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BEGINNER MAP READING
SKILLS
Orienteering
maps may seem a bit bewildering to folks who have
never used a topographical map. Take heart. In this
section, and in the beginner instruction offered at
our local meets, we talk you though the basic map
reading skills:
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| Five
Colors
Orienteering
maps use five standard colors. Click on the map image to see
samples.
Blue - water features like lakes,
ponds and streams.
Black - man-made objects or rock
features like roads, trails, buildings, cliffs, boulders.
White - open woods you could run
through
Green - thick vegetation (light
green)
or fight (dark green) that you might want to avoid
Yellow - open land, semi-open
land, where you can look up and see the sky like fields or power
lines.
Brown - land features like earth
banks or contours
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click on image |
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| Scale
Scale refers to the
relationship between the size of the map and the actual size of
area that is mapped, or relative distance. On a 1:10,000 scale,
one of any unit on the map equals 10,000 of the same unit on
the ground. Orienteering typically uses "meters" to
measure distance.
When you first start
Orienteering, one way to simplify scale is to use your thumb to
measure the distance between two easy to find points, like the
start and end of a parking lot. Then walk that distance and
count how many times your left foot hits the ground -- 1 thumb's
width equal 80 paces. This gives you an easy way to
"eyeball" the relative distance on your map. GAOC
maps use a common scale of either 1:15,000 or 1:10,000.
The scale is marked on the map along with a ruler that measures
100 meter increments. |
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| Legend
Orienteering maps
use the International Orienteering Federation's standard mapping symbols to describe the details on the
map. This information can be found in the map's legend, as in
the sample to the right.
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click on image |
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| Contours Contour
lines and the brown squiggly lines you see on the map. They
represent elevation in the landscape. As a beginner, you only
need to know that the closer the lines are together the steeper
the landscape. |
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| Orienteering
Course
You already learned that the Orienteering
course is marked with circles (see Orienteering
map), but there are a few more symbols used to mark the
Orienteering course:
 | Triangle marks the location of the start |
| Double circle marks the location of the
finish |
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| Orienting
the Map
When you use a
traditional road map, you keep it turned so that the writing is
face up, like a newspaper. But with an Orienteering map, you
orient the map so that the features on the map are lined up with
the same features on the ground.
For example, if you
were at control number 4 and going to control number 5 you would
hold your map:
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not like
this |
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| Thumbing
The best way to keep
track of where you've been and where you're going is with your
thumb. Just fold your map so most of it is out of the way,
except for the control your at and the control your going to.
Hold your map so your thumb is on top, at your current location.
Then move your thumb to your current location as your travel
your route to your next control.
In other words...Say
you were going from Control 4 to Control 5 in the map above.
Since your a beginner, you'll use large land forms to keep track
of where you're at. You'll walk along the shore line till you
come to an indistinct trail. Move your thumb there on the
map. Next you'll go to a stream, a distinct trail and
another stream. As you arrive at each of these points, you'll
move your thumb to the points on the map. |
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| Compass
The compass is used primarily to orient your
map to North. Otherwise, put your
compass away and navigate using the map. You don't need to
take headings until you get to the Orange course. |
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Georgia
Orienteering Club - www.gaorienteering.org |
