Beginning Orienteering
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This is an online course to show how to do orienteering; it is aimed at a teenage audience.  The course consists of a series of videos to explain to someone who knows nothing about the sport how to do orienteering at the beginner level.  As a resource for more information than is contained in the videos, it is recommended that you look at the website of the Western PA Orienteering Club  There you will find under the Information/Education menu various helpful elements:  a FAQ, a description of how an event works, downloadable maps, and links to other resources.  Under the Social Media menu, you can check out other videos or newspaper articles about orienteering.

Before we get to the instructional parts, you may want to look at an overview video.  Here is an 11-minute video giving you the big picture of orienteering.  Note that the video was made in 1988, originally on video tape and is a bit grainy.  However, you should find it worth your time.  The video is called   Orienteering All Welcome

Now for the instruction.  For each video, there is a brief description of what it is about and its length.  All of the videos are on YouTube so they can be viewed any time.  It is highly recommended that you look at the videos on a laptop or desktop computer and not on a phone; a tablet might be OK if it is big enough.  Most of the videos contain references to things that are small, even on a  laptop screen; on a  phone, they  would be all but invisible.  It is intended that you view the videos in the sequence listed below; it will make more sense if you do.
  1. Introduction (6:10)

    2. Introduces the instructor, Jim Wolfe, the Western PA Orienteering Club and the global scope of orienteering.  Then, provides an overview of how the instruction will proceed.  Incidentally, to contact Jim, you can send e-mail to  jlwolfe@atlanticbb.net   or call him at 814 255-6606 (home phone, no text) or 814 619-5401 (cell phone, he can receive text but is really bad at sending it).

  2.  Orienteering Maps (15:18)

    3. Orienteering maps are very detailed topographic maps which are drawn to exacting international standards.  It is essential to understand the difference between orienteering maps and park maps, trail maps or USGS maps to effectively participate in the sport.  As you view this video, it would be best if you had an actual orienteering map in your hand.  You can download a map of some of the same area as shown in the video here:  Sample map  One of the map components discussed in the video is the legend; you can download the legend shown in the video here:  Legend  If you download and print the sample map and legend, be sure to print them with no scaling so that the sizes of things shown in the video match what your printouts show.  One of the elements of an orienteering map is the contour lines.  If you didn't understand how they work from the comments in the Orienteering Maps video, you might want to look at this short video about contour lines:  Contours (2:33)  

    Here are a few notes about things that were not said in the Orienteering Maps video:  1)  The two most common scales for orienteering maps are 1:10000 (1 cm on map = 100 m in the forest) and 1:15000 (1 cm = 150 m).  For small parks, the scale may be 1:7500 (1 cm = 75 m) or 1:5000 ( 1 cm = 50 m) or even 1:4000 (1 cm = 40 m).  2)  Aside from their standardization, the symbols used to show various features on an orienteering map have an interesting attribute - they are recognizable even when the map is upside-down or sideways.  This is beneficial because when orienteering it is equally likely that you will be holding the map right-side-up, upside down or sideways.  3) Orienteering maps do not label roads, trails, buildings, etc.  This is because the orienteer is expected to navigate around a course using only the map and compass, not signs that may appear in various places.  4)  Orienteering maps do not show any coordinates or a grid or the location of true north; none of these are needed because we are not using GPS.  5)  The difference between true north and magnetic north (known as declination) is almost 10 degrees where we are in western PA.
  3. The Compass (3:21)

    4. There are two types of compasses commonly used in orienteering:  the base-plate compass, mostly used by beginner through intermediate level orienteers, and the thumb compass, often the choice of advanced orienteers.  The video discusses only the base-plate compass.  We will focus only on how to use the base-plate compass to orient an orienteering map.  There are other ways to use a compass;  one other way will be discussed in the auxiliary material at the end. Incidentally, a compass often has a string or lanyard attached to it; this is so you can hang it around your neck or tie it to your wrist when it is not being used. Just for comparison purposes, here is an image of a  Thumb Compass

  4. How Orienteering Works (What a Course Looks Like)

    5. The short version of how orienteering works is that a person starts at a given location and goes to a series of locations that are marked in the forest and on the map and then goes to a specified ending location.  The series of locations is called a "course."  The Course on a Map (6:53) video discusses what the course looks like on the map and what the person does as  s/he goes around it.  The Approaching a Control on a Course  (2:51) video shows what a person does when reaching a control point (one of the specified locations to visit); this video shows manual punching.  More and more, orienteering events are  moving away from manual punching and going to electronic punching, the Electronic Punching (1:13) video shows how that works.  The course format discussed so far in this section is called cross-country; such courses are like races with the fastest time winning if you are competitive.  There is another fairly common format for orienteering;it is called score.  In this form, there is a time limit and participants try to accumulate points; here is a description:  Score Format (3:11)

  5. How to Orient an Orienteering Map

    6. This is a discussion of how to orient a map and why that is the key to "terrain association" - the principal skill needed to do orienteering effectively.  The Orienting the Map (3:50) video shows how to orient an orienteering map to magnetic north; it also illustrates the most common error people make when trying to orient a map.  The Using an Oriented Map (4:05) video shows how you use an oriented map to get to a  control point and includes illustrations of terrain association.  If the illustration in the second video about standing behind the triangle and facing the first control didn't make sense, you can look at it the way I show young kids:  1) Make a fist; 2) Stick out your index finger; 3) Hold the large knuckle of your index finger on the map where you are (the triangle) and use the finger to point to where you want to go (control #1).  Here is an illustration .  Then, go in the direction that your finger is pointing.

