Glossary
Aiming off: A technique in which one deliberately tries to go to
a feature that is to one side of the control location, rather that
directly to the control. Useful in more advanced orienteering.
Attack point: A location from which one makes his/her final
approach to a control; should be a feature which s/he is absolutely
sure is one on the map and near the control. Useful for everyone.
Bearing: The exact direction of something from where you are.
Could be stated as a degree relative to magnetic north; but is
usually talked about as following the direction of travel arrow.
Bingo control: A control which cannot be reached with certainty
using normal techniques, one that requires trial and error to locate.
Cairn: A man-made (not natural) rock pile or a stone used as a
boundary marker. Shown as a black circle with a dot in the middle.
Catching feature: A large distinct feature that is in the same
direction as the control one is approaching but is on the opposite side
of the control; it is meant to stop someone if s/he misses the control
and goes to far.
Contouring: A technique in which one tries to stay at the same
elevation, i.e., following a contour line. Useful in advanced
orienteering.
Copse: A small group of trees in an open or rough open area; the
group may be as small as two trees. Shown as a green circle.
Fight: Dense vegetation, often dark green on the map or at least medium green.
Form line: A contour line between two normal contour lines, used
to show a distinct change in the land shape that is not captured by the
two normal contour lines. Shown on the map as a dashed brown line.
Go control: The last control before the finish.
Handrail: A linear feature such as a trail, stream, fence or edge
of open area that one can use as a guide to get to a control.
Useful for everyone.
Knoll: A very small hill, sometimes as little as one meter high. Shown as a brown dot.
Man-made object: Something made by people that does not have a
specific orienteering map symbol, for example playground equipment,
bird feeders, benches, light poles.
Out of bounds: An area into which you are not allowed to go, usually because it is private land or protected.
Reentrant: A sharp bend in a contour (or sequence of
contours), an indicator of where a stream or ditch might start. A
feature used as control location in advanced orienteering.
Ride: A linear opening through the forest, often the result of a
buried water, sewer or electrical line; may also be a remnant of an old
logging road. Shown as a long, thin, dashed, black line.
Rough orienteering: A technique of heading in the general
direction of the next control or attack point and using the terrain
features alone to keep you in the right direction, not strictly
following a bearing.
Seasonal (Indistinct) marsh: A marsh that is present only part of the year. Shown with dashed blue lines.
Seasonal stream: A stream that may only flow part of the year,
usually in Spring; such a stream is typically small, perhaps one meter
wide or less. Shown as a dashed blue line.
Spur: An area that sticks out from a hillside, recognizable by bending contours.
Thicket: An area of denser vegetation, often dark green on a map or at least darker green than the surrounding area.
Tree line: [Not a standard term] A linear series of planted
trees. Shown as a sequence of green dots (each dot is not one
tree).