Navigation basics – before the race starts – include accurate plotting, clear location markings and careful route consideration. You should also know how to use a compass. Once the gun goes, keep these habits in mind.

Habit #1: Don’t follow. The route you take is the one you have chosen
Many times racers have said to me, “We were going really well until we hooked up with another team and they took us on the wrong route.”
Every step you take should be chosen by you. Navigational decisions are made with the information at hand at a specific time. You may alter your initial decisions along the way but ultimately anything you decide is your responsibility. If you’re going to make an error, it should be your mistake. Avoid racing side-by-side another team because their decisions will affect yours.

Habit #2: Know where you are
If you know where you are (A) and you know where you’re going (B) then you can determine a route from A to B.
This sounds silly but it happens… often. There will be occasions when you don’t quite know where you are; you may be following a path “hoping” that it will take you where you want to go. The bottom line is that if you don’t quite know where you are you have no way of plotting a direct line to your destination because you have no starting point. Always keep your thumb on your map to indicate your current location and move it along as you progress. Keep a close tab on distances and determine regular waypoints (bridge, elevation, road junction) and make sure you hit these waypoints. If you don’t, stop, orientate your map with your compass and reassess your situation.

Habit #3: Direction first. It doesn’t matter how fast you’re travelling if you’re going in the wrong direction
You know the adage “A stitch in time saves nine”. It is well worth taking a few minutes to orientate your map, scrutinise your surroundings, match features to your map and reassess your options. If a team comes rushing past you, do not be tempted to follow (Habit #1) and do not assume that they know what they are doing. Remember this too at the start of a race when the field bolts from the starting gates.
Distractions aside, when you set off from any point you should be certain that the direction you have chosen is the most correct one. Learn to use your compass properly and always keep your map orientated. It is far easier to correct an error if you quickly realise when you are going in a direction you don’t want to take.

Habit #4: Communicate
Sharing is caring; your team-mates will gain confidence in your abilities
There is nothing worse than blindly following your navigator like Mary’s little lamb. Navigators expect their teammates to faithfully follow their decisions; teammates expect their navigators to flawlessly guide them through the racecourse. Navigation is one area that can cause tempers to fly.
Navigators, your lambs will gain faith in your abilities if you keep them informed of their options (shorter but steeper route over a hill vs. longer, flatter route around the hill) and mini-goals met (distances covered, waypoint – like a bridge or road junction – located). They will also thrive on being involved with elements that contribute to successful and accurate navigation. Ask one to call out odometer distances, ask another to count paces and ask another to look out for path junctions. This will help you and will keep your flock informed, involved and content.

Habit #5: Turn back to your last point of certainty
If you don’t know exactly where you are, retreat.
Two things are not very nice:
a) not knowing where to are and;
b) turning back to retrace your steps.
The latter is definitely the lesser evil and is an advised option. Don’t hope that the bad option you’ve taken will work out. It won’t. Do not be afraid to turn back to your last point of certainty – the last point at which you were 100% confident of your location. Go back and try again. The trick, with experience, is realising quickly when you’ve made an error. It reduces the amount you need to retreat.

Habit #6: Take (calculated) risks
Navigation is cunning and strategy: outwit and outsmart
ONLY when you are confident in your abilities should you start making calculated navigational risks. These risks involve decisions based on advanced map interpretation, the making of assumptions about terrain and good off-road traversing skills. When teams of similar physical ability are pitted against each other, navigation is the first place-second place decider.
For those not chasing a podium finish, calculated decisions that pay-off make for the most incredibly satisfying experience. But there is also the chance that your choice won’t workout and that the decision could cost you time. This is the risk. What ever your situation, keep your teammates involved, let them know their options and only take risks with their consent.

Habit #7: Learn from your mistakes
You will make ‘em; learn from them.
Mistakes are part of the navigation package and it is the only way you learn what decisions work and which do not.
It’s like putting your hand on a stove’s hot plate. Mistakes are beneficial, but only if you learn from them.
If it is any consolation, the World’s top navigators also make errors. But they have learned to minimise the resulting damage. In situations where they lose five minutes, inexperienced navigators would lose six hours. That’s a considerable difference that can only be reduced by regular practise and a lot of race experience.