  6. As You Go Around a Course

    7. Once you have your map oriented and have yourself pointed in the right direction, you need to go around the course to each of the controls.  The  Using Your Thumb (2:08) shows you how to do that.  It is important that you keep the map oriented, preferably most of the time and at a minimum at each control so you can get to the next control.  This is so that you can do terrain association as you go along and therefore be able to recognize how far you have gone at any given time.  Note:  I have had people who got this instruction in person, went on a beginner course and came back saying that they didn't use their compass at all after they left the start.  They thought they either didn't need the compass or did something wrong.  My response is always, "Excellent!" because that means they were able to maintain the orientation of the map that they oriented at the start and able to do terrain association as they went along.  This is exactly what a beginning orienteer's goal should be.
Exercises

If you understood most of what you saw in the videos above and in the text describing them, you are ready to do orienteering.  Two orienteering exercises are available: one in Yellow Creek State Park and one in Stackhouse Park.  Before describing the two exercises, let's be clear on a few things.  1)  Orienteering can be done individually or in groups.  If you are doing it in a group, you should keep the group small (2 or 3 people); when the groups get larger than this, the group tends to develop one leader and the rest followers.  You should have everyone participating in the orienteering activities described above; take turns letting each person find the way to a control.  2)  Parks are not playgrounds - Yellow Creek has some very thick vegetation; Stackhouse Park has quite steep hill sides. Both have some mosquitos, possibly some ticks and definitely a few nasty plants. Yellow Creek has poison ivy and briars; Stackhouse has stinging nettles; here is a photo of Stinging Nettle and here is a closeup The little hairs you see on the stems are like cactus needles; when they touch your bear skin, you will not like the sensation.  3)  Wear appropriate clothing - pants that cover your legs and shoes that cover your feet; and use insect repellent.

Exercise #1 begins and ends at the North Shore Pavilion in Yellow Creek S.P.; here are driving directions. Exercise #2 begins and ends at the Ranger's station in Stackhouse Park; as you enter the park from Luzerne St, the Ranger's station is on your right just down the hill a little.  Here are driving directions to Stackhouse.

Exercise #1  -  Beginner's Cross Country Course

Here is the map for the First Course it should be printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper with no scaling.  The scale of the map is 1:10000 (1 cm on the map = 100 meters in the forest); the contour interval is 5 meters.  You also need a punch card; this next link is to an image of four punch cards, in case you need more than one:  punch card  There are 9 controls on this beginner-level course; they are to be visited in sequence.  Start by orienting the map.  You can time yourself if you want to. This course is one of the two permanent courses at Yellow Creek. You may want to read about permanent orienteering courses before trying this exercise - see text below. Controls are marked with a small red and white 4-inch plastic square on a 4x4 wood post. The markers each have a control number and a letter on them; here is the image of a control marker. There is no punching; to prove you have been to a control, write the letter shown on the marker in the square on the punch card whose number is on the marker - for the one in the image, you would put an R in square 8. This is a permanent course; it has existed since 2011 and may be used at any time.

Exercise #2  - Score Course

This exercise uses part of the permanent orienteering course that is in Stackhouse Park.  The permanent course is a score course and has 20 controls; this exercise uses 9 of them.  Here is the map for the Score Course Exercise; it should be be printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper like the exercise #1 map.  The scale of the map is 1:7500 (1 cm on the map = 75 meters in the forest); the contour interval is 5 meters.  If you didn't look at the Score Format video above, you should do so before trying this exercise. You may also want to read about permanent orienteering courses before trying exercise #2; see the text below.  The map has no legend; you can print the legend here.  Controls are marked with a small red and white 4-inch plastic square on top of a stainless steel  rod.  Here is the image of a control marker it is one that is on this course.  This is a score course; so you may visit the controls in any order that you want.  And because this is part of the permanent course, there is no limitations on when you try the course; it has been in place since 2006 and will be well into the future.  You may note in the control descriptions that the controls do not have equal point values; B, D and E are easy controls (5 points)  then come harder controls up to L and M (20 points).  You may keep your own score and time yourself if you want.  There is no punching, no verification; you are on your honor regarding whether or not you visit any control.  
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It is highly recommended if you plan to do both exercises, that you do exercise #1 first; it is the easier of the two.  If you have any comments about the instruction or the two courses, I would like to read them.  Just send me an e-mail or a text.  If you are interested in doing more orienteering in the future, I recommend that you check out the schedule of upcoming orienteering events offered by the Western PA Orienteering Club.

