New to the site..

[C.h.r.i.s]

Hey folks, new to the site and looking for a bit of advice. I'm trying to improve my nav skills and need to know where in England would be good to go to be able to do this. I currently live in the West Mids and know that the Shropshire Dales is within 20 minutes or so of where I am. Recently got a map and have only had a quick look but can tell from it that it probably isnt the best place to practice nav as there are lot of roads running through the area that could be handrailed therefore not really proving much of a challenge. I think im with about 2 hours of the Brecon Beacons but to be honest a bit lost of where I could get a map of the place. I've visited the site and the "Contact Us" section of it but am unable to determine which group to contact. If anyone knows of a good map I could get of Brecon could you please let me know, and also where I can come across these maps. Also, if anyone knows of elsewhere in England thats good to go could you please let me know. I'm interested in the "fan-dance" if anyone knows anything about this I would also appreciate your help
Cheers,
Chris

[King Penguin]

What sort of terrain are you looking for nav. experience in e.g. mountain, moorland, forest ? The best places will vary according to what you want. It's difficult to get too far from paths / roads in much of the Midlands.
For mountains try Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia, mid-Wales.
For open moorland try Yourshire limestone areas or mid-Wales.
For "away from it all" experience try direct-lining across Kinder Scout or Bleaklow in the Peak District - but only if you are already competent and experienced with both map and compass.
If you want forests try an orienteering event e.g. MDOC in Macclesfield Forest Sat 11 June (http://www.mdocmembers.plus.com/june2011/flyer.pdf) or HOC Breakneck Bank Sun 19 June (http://www.harlequins.org.uk/event_deta ... _flyer.pdf).
Both areas contain paths, but controls on the longer / harder courses will not be on them and you can always avoid using them even though you will have to cross them.
Individual legs will inevitably be shorter than you could achleve on e.g. Cannock Chase, which would be a nearby option for longer legs.

[tomtom]

Hi Chris,

Why not come to this event (as mentioned above): http://www.mdocmembers.plus.com/june2011/index.htm

Easy to enter online, or just turn up on the day and someone will be happy to guide you through the registration process.

The Saturday area is fantastic for orienteering, especially if you want to practice your technical skills!

The Sunday race is a sprint race, around a town centre and housing estate. This is an exciting format of orienteering which brings high speed decisions and interesting control sites, great fun for everyone, especially if you are a beginner!

Hope to see you there!

[C.h.r.i.s]

Thanks for the replies lads.To be honest i need more experience in all forest, moorland and moutain terrain. And as for the Event in Manchester, I had a look at the PDF there and by the looks of it both days are a race? Do you do this in groups or as a oner? It has been at least 9 or 10 months since I have done any nav at all, and even then it was only very basic learning (setting the map, taking bearings, and an extremely basic touch on estimating time + paces). If i convinced myself to attend the event, what kit would i need to bring with me and what kit is issued there? Also, beside the Saturday races colours, is the distance of the entire race, am I correct? And then what is the M and W part about? I'm taking a very random stab in the air here and assuming its age restrictions/limits for men and women?
Chris

[graeme]

Far from home, but if you are trying to do Fan Dance you couldn't do better than this...

http://esoc.org.uk/home/event-details/esoc-long-o

MDOC event should be great fun, but it is very short and very technical for what you're after.

For accurate navigation maps of Brecon Beacons, you can't beat Harveys...
http://www.harveymaps.co.uk/acatalog/Br ... _East.html


Closer to home, this lot...
http://www.harlequins.org.uk/
might be able to give you some orienteering maps of Brown Clee, Malvern Hills or similar.

[C.h.r.i.s]

Thanks Graeme, the only reason I want to do Fan Dance isn't actualy for the nav practice its for the phys. I had a look there at the Harvey maps, which area of Brecon would you recommend, East or West?
Chris

[Adventure Racer]

What exactly is it you're after, Chris? Do you want to give orienteering a go, or just improve your nav in general? If the former, you're far better off going to an event - any event (even if it's somewhere which looks rubbish) than just heading off into the hills by yourself. If the latter, then you're probably still best off going to an orienteering event The question is, what is your ultimate aim here?

I say this with a certain amount of experience, having got into orienteering to improve my navigation in the hills.

