Mapping is the one of the most rewarding and enjoyable roles. Not only does it improve your navigation skills, but it can also provide you with a different and new type of orienteering challenge.  

The British Orienteering E-Learning Mapping Courses, Introduction to updating Forest Mapping and Introduction to Sprint and Urban Mapping , developed with the expertise of David Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) and the educational robustness  of Pauline Olivant (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club) .

Both courses are based around learners having access to either of the two most widely used mapping programs, Open Orienteering Mapper and OCAD.

We strongly advise that you seek an experienced mapper as a mentor to support you through your journey towards being a competent mapper.

Both courses are based on updating an existing map and rather than creating a new map from a previously unmapped area.

Course objectives

• To provide an introduction and basic understanding of the processes involved in how to update and amend an existing Orienteering map.

The course content is designed to only address the course objective rather than attempting to cover the full scope of Mapping. As we recognise that Mapping is a skill that takes much time and practice to hone.

The course should only take around 45- 60 mins to complete and for the whole of May is only £6.00

To access the course and find out more information about our other E-Learning courses, please visit the E-Learning homepage.

Interested in learning about our other E-Learning courses on offer? Visit the E-Learning homepage and access information on all the other resources we provide.

AIRE and CLARO look forward to seeing you all at the British Middle Championships this coming weekend. 

You have entered in greater numbers than we anticipated, but we have adapted to cater for you all as best we can.  Both Danefield and Kilnsey Moor is a lovely places in the Spring sunshine and we really hope the weather is kind so that you can enjoy it at its best.  The technical woodland of Danefield is in sharp contrast to the fast open areas of Kilnsey.  You should enjoy some great orienteering on both days.  Str8 compasses is sponsoring a lot of prizes for the Northern Championships and the British Middles so run well and good luck.

Start times and final details are published, maps are printed and lots of equipment is ready to move.  No controls are out yet, but we have been busy at Kilnsey as you may be able to see from a picture.  There are a variety of crossing points on Kilnsey Moor – many of you will only encounter this one.  There are no stiles to cross at Danefield you’ll be relieved to know.

We will be able to accommodate you all in the parking areas for both events, but as always, it would help if you car shared as much as possible.  The Danefield field has remained in good condition throughout the winter, but as some rain has been forecast over the coming days we will have some tracking available.  Kilnsey has the delight of hard standing in the quarry.  We can’t promise that you will keep your feet dry, but at least cars should not get stuck in the mud as might have happened at some recent events.  We’re hoping that’s true for Danefield.  Definitely true for Kilnsey!

Anyone wanting to carry a club tent to Danefield, could reduce the distance to carry the tent by 800m by using the drop off point suggested in the event details.  It would need to be a rapid drop-off as there are often no parking bays available. They are all quite uneven, and the road is very narrow.  To get back to the parking field it is best to not attempt a 5 point turn but to drive in an anti-clockwise route with LH turns for 2.5k to get back to the parking field.  This should take no morfme than 5 minutes.

Have a great weekend.

_________________________________________________________________

Full details on the British Middle Championships are available via this link. Visit the CLARO website for more details regarding the Northern Championships. Good luck to everyone taking part!

As agreed at the AGM 2023, from 1 May 2024 British Orienteering would like to offer an exclusive part-year Membership to new members.

New members are individuals who have not been members of British Orienteering in any of the previous four calendar years.

Part year membership fees 2024

Seniors – £10

Young adults – £7.50

Juniors – £3.00

Families – £25.00 (all members must be new members and not on the database to take up this offer).

No memberships will be merged with existing memberships.

Please note from 1 January 2025, any “new” members will need to renew their membership for 2025.

Find out more about how to join online today. 

The shortest race of the week was awaiting the riders for the final race, with the fast and furious setting of a military base interspersed with some scrubland areas. The terrain allowed for some very fast riding, with a decent part of the course being ridden on asphalt.

The first part of the course was technically easy with very few mistakes being made and time gaps simply being down to riding speed. As the riders approached the 2^nd map there were a few longer route choice legs for the men whilst the women had a lot of short legs where concentration needed to be kept high, especially around an area with a number of staircases on possible route choice. Moving onto the 2^nd map a few riders were caught out by an enforced uncrossable fence before the men picked their way through the short control pick section and the women made their quickly back to the last section of the course. This final part was around the buildings of the military base which was relatively simple, but one leg caught a number of riders out where the overprint obscured some map detail although any mistakes made were minimal. The nature of the area meant any mistakes were going to be costly as the riding speed was so high, with each mistake costing riders a number of places.

The women’s race was led by Marika Hara of Finland through the early part, hitting the control pick section with a 10 second advantage over Martina Tichovska and Veronika Kubinova of Czech Republic and compatriot Haga of Finland who held a slender advantage over a number of other riders closely packed together, including Great Britain’s Clare Dallimore in 10^th place. By the map exchange Hara had maintained her gap over Tichovska who had pulled away from the chasing pack by a further 10 seconds whilst Clare had moved up a few places to 7^th, although a mistake straight after the map exchange lost valuable time for her. Coming through the spectator ride through Hara had been overtaken by Tichovska and Finnish rider Saarinen, with Soegaard of Denmark having moved through into 4^th place with just 8 seconds separating the top 4 riders, Clare having slipped a couple of places to 9^th. With riders racing flat out there was always a risk of a lapse in concentration, and Tichovska succumbed with a mistake to the last control allowing Saarinen through to take her first win at a World Champs, 9 seconds ahead of Tichovska and Soegaard who finished quickly to take joint 2^nd. This gave Tichovska her 5^th medal of the championships, gaining 2 golds and 3 silvers!