Navigation is, for me, the most rewarding aspect of adventure racing and the kick from making a good strategic decision that pays off is always my race highlight.

Author: Lisa de Speville | Published in Go Multi Magazine (two parts),  Dec 2007 & Feb 2008

The challenge is in reading the terrain, moving swiftly off-road, selecting optimal routes and locating the controls. Orienteering is cunning running, a sport of off-road speed and strategy. It is also a discipline in which a slower runner is able to beat a faster competitor through good route choice and accurate navigation.

Areas used for orienteering events – urban parks, forests, nature reserves, botanical gardens and private lands – are specially mapped to depict the topography of the land. Most maps are drawn at 1:2500 to 1:10 000 in scale, such that 1cm on the map represents 25m and 100m on the ground respectively. This resolution allows features, like significant trees, boulders, footpaths, ditches and cliffs, to be clearly indicated.
O-maps also include contour lines, which represent elevation. Vegetation patterns like forest, open veld and dense bush are colour-coded so that the orienteerer can easily distinguish runnable land from dense, impenetrable growth through which they would not be able to pass – an important consideration when selecting routes.

Moving from A to B
The locations of the controls in the field are indicated on the O-maps by numbered circles. Out in the field, orange and white orienteering flags mark the position of the control. Navigating a route from one control to the next is possible by using your compass to give you direction, by reading the features indicated on your map and by recognising these features on the ground.
Interpreting the contour lines, shading colours and map symbols, which represent real physical features, is an acquired skill – one that does improve with practice.
Once you have successfully located a control, all you have to do is punch your control card in the correct block. Each punch attached to the control has a unique pattern. This proves to the controller at the finish that you have indeed visited all the controls.
There is also an electronic timing system, EMIT, which is often used. In this case, all you have to do is swipe your EMIT card, which you can hire at registration, over the EMIT device.

Choosing event types
No matter what your experience level, there are many event-types to choose from. And, you can enter events on your own, or in a group with one or two friends. 

• School League (JHB only) – currently run over 4 Monday afternoons in January and February, these events are held in parks and serve to introduce school children to orienteering. If you would like to get your children or their school involved, contact Eugene Botha at uge@mweb.co.za
• Park – Spectator friendly event held in a park. Often two course distances, short (~2km) and long (~4km). Suitable for all abilities and perfect for beginners.
• Colour-coded – A variety of courses of increasing distance and difficulty (physical and navigational) are presented. Suitable for all abilities.
• Score/Rogaine – Numerous controls are placed in the designated orienteering area. Each control is assigned a points value. Competitors have a limited time to “score” as many points at possible, returning to the finish before the cut-off. In a score event the time may be as little as one hour. In a rogaine event, the time is extended to as much as 24hrs.
• Relay – Three or more competitors form a team and like an athletics relay, they each run a course.
• Night – An extremely tricky variation. Headlamps are essential.
• Championships (Provincial and National) – Open to orienteering club members who compete in their age categories. Competitors from each Province have to qualify to take part in National Championships.
• Other – Mountain bike and paddle orienteering are two other variations – often on the score/rogaine format.

Orienteering is that it is a great way to get fit and stay fit. Because you’re so pre-occupied with navigating a route from one control to the next, you hardly notice that you’re huffing and puffing. And, you don’t have to run. Many orienteerers walk the courses, frequently punching-in before the runners who make more mistakes!
As your fitness increases, your navigation improves and your confidence on uneven terrain grows, you’ll progress through the course faster.

This is one sport that caters to the very young, very old and all those in between. Small children often accompany their parents until they’re able to go out on their own. It is a great introduction to outdoor activities and a healthy lifestyle. There are numerous orienteerers over 60 – some are even over 70!

Orienteering events are generally held on Sunday morning and are open to everyone. Simply contact your nearest orienteering club (www.saof.org.za) and ask when the next event is to be held. Experienced orienteerers will be on hand to teach you the basics.

