British Orienteering

Route Choice

You will complete your course quicker if you choose the optimum route between controls (Route Choice). 

By using the map, legend and control description sheet, imagine you are trying to navigate from control 3 to 4.

orienteering image

You will have found control 3 (Knoll, E. side) just before the major road. Just to be sure, check the code (31) matches your control description sheet and use the punch to confirm that you have been to that control. Now it is your choice how to get to Control 4. You could use any route, but the three most obvious are:

  • Go north up the road until you reach a path on your right. Follow this until it passes through a gap in the fence and then continue along a wide ride. When you reach the vehicle track, turn right (south-east) and follow it for 150 metres, bringing you to Control 4, code 77.
  • This time you go to your right (due east) across the rough open land until you reach the fence bend. Follow the short section of the fence until a wide ride is reached at the next bend in the fence. Now follow the ridge as it curves around to the left. Upon reaching the vehicle track, go left for 250 metres until you come to control 4.
     
  • The first two ways involved following tracks and rides, but you could follow a more direct route using a compass and go straight across the rough open land and through the open forest until you reach the vehicle track. If you do, it will be best to ‘aim-off’ to the left, so you will know that you need to turn right to Control 4 when you reach the vehicle track. If you aim straight for the control but can’t see it when you reach the track, you won’t know which way to turn. Although slightly longer and a bit slower, aiming-off can save time in the long run.

Please remember that whether you visit all the controls or not, you must always report to the finish. This is the golden rule of orienteering, preventing unnecessary searching for ‘missing’ competitors.