[C.h.r.i.s]

My ultimate aim here is to improve my nav to a standard were I'm confident enough to navigate myself through forests, mountains and across moorlands where there isnt alot to go by, by myself at a fast pace. Ok so I'm defnitely being talked into going to an event here. I think I'm going to go to the Saturday race in Manchester.
Chris

[andypat]

Hi Chris
From your posts you sound like you are keen to manage your own pathway to independence on the hills rather than put your fate at the hands of, say a coach, which might be an option.

My advice would be that to get the most out of orienteering, in terms of navigation, you really need to engage with other competitors, both for advice pre-participation (eg what do these symbols mean?) to post-race discussion (where did I go wrong?). Most events now go onto route gadget which is really usefull for finding out how the experts did it.

You'll proceed at a much faster rate and get more out of it if you join your local O club and get involved in some way with them.

Then when you get any good, come up to Scotland and we'll show you the hard stuff!

[Lucy.F.]

Chris,
In answer to your previous questions:

*Both days are technically races but that doesn't mean you have to run it as a race. A lot of orienteers use some races as training. Some orienteers are completely uncompetitive (like myself) and don't think of them as 'races' at all. But at the same time if you do a few controls and feel confident to 'race' the rest of them this gives you the opportunity to do so. Orienteering results will provide times you took between each control so you can see how quick you were on the ones you 'raced'.

*Most people compete individually however it is not unusual for beginners or those less confident to go out in groups.

*As for kit you just need stuff you can run around in. Saturday would need to be stuff you don't mind getting muddy. A compass would also be of help. The electronic timing is done using a microchip in a little plastic 'card' (http://www.sportident.co.uk/) and you can hire this at the event. You'll also want a change of clothes, some water and some food for afterwards!

*The distances are shown next to the colours but be aware that these distances are not covered at the same speed as road/cross country running. It takes much longer! Pick a shorter course. You can always do another one afterwards! The best thing is to talk to someone at registration when you get to the event - explain your situation (what you can do, what you want to practice) and they'll be able to point you towards the most suitable course.

*And you're right with the M and W - M is a mens course, W is a womens course. The numbers are ages. However you do not have to adhere to your age class - just to the course which is right for you.

Finally if you've not been on it yet, have a look at the British Orienteering website:
http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/index.php?pg=8

Hope that answers all your previous questions ok. And enjoy Macclesfield!!

[Neil M40]

Hi Chris

If you are planning to go to Macclesfield next week it might be worth doing a bit of homework. Orienteering maps are quite different to ordnance survey maps, with a much larger scale (1:10000 is most common) and showing a lot more detail.

Have a look at this map from a previous event in Macc Forest

http://www.mdoc.routegadget.co.uk/cgi-b ... =79&kieli=

You can view the various courses from the drop down list on the right. You can also see where each competitor thinks they went between controls - the asterisked ones have entered their routes.

You can see other Manchester and District events by clicking on Events Index at the top.

For an explanation of orienteering map symbols, look here

http://www.maprunner.co.uk/simon/mapsymbols.jpg

[Mrs H]

Well done Lucy for beating me to answering his actual questions can I just point out that

As for kit you just need stuff you can run around in.

does not mean shorts! Full leg cover is required as you may get ripped to shreds otherwise Most of us actually wear re-inforced gaters or long socks to protect our lower legs. Also shoes with grips - we wear shoes with little metal spikes in the forest.

Incidentally Chris, I am the Malvern Hills guru - I don't know where you live but most of the stuff round here is open access - we will have a very easy straight forward event on Malvern common on the evening June 16th, a "proper" low key event on June 25th and another evening event on Castlemorton common on June 30th

[Wayward-O]

*The distances are shown next to the colours but be aware that these distances are not covered at the same speed as road/cross country running. It takes much longer!

... also, the distances quoted are the straight-line distance between all the controls and not necessarily the route that a competitor would sensibly take.

[C.h.r.i.s]

Hey guys/girls.

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I got in touch with a friend who does orienteering races and got the hold of an orienteering map (rather than an os map) and the little information card (no idea what you would call this, but it's pretty much the "key" for the orienteering map). I sat with him for a while and he showed me what routes he would have taken between each control.

Feeling a bit more confident about going to an event now I've had a little bit of insight into what the map will be like. To be honest I was expecting a huge foldable OS map that I would be holding upside down and back to front trying to figure out where I was and where I was supposed to be going. The map that I got a hold of is a 1:10000 scale.

I also got myself the hold of a 1:25000 scale os map of the Yorkshire Dales, I think after pariticipating in an event I'll be alot more confident to head there and do a bit of nav.

Cheers again,
Chris