Why is almost all UK moorland mapped with a uniform pale yellow colour? On the otherwise excellent Brown Clee map the rough open included large areas of everything from short cropped grass (as runnable as a school playing field) to 3-foot deep heather which reduced me, at least, to a slow walk.
When the terrain has big blocks of varying runnability that aren't reflected on the map, the route choice essentially becomes pot luck. For some reason we seem to be much more tolerant of this in open areas than we would be of large unmapped areas of mid-green in a forest.
I also don't understand the widespread use of tiny blobs of white to represent small areas of scrubby trees on moorland. Not only is the distinction in colour between white and pale yellow very difficult to see, particularly underneath marsh screen and at 1:15, but white means "typically open runnable forest". Some scraggly bushes that would give you a few good scratches if you chose to run through them should surely be a shade of green.
I don't want this to sound like a specific criticism of BOC, which I thought was great fun. Although Brown Clee brought it to mind, this seems to be the standard style of mapping for moorland/heath/mountain areas in the UK, and I do sometimes find it quite frustrating.
Rough open
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Rough open
British Orienteering Director | Opinions expressed on here are entirely my own, and do not represent the views of British Orienteering.
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Scott - god
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Re: Rough open
I have sometimes seen the dark yellow used to show areas which are particularly runnable - though according to ISOM both shades of yellow indicate 80-100% runnability.
Mappers tend to be reluctant to use undergrowth screens othr than for deep bracken, though I find knee-deep heather slows me to a walk.
Mappers tend to be reluctant to use undergrowth screens othr than for deep bracken, though I find knee-deep heather slows me to a walk.
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- diehard
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Re: Rough open
The proposed ISOM201X adds a helpful clarification (that isn't in the current ISOM) to the effect that the rough open symbol on its own is for land ".... offering the same runnability as typical runnable forest".
This will hopefully persuade UK mappers to move in the direction of adding undergrowth screens to show reduced runnability, including for deep heather where appropriate.
This will hopefully persuade UK mappers to move in the direction of adding undergrowth screens to show reduced runnability, including for deep heather where appropriate.
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Re: Rough open
Scott wrote:I don't want this to sound like a specific criticism of BOC
I can't recall anywhere in the open at BOC where a screen would have been helpful for navigation. Yes, there were big variations in runnability but the ISOM undergrowth screen has massive negative effects on readability and is unsuitable for small patches. For me, the advantage of keeping the map legible wins every time. ISOM201x has proposals for a bushy open symbol, as well as uncrossable fences to replace the purple overprint which the relay team thought unfit for purpose...
the route choice essentially becomes pot luck
...had there been any.
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graeme - god
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