Orienteering : Serious Competitors, Casual Participants Try to Navigate Checkpoint-Studded Course Relying Heavily on Map-Reading Skills

Several years ago, a North Hollywood man was driving through Europe with his wife, the designated navigator. They were in Switzerland, heading to Germany, when they unexpectedly came to a border crossing, which, according to the wife, was not on her map.

The border guard was more than happy to point out to the globe-trotting yuppies that they were miles out of their way, on the wrong road, and about to enter Austria. Not only had the wife gotten them lost, she had somehow failed to find a country the size of Germany.

The man later discovered the reason for his wife’s confusion: A map was as alien to her as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Well, she could read a map, but only if the car was going north, which corresponds to the way maps are drawn. If the car was going west, she would have to adjust the map sideways a turn to the right and tilt her head at an angle to read it. South was the worst direction for the car to be traveling because the map was turned upside-down.

Were they still married, the man would recommend a cure for the woman’s chronic disorientation: orienteering.

At its highest levels, orienteering is a grueling, competitive sport requiring stamina, puzzle-solving ability and total command of map and compass. But orienteering also can be an entertaining recreational activity for the family, besides providing practical tools for everyday life.

“If you learn orienteering, you won’t have any trouble reading a road map,” said Brad Childs, president of the Wilderness Institute, a nonprofit outdoors organization in Agoura Hills.

After taking six hours of “Map and Compass Navigation Skills” at the institute, you’re ready for orienteering, which is something like a sports car rally for hikers. The idea is to use a compass and a detailed topographical map to locate several checkpoints on a course. Courses can range from from a mile to several miles and can be laid out in city parks, wilderness areas, or anything in between.

Competitive orienteering is a cross-country footrace, with the fastest time winning. Elite orienteers can whip through the woods at seven or eight minutes per kilometer (11 to 13 minutes per mile). Courses at major events are about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) long and are off-limits to competitors until the buzzer goes off, which is when an orienteer gets his first look at the map.

Recreational orienteering is more of a leisurely stroll through the woods; finishing the course is the main objective. For children, the treasure-hunt dimension to the sport is especially appealing.

“Families do orienteering to have a wilderness experience along with a mental challenge,” said Michael Swatek, chief coordinator of the Los Angeles Orienteering Club. “Runner-types like orienteering because it’s more exciting than plodding ahead, one foot after the other.”

And plodding is one thing an orienteer never does. Orienteers know the difference between true north and magnetic north, what all those squiggly map lines mean, and how to tell knolls from spurs and contours from controls. Once oriented on the course, the orienteer checks his liquid-filled compass, plots his best route on the map and hones in on the next checkpoint.

“Orienteering courses are designed for maximum navigational problems,” said Robin Shannonhouse, executive director of the U. S. Orienteering Federation. “You can get to a checkpoint five or six different ways, but you want to maximize time and energy consumption.”

A potential orienteer can take a brief lesson before an event and learn enough to get through a course, but retaining the information and refining it is the difficult part.

“To be proficient, you need a lot of practice,” said Childs, who teaches at the Wilderness Institute to keep his skills sharp.

But unlike golfers, orienteers cannot drive to their favorite local course. In fact, the sport’s biggest problem is a lack of courses. The LAOC holds monthly competitions on courses laid out in Griffith Park, the Santa Monica Mountains, and elsewhere, but the fluorescent flags marking each checkpoint are removed after an event, eliminating the course.

There are no permanent courses in L.A., but the LAOC is working on plans to install one at Griffith Park.

Despite the prospect of year-round orienteering in L.A., the LAOC has only 120 paid memberships, at $10 for an individual, $15 for a family. Competitions draw from 30 to 35 entrants, but only a couple of them are highly regarded nationally, Swatek said.

But regardless of whether you get serious about orienteering, Childs suggests learning its skills.

“You’ll feel sure of yourself in the woods,” he said. “Why be afraid to go backpacking or camping?”

To learn more about orienteering, call the Wilderness Institute at 818-991-7327, the L.A. Orienteering Club at 213-679-2776, or the U.S. Orienteering Federation at 404-363-2110. Also check local sporting goods stores for map-and-compass seminars.