okansas.blogspot.com
Occassional thoughts about orienteering


Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Coming Attractions - Analyzing Mapread

 

I've been exchanging emails with a Swiss orienteer who had been doing some very interesting thinking about map reading. I plan to write more about it in the coming days, but today I want to give a very rough overview of some of one of the main ideas - categories of map reading.

You can think about map reading during a race by trying to answer a simple question for each time you look at the map. Why? Why did you look at the map? What was the purpose?

Answering the question leads you to different categories of map reading.

1. Sometimes you try to figure out where you are by looking at what you have passed.

2. Sometimes you look at the next small step - you know where you are, but you don't know the next feature you'll come to. So, you look at the map and pick out that next feature.

3. Sometimes you look at the map further ahead than the next step - you're looking for specific, significant terrain features that you haven't yet come to but that will help you navigate along the leg. These specific features function as "beacons" along your route.

4. Sometimes you look at the map because you've just come to something that you see in the forest and expect to be on the map (like a big boulder). You glance at your map to confirm your location.

5. Sometimes you look at the map to add further information about what is coming. You fill in additional details about your "beacons" or about what you'll come to between the beacons.

That is five categories of map reading. It is a simple list. But, if you spend some time thinking about it, you'll find that it gives you a very useful tool for thinking about how your are orienteering.

I titled today's post "Coming Attractions" - this is just a preview, I plan to write more and point you to some interesting resources in the next few days. Stay tuned!


Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

posted by Michael | 6:51 PM

2 comments


Comments:
This might be of interest to your O-geeky mind: www.jegskalkommeefterdig.dk/vejvalgsanalyse.pdf
 
Thanks anonymous. Has anyone else noticed that elite sprints have migrated from having a fairly large percentage of trivial legs to courses like this, with fairly extreme route choice problems and very few trivial legs? It seems like the very definition of a sprint is shifting. I'm not complaining.

Matthew
Cincinnati
 
Post a Comment
March 2002April 2002May 2002June 2002July 2002August 2002September 2002October 2002November 2002December 2002January 2003February 2003March 2003April 2003May 2003June 2003July 2003August 2003September 2003October 2003November 2003December 2003January 2004February 2004March 2004April 2004May 2004June 2004July 2004August 2004September 2004October 2004November 2004December 2004January 2005February 2005March 2005April 2005May 2005June 2005July 2005August 2005September 2005October 2005November 2005December 2005January 2006February 2006March 2006April 2006May 2006June 2006July 2006August 2006September 2006October 2006November 2006December 2006January 2007February 2007March 2007April 2007May 2007June 2007July 2007August 2007September 2007October 2007November 2007December 2007January 2008February 2008March 2008April 2008May 2008June 2008July 2008August 2008September 2008October 2008November 2008December 2008January 2009February 2009March 2009April 2009May 2009June 2009July 2009August 2009September 2009October 2009November 2009December 2009January 2010February 2010March 2010April 2010May 2010June 2010July 2010August 2010September 2010October 2010November 2010December 2010January 2011February 2011March 2011April 2011May 2011June 2011July 2011August 2011September 2011October 2011November 2011December 2011January 2012February 2012March 2012April 2012May 2012June 2012July 2012August 2012September 2012October 2012November 2012December 2012January 2013March 2013April 2013May 2013July 2013September 2013
archives
links