Orienteering Description Symbols

Although the descriptions are written out in English for beginners' courses, those for intermediate and advanced courses are usually given as symbols in a table format. This makes them more compact and specific than a written description, as well as having the advantage of being easily understood all over the world. Although these symbols may look like hieroglyphics at first to the inexperienced orienteer, the system can be mastered quite quickly once the symbols on the map are understood.

The example description sheet shown here begins with the name of the orienteering location and the type of competition (first row), followed by some class designations (second row). Next a course designation, Red, referring to the colour-coding of the course (i.e. its associated level of difficulty) is given. The second entry in this row is the length of the course in kilometers or meters (in this case, 4750m), which is always measured as the minimum distance an orienteer would have to travel to complete the course (in other words, along a straight line except where an obstacle such as a lake or out-of-bounds area forces a deviation from that line). The third entry in this row is the climb of the course in meters (in this case, 95m), as measured along the "ideal" route by the course planner. Each succeeding line in the description list describes the location of a control, while the final line describes the approach to the finish from the final control.

For example:

Column A: The control number (in this case, the fourth control on the course)
Column B: The control code appearing at or near the flag (49)
Column C: Which of several similar features (the middle one)
Column D: The feature (a boulder)
Column E: Details of the feature's appearance
Column F: Dimensions of the feature (1.5m high)
Column G: Location of the control marker (on the north side)
Column H: Other information (drinks/refreshments available)