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Re: Orienteering
Tim Hewitt (thewitt@FAIRCHILDSEMI.COM)
Thu, 3 Sep 1998 08:42:28 -0500
Kevin Woods <kswoods@CHRISTA.UNH.EDU> wrote:
>
> I would like to set up a 1 mile orienteering course in our town that scouts
> can use to fulfill their 1st class requirement.
>
> Any suggestions on where to look for how to accurately do this?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Any sources for premade courses?
If you have the option, it is easier on the kids and the instructors to make a
course that turns at identifiable objects on the topo map. Get a topo of your
planned area and go walk it yourself. Find the interesting features, and then
build your course around them. Walk it yourself and see what the challenges
are. It can be as fun to make one of these as it is to teach the skill to the Scouts.
We did a course this year that a neighboring troop set up that used the tops
of three hills that are clearly defined on the map, along with the end of a
small ridge as turning points. The boys were able to confirm that they were
"on the high spot" before they laid in their new course - thus not compounting
errors. The leaders were able to observe from a distance (sort of) and make
sure the boys didn't turn too early, which is the general mistake that's made
when trying to pace off 150 meters in the woods.
I would not go for a premade course unless I had a huge open field to use and
was simply laying out markers. Make the course fit the terrain, run the boys
across the creek - but find a place that's reasonable to cross, send them up
and over a hill or ridge that will change their pace dramatically (how many
steps UP did I take that didn't go forward) and use this as a teaching course
for what they will see in the real work, as well as a course to meet their 1
mile requirements.
As an aside, make sure you measure their pace over terrain similar to what you
will be hiking on. A 100 meter pace on pavement will be very different from a
100 meter pace in the woods - even on mostly level ground.
Have fun. Orienteering is a skill that you will use for a lifetime of outdoor
experiences that simply following trails will never allow you to have.
YiS,
-Tim
--
Tim Hewitt, Scoutmaster
Troop 350, Old Orchard Beach, Maine
Eagle '74
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
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