Don't think that after viewing the videos above and doing one or both exercises  that you have learned all there is to know about orienteering.  There are many advanced orienteering techniques that are not covered in this instruction, for example  aiming off, route choice, rough orienteering, contouring, etc.  It is absolutely essential that you actually do orienteering to really learn it.  After all, do you think you can play golf or go bowling or play tennis after just watching it on TV.  The goal of this instruction is to prepare you to do orienteering at the beginner or novice level.  And orienteering is like any sport; in order to get good at it, you must practice.  You do that by going to orienteering events and trying out permanent courses where they exist.

Auxiliary Information:

Permanent Courses:  The instruction above has been based on orienteering at an event like those the Western PA Orienteering Club offers to the public.  Specifically, the control flags and the punch mechanisms are from such events.  It is possible to do orienteering without going to an event because there are several permanent courses set up in parks around the area.  You can find information about the permanent courses at Permanent Courses  The key difference between a permanent course and an event course is in how the control is marked in the forest.  Here is an example of  a control marker on a permanent course; this one is from one of the courses at Yellow Creek State Park The marker is a 4-inch plastic square, half red and half white with a letter and an number on it.  Markers such as this are placed on posts of some kind; it the example, the post is a 4x4.  Neither manual nor electronic punches can be use on permanent courses because they would disappear over time.  Instead, the plastic marker has a control number on it and a letter that the orienteer is expected to write on their control card to prove they have been to the control.  Maps for such courses along with control cards and instructions can be found at the link to Permanent courses.  Note:  Not all permanent courses work in the same way with regard to proving that you have been to the right controls; the instructions for each permanent course describe how that course's verification is handled.

Taking a Bearing:  As you gain experience orienteering, you may want to move up to courses that offer more of a challenge than the beginner course..  As you saw in the Course on the Map video, more challenging courses are longer and have controls that are not directly reachable by using trails or open areas.  When you need to get from one control to another with no trail to help, you can do that by taking a bearing.  Taking a bearing involves using the compass in a different way.  The Taking a Bearing (4:32) video illustrates the technique.  The key element after getting the compass set is to keep holding the compass like it is growing out of your chest with the red end of the needle on N and the direction of travel arrow is pointed straight in front of you.  When you find yourself slightly off course, you must not turn the compass; you must redirect your body so that things line up again.  If you can do that, you will be moving toward the control you are going for.  A second video Following a Bearing (1:52) discusses how to follow a bearing through the forest.

Measuring Distance:  The Measuring Distance (2:01) video shows how to easily measure distance on a map and translate that into a distance in the forest.  But you need to know how to measure distance in the forest so you know when you have gone the distance you measured on the map.  You can do this using pace counting.  One pace is two steps, one with each foot.  Each person's pace is a little different in length because their legs are different lengths.  You need to determine how many paces it takes for you to cover 100 m in the forest.  Start by going to either a football field or a standard track.  The distance from one goal post to another plus one end zone is 110 yards which is almost exactly 100 m.  In a normal manner, walk this length and count how many times you right foot hits the ground; you should get a number between about 55 and 75.  Whatever it is; this is your own pace count.  Let's assume for illustration that your number is 60 for 100 m.  Then to cover a distance of 240 m (one of the video examples), you need to take approximately 2.4 x 60 or 144  paces.  [By the way, a standard track is 440 yards (400 m) around.  Walk it and divide your paces by 4 to get your count for 100 m.]

Note that it said approximately 144 paces.  The problem is that several factors can cause your pace count to be wrong when in the forest.  When you are tired, your steps are shorter.  When you are going uphill, your steps are shorter; and when you go downhill, your steps are also shorter (if they weren't you would fall on your face).   Finally, when you are going through brushy vegetation or tall grass, your steps are shorter.  The measurement you made at the football field should not be regarded as valid for all situations; it is a basis for determining how many more paces might be needed in ideal conditions. You must adjust the count to reflect the conditions you are encountering.  There is no magic formula to tell you how to adjust for the conditions; it is something you must learn through your own experiences.

Finally, if you want to move faster than a walk while orienteering, you should probably get two pace counts, one while walking and one while running.  If you do the running one, don't try to do it at  top speed; there are very few places in the forest where you can run at top speed.  Try something closer to a jog.

Glossary:  I have tried to keep the orienteering jargon to a minimum in presenting this course.  However, I know that I did use several terms that are, for the most part, used only in orienteering or have distinct meanings when used in the context of orienteering.  Here is a link to a short glossary of Orienteering Terms   There are more terms in the glossary than I have mentioned in passing; but many of the terms are commonly used by orienteers to talk about courses.