History
Orienteering is a sport in which competitors race over natural terrain, using maps and compasses to plot their courses. It began as a military exercise in the United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway during the 1880s. The first recorded competitions took place in 1895 among military garrisons.
On October 31, 1897, the first public orienteering competition was staged by the Tjalve Sports Club of Norway over a 19.5-kilometer course with three control points. The Sundbyberg Club of Sweden held a similar type of competition in 1901. The 14-kilometer course had four control points.
Major Ernst Killander is considered "the father of orienteering." The president of the Stockholm Amateur Athletic Association and a Scout leader, Killander in 1918 organized a cross-country run requiring competitors to use a map and compass.
Killander was worried about the lack of interest in track and field and he thought a new kind of challenge might give the sport a boost. Sure enough, 220 runners entered the event, which was run over a 12-kilometer course with three control points. The rules that Killander developed for the race are still the basic rules of orienteering.
The first meet for women was staged in 1925 and the first international contest pitted Sweden against Norway in 1932. During the 1930s, the sport began to spread beyond the Scandinavian countries, into Hungary, the Soviet Union, and Switzerland.
Growth was more rapid after World War II. Eleven countries were represented at a Swedish-sponsored international conference on orienteering in 1949.
The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) was founded in 1961 by Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Germany, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and West Germany. The following year, the first European championships were held in Norway. The world championship meet was first held in Finland in 1966.
Orienteering in the U. S.
Orienteering was introduced to the United States by Piltti Heiskanen, a Finnish Army officer, who organized meets at Dartmouth College from 1941 to 1943.
Another pioneer was Bjorn Kjellstrom, who moved from Sweden to the U.S. in 1946 and began organizing orienteering events for Boy Scouts. Beginning in 1965, Kellstrom also established compass and map reading programs at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation near New York City.
But it was Harald Wibye of Norway who established orienteering competition in North America. Wibye spent two years promoting the sport. In the spring of 1967 he helped to organize Canada's first meets in Quebec and Ontario.
On November 5, Wibye staged the first U. S. orienteering event at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where he also founded the Delaware Valley Orienteering Association.
Meanwhile, orienteering had been added to the training program at the U. S. Marine Corps Physical Fitness Academy at Quantico, Virginia. Wibye helped organize Quantico's first public competition on July 12, 1968. Also in 1968, he laid out a course at Pound Ridge.
The first U. S. championship meet was hosted in 1970 by Southern Illinois University. That led to the founding of the U. S. Orienteering Federation the following year.
Types of Orienteering
Several different types of orienteering competition have evolved over the years.
They have several elements in common: The course is over natural terrain and it's marked by a number of control points. Working with map and compass, competitors have to find their way over the course, checking in at each control point.
The original version is now known as foot or cross-country orienteering, to differentiate it from ski orienteering and mountain bike, or MTB, orienteering, which are pretty much self-explanatory.
In addition to the various methods of traveling around the course, there are several methods of determining the winner.
The traditional type of race is known as free or point orienteering. Competitors start at intervals, typically one minute apart, and each has to check in at the same control points in the same sequence. The fastest time wins.
Route orienteering is actually a mapping exercise, often used as training for novices. There are two variations. In the first, a master leads a group of trainees on a walk over the course and the trainees trace the route on their maps as they proceed, circling the location of the control points as they reach them. After the finish, the maps are analyzed and graded.
In the second variation, the course is labeled by flags or other markers and the competitors have to follow it. The winner is the competitor who accurately plots the most control points on his or her map.
Line orienteering is also frequently used as training. The competitor traces the route on his or her own map, using a master map, then walks the route and circles the control points on the map as they are found.
Score orienteering is the most complex type of competition. There are many control points, each with a point value. Generally speaking, the control points nearest the start have low values, while those that are farther away or more difficult to find have higher values. The competitors try to accumulate as many points as possible within a given period of time, usually 90 minutes.
Trail orienteering, the newest variation, focuses on map reading rather than speed of movement to allow anyone, even someone with limited mobility, to compete. Competitors are allowed to use manual or electric wheelchairs and walking sticks; physical assistance from another person is also permissible.
At each control point, there are several different markers. By reading the map and the surrounding terrain, the competitor must decided which marker is the actual control point. The person who identifies the most control points correctly is the winner. In case of a tie, the winner is the competitor who required the least total time to make the decisions.