Event entries cost R10-R50, depending on the type of event and entry category – junior, senior or group (max. 3 people in a group). If EMIT, the electronic timing system is used at the event, you will need to hire an EMIT card for an additional R5 – R10.

Finally, although the scale and topographical representation of O-maps differs from 1:50 000 topographical maps commonly used in adventure racing, the navigational principles are identical. With each event you refine your navigational techniques – route selection, compass use, map interpretation – and benefit from an on-foot off-road training session.

Author: Lisa de Speville | Published in MultiSport Magazine, June 2004

The 1:50 000 topographical maps are the largest scale maps providing full coverage of South Africa. The series consists of a total of 1916 sheets. They accurately depict the location of natural and man-made features by means of symbols and colour, and elevation by means of spot heights and contours (20m interval). Additional information added are place names, boundaries, magnetic data, etc. The 1:50 000 topographical maps are generally compiled from aerial photographs. A standard 1:50 000 map sheet covers a rectangle of 15 minutes of latitude by 15 minutes of longitude or approximately 640 square kilometres.

The 1:250 000 topo-cadastral maps show topographical detail with the addition of names, numbers and boundaries of original farms, the boundaries of magisterial districts, and provincial and international boundaries. Elevation, depicted by means of contours at 50m intervals, is further enhanced by hypsometric tints, i.e. shades of brown becoming progressively darker as elevation increases. These sheets are generally derived from the larger scale 1:50 000 topographical maps with some detail of necessity being generalised, i.e. thinned out to show only the more important features. 70 maps of this series cover South Africa with each sheet generally covering an area of one degree of latitude and two degrees of longitude.

The 1:10 000 orthophoto maps combine all the advantages of conventional line maps and aerial photography. The photographic background has been rectified to remove image displacements and enlarged to a scale of 1:10 000. Unlike a conventional aerial photograph, accurate measurements can be made on the orthophoto map. Cartographic elements that cannot be derived from the photographic background have been added, namely: a co-ordinate grid, contours and spot heights, place names and route numbers.
The orthophoto maps cover all metropolitan and peri-urban areas and growth areas. At present, about 25% of the country is covered by these sheets.

The Directorate of Surveys and Mapping is based in Mowbray, Cape Town.
Their contact details are:
Address: Rhodes Avenue, Mowbray. Cape Town.
Tel: (021) 658-4300
Web: w3sli.wcape.gov.za
Email: cdsm@sli.wcape.gov.za

Topographical and topo-cadastral maps cost R10.00 and orthophotos, R7.00 (diazo paper) over the counter. You can order maps online too.

Also try The Government Printers in Pretoria (012 334-4571 Dewalt Bodenstein). They stock 1:50 000′s and 1:250 000′s only. Their stock comes from Cape Town. Maps are R22 each.

Maps Unlimited is the new concern operating what was previously Map Office (Braamfontein, Joburg). Check out their website at www.mapoffice.co.za for information on ordering maps.

While speaking to Seagate’s Nathan Fa’ave – an accomplished and experienced athlete and navigator – at the 2004 Subaru Primal Quest, he mentioned a number of interesting points about the difficulty of navigation in the United States. Most of his observations are applicable to other events held outside our own borders.

• There are a dozen, if not more, map makers in the US. As such, from one region to the next, the maps are inconsistent. The maps they were using in this race differed to those they had last year and are substantially different to their New Zealand maps, which are standardised throughout the country (South Africa is the same). Map-makers have the freedom to use their own colours and symbols to represent topographic features and these do differ considerably. 
• US maps are drawn to an imperial scale. For metric nations trying to convert from inches to miles and then converting to centimeters and kilometers is exceedingly difficult. Most non-US racers would have grown up in a world void of imperial measurements. Purchase an imperial rule on arrival and remember too that the scale on your compass’ base-plate will be metric. 
• Many US maps are custom-made do not have side-panel legends to explain shadings and symbols. Nathan mentioned in particular the difficulty in interpreting road-types. This is important when the event’s ‘Rules of Travel’ restrict the competitors from racing on specific road types i.e. tarred or main roads. If you know the symbolic representation of the roads you can avoid those restricted and consider those allowed just by looking at the map. But, if you don’t know the colours and symbols used and are unable to interpret the type of road because of the absence of a legend, your route-selection task is made more difficult. You could end up avoiding a road because you think it is tarred, where in fact it may be a permissable dirt or primary road. 
• There are many map versions available of the same area, each having information omitted in the other. Nathan mentioned that last year, especially on a particular mountain biking section, Nike ACG-Balance Bar had raced with three different maps of the same area and had three of their team navigating off them at the same time. Seagate had experienced difficulty in this area, losing precious ground to Nike ACG-Balance Bar. Learning from past experience, this year Seagate sent their support crew out to scout for additional maps so that they too would benefit from the little pieces of extra information to complement their race maps.

