The North West Orienteering Association

Orienteering

Orienteering is a sport where competitors navigate their way round over varied terrain, visiting a set number of control points in a given order. Special orienteering maps are used with the start, finish and control sites clearly marked. Competitors navigate the course in the order set out on the map and register at each control with a control card. Most events now use an electronic timing system where an "e-card" is carried on the course but some events still use the older system of punching holes in a card. All controls on the course must be visited in the correct order and results will be displayed near the car-park area as soon as possible (also on the organising club's website a few days later)

At most orienteering events courses are provided for all levels of ability and all age groups. Experienced orienteers are catered for by longer and more technically challenging courses. The sport is open to everyone - most clubs have members who are not yet out of junior school and some who are in their seventies! Many families take part.

Normally there is an orienteering event held somewhere in the North West on most weekends - usually on Sunday morning. In spring/early summer there are also small local events held on mid week evenings. North West Orienteering publish, every two months, a list of all events in the North West. These are also listed in the Fixtures page on this site. Check the club's web sites for the latest information on small local events.

Junior orienteers are welcome at practically all events and can be followed round their course at low-key ones. The region hosts a number of schools championships, leagues and inter-county matches and for experienced and promising juniors there is the North West Junior Squad which meets every month for training and has had great success at the Inter-Regional Championships.

Other orienteering disciplines exist - for example mountain bike orienteering - but also ski, trail-o (suitable for disabled competitors) and even canoe-o. Foot-orienteering remains the most popular in Britain.