Orienteering is a sport that involves land navigation over unfamiliar terrain with a map and a compass. The object is to run, walk, ski, or mountain bike to a series of points shown on the map, called control points, choosing routes, both on and off established trails, that will allow the orienteer to find all the points and get back to the finish in the shortest amount of elapsed time. The length of a course can run from a mile or less for novice-level events, to four or miles for international competitions.                                 Orienteering involves the participant in in a wide range of useful skills, including environmental awareness, physical fitness, map reading skills, compass usage, mental visualization, decision-making, leadership, and small-group competition. Since the object is to find as many control markers as possible in the least amount of time, in the most rigorous form it is a highly competitive race that requires endurance, speed, accuracy, and mental decisiveness on the part of each competitor.

If you like to be outdoors, run, get dirty, get temporarily lost, have loads of fun, and meet interesting people, then you just might be a great addition to our orienteering group.  Orienteering is sort of a cross between cross-country running and a scavenger hunt.