In addition…

• Compasses – The vertical intensity and direction of earth’s magnetic field, the inclination, influences the horizontal plane of a compass needle according to the latitude where it is used. Due to the inclination, compasses are balanced for defined global zones to ensure that the needle’s movement is unhindered and that it lies horitontal when the compass is held horitontally. As such, your compass, which is balanced for South Africa (and some other Southern Hemisphere countries – check with the manufacturer) is not suitable for use in countries which fall under different zones. 
• Map projections – Although geometrical coordinates (longitude and latitude) are well-known, other grid systems do exist like the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) and XY coordinate system. A grid projection is something like a ‘spiderweb’ thrown over the world, such that a precise location can be determined and related. As the coordinate grid is tied to the map through the origin and the origin of the coordinate system is placed near the center of the area of interest on the map, various regions have their own projections and grid systems i.e. British Ordnance Survey (UK) and the Universal Polar Stereographic (specific to the polar regions).

Solid navigation is paramount to success. As such it is wise to consider unfamiliar map types, scales, symbols, colours, contours and even map grid projections (UTM, Longitude & Latitude, British Ordnance Survey etc) when preparing for a race on foreign soil.

Nathan finds the US maps to be the most difficult in the world because of inconsistencies throughout the country. “Racing against American teams in the US and on US maps is hard”, he remarked. “I’d rather race against them in any other country.

In training, we all too often focus on the physical side, yet one navigational mistake can blow the speed benefits gained through of months of training by setting you back hours. Navigation is therefore a stand-alone discipline that must be practised as frequently as any other. Essentially, navigation defines adventure racing and sets it apart from other off-road events. Pure athleticism and physical strength do not guarantee a good performance.

NO GPS ALLOWED
In nearly all adventure races, navigation is done only by use of topographical maps and a compass. These maps are two-dimensional representations of a three-dimensional landscape, with contour lines indicating elevation (mountains and valleys) and colour-coded symbols denoting recognisable features such as rivers, roads, settlements, trails, lakes, boundaries and vegetation.

With practise you will learn to relate this jumble of colours and lines to the surrounding landscape. This is the key to navigational success; You need to recognise and match real-life mountains, valleys, river and other significant features to those represented by the irregular wave-like contour lines and symbolic dots, dashes and shapes.

A magnetic compass is an extremely useful tool. When used correctly it is a reliable guide, especially in conditions where visual clues are unreliable, such as when it is dark, or when you’re on open water or in a dense forest.

The compass needle swings freely on a pivot to point to magnetic North. By lining up the direction of magnetic North on your map with the red tip of the compass needle, whatever feature you can physically see in front of you should be symbolically represented above where you think you are on the map. If it isn’t, you’re not where you think you are on the map…

In the words of adventure racing legend and navigator extraordinaire Ian Adamson, “Great navigators always know where they are, even when they’re lost!”

