Have you wondered what all those little clue symbols mean? Or need to brush up from last season? Here’s an easy to use control description 1-pager, used with permission from, and developed by Mike Minium of OCIN.
Category: Orienteering
Join the Orienteering for Beginners event to learn about the sport of orienteering, how to work the map and compass, and ultimately, how to be successful on a beginner course.
A bit chilly, with temps in the 40s, didn’t seem to stop any of the participants on Saturday’s event at Manatoc Scout Reservation. At 11:10AM, at least 25 scouts were ready and waiting to go out seeking controls, and had to be diverted for a few minutes while we got all the paperwork in order, and finished setting up the registrar’s table and e-Punch timing system.
Join us for some fun at the Brecksville Metropark with plenty of courses to go around, including white & yellow (short, beginner), orange (intermediate beginner), and green and red (advanced, longer), all designed by Fred Mailey. From the Event Director, Mark Stypczynski: “The terrain will be hilly and there will be plenty of mud for everyone.”
Andreas Johansson from NEOOC describes how to overlay your GPS track (from a Garmin device) on a map, and how to adjust the track.
We were just getting started with 30 pre-registered scouts, when 12 more showed up to learn about orienteering! A few more tables and chairs later, and we were all learning about the basics of orienteering. Some of the requirements for the Boy Scout Merit Badge for orienteering were covered, and scouts practiced taking compass bearings, taking their pace count, and about land forms, orienteering map features, and some of the basic techniques an orienteer uses while on a course. Click to read more…
We had a great turnout for the first time using the Kenston Campus & Woods map (mapped by NEOOC’s Bob Boltz). With all courses available, from WHITE 1km to RED 6.9km, we had something to offer for everyone, and were able to find the right level of challenge and distance for all that attended. Click on the post for all the details.
O-Skills: Using Handrails
Using handrails is an easy way to get from one control to the next. A handrail is a feature you can easily follow out in the woods, like a trail, water feature, distinct contour line (like running along a ridge line), or something similar. In the example below, the trail acts as the handrail from control 1 to control 2.
The Kenston Campus packs a lot into its quarter square mile of area. In addition to a 26 acre very runnable woods with a mile of trail, there are several smaller wooded areas, ponds lots of oddly shaped buildings & athletic fields, lots of boulders and even a very large windmill. You will find the full array of cross country courses from a 1 km beginner course to a 7 km advanced course. Because the venue is so complex, the navigation is challenging and fast with lots of route choices.
Wake up your body! Come run some short and fun courses at beautiful Manatoc. You can run one, or all three. Each course is quick, fast, and will let you ease in to this year’s orienteering schedule.