The art of orienteering - Module 10

C1 Advanced · Multiple Matching · Advanced Expert Student's Resource Book, Pearson Education

You are going to read an article about the sport of orienteering. For questions 1–10, choose from the sections (A-D). The sections may be chosen more than once.

The aim of orienteering is to navigate cross-country between a series of points marked on a map in the fastest time possible, and it has a growing fan base. I attended a club event which offers courses at a range of levels. The easiest is simple to follow, safe for families with young children and has control points at every turn, whereas the most challenging is physically demanding and navigationally complex – think military-level map skills. I'm competing on the 2.5-kilometre moderate 'orange' course and although the length is the direct distance between the nine control points, the distance you actually travel might be considerably more. 'Most people can run much quicker than they can map-read, at least when they're starting out,' says Ian, one of the friendly marshals at the registration tent. 'If you can do a kilometre in ten minutes, you know what you're doing.' Ian reckons the Orange should take newbies like me an hour.

The set-up for taking part in an orienteering event is simple. I've brought my own compass, but hire an electronic 'dibber' card that will record my arrival time at each control point and the organisers provide the map. Because I'm a beginner, Ian gives me a few tips on technique: 'Orientate the map first, then move yourself and have an idea of what distance you need to travel to the next feature – it's easy to overshoot and lose your bearings. Always report back to the start or finish, even if you don't complete the course. Otherwise you'll raise a "missing-person" alert and the organisers will send out a search party.' An orienteering map isn't entirely intuitive. Woodland is marked as white unless it's dense woodland, which is green. Fields are yellow, earthworks are brown, green stripes mean 'undergrowth – slow run', narrow green stripes are 'undergrowth – fight'. I like a map legend with a sense of humour. There's no mass start in orienteering. Competitors set off at timed intervals. I get ten countdown beeps and set off. I align the map with north, twiddle myself around and identify the path I need to follow into the woods to get to Control 1, an orange and white flag.

There are two elements to getting lost: the first is realising, the second is to work out where you actually are. Five minutes later, when I fail to reach my first goal, I stop, check the compass, make sure I'm not holding the map upside down and scrutinise the terrain. I discover I'm closer to Control 7 than Control 1, so retrace my steps downhill, almost back to the beginning. There go my vainglorious hopes of beginners' triumph. But the sun is shining, the woodland is beautiful and I decide that going the long way around is surely part of the fun. I work out the direction and distance to the next point. Control 2 is only a few hundred metres away, tucked out of view in a little natural hollow off the path, but I find it pretty quickly. My delight is childlike – I found the treasure! I feel a deep sense of satisfaction. I've never paid as much attention to intersecting paths and changes of shrubbery as today. My senses are attuned, the blood is flowing through the grey matter as much as it is through my legs. I spot fellow orienteering fans navigating their way through the woodland in different directions. It's a lovely way to enjoy the countryside.

As I 'dib' the finish, sweaty and triumphant, I see my first stab at orienteering has taken just under 65 minutes. Without that initial detour, I'd have been well inside my one-hour target. The gauntlet is laid down: I'm hooked. Finishing ahead of us are a family who took an hour to walk the shorter 'white' course, stopping en route for a picnic in the woods; rushing up behind us is an elite runner who's completed the eight-kilometre 'brown' course with 22 checkpoints in 50 minutes. Orienteering can be the adventure sport you want it to be. There's the thrill of the treasure hunt, the physical challenge of heading out cross-country over unprepared ground. It exercises both mind and body, is both sociable and inexpensive and, if my club is anything to go by, incredibly welcoming to newcomers.

The art of orienteering

Our reporter gets her first taste of the sport.

the typical skills profile of a novice at the sport?

being advised of the best way to avoid getting lost?

a growing awareness of certain features of the landscape?

the need to bear an important safety requirement in mind?

proof that her choice of course had been appropriate?

seeking to justify an error of judgement?

another context to give an idea of the level of challenge in one course?

a way of measuring the aptitude of individuals for the activity?

seeing participants adopting very different attitudes towards the activity?

being amused by the use of certain terminology?

In which section does the writer mention

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