STAY FOUND
Using a 200km adventure race to try your navigational skills is a costly (and frustrating) exercise. Rather polish your skills at smaller orienteering events. Usually held held on Sunday mornings in the Cape Town and Johannesburg areas, these 30-minute to 3-hour events, reinforce basic navigational principles; Compass use, feature recognition and map orientation and interpretation. Orienteering truly is ‘cunning running’. (For more info on orienteering, visit the South African Orienteering Federation website at www.saof.org.za)

The Polaris Mountain Bike Orienteering Series is another gem. Presented by Relativity Africa (www.relativity.co.za), these events challenge your navigational skills through point-score events where you are given a limited time to locate as many controls a possible. Relativity Africa also hosts an annual Polaris Navitac (paddle orienteering) event.
Note: The Polaris events have been discontinued

One-day navigation workshops are held intermittently (coordinated on demand) around the country. Keep an eye on ww.AR.co.za for news of these courses.

LEAD THE WAY
Finally, each team only needs one navigator… and it doesn’t have to be you. If you don’t feel up to the task yet, join a team that already has a navigator. Navigation should not present a barrier to your participation. Although it may take a while for you to achieve a level of competence, the effort and errors are well worth the reward, because it’s immensely satisfying to outwit and outsmart other competitors.«

I often hear people say, “I would love to do an adventure race but the navigating thing scares me”. In reality, even if you’re a frightfully slow hiker, can barely sit in a kayak and spend more time pushing your mountain bike than riding it, you can ‘crawl’ your way to the end of any race. But in an adventure race, a poor navigator would be hard-pressed to locate the numerous checkpoints and transition areas that define the course, much less the finish line.

In training, we all too often focus on the physical side, yet one navigational mistake can blow the speed benefits gained through of months of training by setting you back hours. Navigation is therefore a stand-alone discipline that must be practised as frequently as any other. Essentially, navigation defines adventure racing and sets it apart from other off-road events. Pure athleticism and physical strength do not guarantee a good performance.

NO GPS ALLOWED
In nearly all adventure races, navigation is done only by use of topographical maps and a compass. These maps are two-dimensional representations of a three-dimensional landscape, with contour lines indicating elevation (mountains and valleys) and colour-coded symbols denoting recognisable features such as rivers, roads, settlements, trails, lakes, boundaries and vegetation.

With practise you will learn to relate this jumble of colours and lines to the surrounding landscape. This is the key to navigational success; You need to recognise and match real-life mountains, valleys, river and other significant features to those represented by the irregular wave-like contour lines and symbolic dots, dashes and shapes.

A magnetic compass is an extremely useful tool. When used correctly it is a reliable guide, especially in conditions where visual clues are unreliable, such as when it is dark, or when you’re on open water or in a dense forest.

The compass needle swings freely on a pivot to point to magnetic North. By lining up the direction of magnetic North on your map with the red tip of the compass needle, whatever feature you can physically see in front of you should be symbolically represented above where you think you are on the map. If it isn’t, you’re not where you think you are on the map…

In the words of adventure racing legend and navigator extraordinaire Ian Adamson, “Great navigators always know where they are, even when they’re lost!”

STAY FOUND
Using a 200km adventure race to try your navigational skills is a costly (and frustrating) exercise. Rather polish your skills at smaller orienteering events. Usually held held on Sunday mornings in the Cape Town and Johannesburg areas, these 30-minute to 3-hour events, reinforce basic navigational principles; Compass use, feature recognition and map orientation and interpretation. Orienteering truly is ‘cunning running’. (For more info on orienteering, visit the South African Orienteering Federation website at www.saof.org.za)

The Polaris Mountain Bike Orienteering Series is another gem. Presented by Relativity Africa (www.relativity.co.za), these events challenge your navigational skills through point-score events where you are given a limited time to locate as many controls a possible. Relativity Africa also hosts an annual Polaris Navitac (paddle orienteering) event.
Note: The Polaris events have been discontinued

One-day navigation workshops are held intermittently (coordinated on demand) around the country. Keep an eye on ww.AR.co.za for news of these courses.

LEAD THE WAY
Finally, each team only needs one navigator… and it doesn’t have to be you. If you don’t feel up to the task yet, join a team that already has a navigator. Navigation should not present a barrier to your participation. Although it may take a while for you to achieve a level of competence, the effort and errors are well worth the reward, because it’s immensely satisfying to outwit and outsmart other competitors.

Author: Lisa de Speville | Published in Runner’s World SA, Dec 2005