okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Side hill orienteering
Orienteering along the side of a hill is tough. I was reminded of that during today's training at Surebridge (WOC 93 classic map). Everything about orienteering along the side of a hill is tough...except that you don't have to climb much.
By "side hill orienteering" I mean legs that go along the side of a reasonably steep hill. You might have to go up or down a few lines, but typically the challenge isn't so much the hill. The challenges are that it can be easy to go up or down too much; the uneven footing - with one foot always being a bit higher than the other; keeping track of distance can be tricky; and relocating can also be tricky. Of course, relocating is always tricky (and hence something to be avoided).
I suppose one reason I find orienteering along the side of a hill tough is that I don't practice it much. When you're orienteering in Kansas City-terrain, you're usually going up or down the hills.
In Swedish there is a word for orienteering along the side of a hill - skraaorientering (or something like that).
