of the event except that directly affecting the courses being ran
Overshooting	Going past a control or attack point either i) accidentally - usually by running too fast and not concentrating or ii) deliberately, to hit an attack point beyond the control
Pace counting	Working out the distance between two points by counting number of paces. Distance calculated with reference to the number of footsteps it takes to reach a certain distance e.g. 125 paces to 100m
Permissions	The role of getting permission to use a piece of land for orienteering
Pin punch	When no electronic punching system is used, each control has a clip attached which acts like a stapler to punch a pattern of holes in your control card
Planner	The person who plans the courses at an event
Platform	A flat area, usually a couple of metres across, surrounded by sloping ground
POC	A Permanent Orienteering Course - there are over 350 in the UK. Local permanent courses are at Vivary Park and at Ham Hill
Pre-entry	When competitors have to send in an entry in advance of the day of the event. Usually can be done on-line
Punch	The act of registering your presence at a control. What you depends on the punching system being used - see pin punching, SportIdent, Emit or Joe Lee
QO	Surely you know who we are by now!
QOFL	Our Forest League
Reentrant	An indent within a slope, like a small valley
Regional event	Occasional large scale events that will attract competitors from across the region. Competitors can score points for the national ranking scheme. Colour coded courses will be available.
Rough bearing	As in 'running on a rough bearing'; running in the general direction of the needle rather than taking an exact reading
Route choice	Making a decision about which route to take between controls.
Routegadget	A web-based system in which competitors can record their route after the event, in order to compare their speed and route choices with others
Score event	As an alternative to a linear course, as many controls as possible are visited in any order within a time period
Setting the map	Also known as orientating the map, to hold the map so that it reflects the direction in which you are running
Shadowing	When a junior is followed by an adult as a safety measure, but the adult does not help with the navigation
SI	Short for SportIdent, see below
Ski-O	Orienteering on cross country skis. Popular in Scandinavia
Spanish Score	A variant of a score event in which all the controls are visited in any order but in the shortest time possible
Spike	Nice when it happens! When you navigate straight to a control
SportIdent	An electronic punching system widely used by orienteering clubs. A dibber attached to one finger is docked into a hole in the control which bleeps and flashes
Sprint event	A short distance event, possibly only taking around 20 minutes. Almost always in urban areas
Spur	When a piece of land projects out from a slope
Stake	The pole that the control flag and unit is attached to
Start Control	Where the start triangle is shown on the map, a control flag is placed. In some events with electronic punching, you will punch the start control.
String course	For the very young. A long string is laid on the ground. Follow the string to find the controls.
SWOA	South West Orienteering Association. Our regional organisation.
Technical difficulty	One of five levels 1= White, 2= Yellow, 3= Orange, 4= Light Green, 5= Green and above
Thumb compass	Compass held to the thumb with a elasticated band
Thumbing	Technique involving placing a thumb on the map at the point of current location, and moving the thumb as progress is made
Tick	A small 8 legged creature found in forests in summer that will attach itself to bare skin and suck blood. In extreme cases this can lead to Lyme disease.
Track run	A route choice option, usually referred to in comparison with a direct but more difficult route
Trail-O	A variant of orienteering in which the competitor stays on tracks and has to identify control positions from a distance. Can be done by anyone but is particularly popular among disabled
Vegetation boundary	When areas of different vegetation meet, e.g. a boundary between evergreen trees and deciduous trees
Whole Sport Plan	British Orienteering strategy for promoting and continuing the sport
Yvette Baker	An annual inter-club competition for juniors. Each region holds a heat, the winners qualify to attend the national final