article Orienteering is no walk in the park, but an enjoyable sport By Janet Rae Brooks The Salt Lake Tribune We had a choice to make. We could slog our way through thick woods and over a few contour lines to reach the next control point. Or we could backtrack, taking a longer but easier route that would bring us out on a trail leading directly to our target. "You want to bushwhack?" asked Suellen Riffkin, an experienced orienteer, who was competing on an intermediate-level course at a Utah Orienteering event with her runner husband, Matt, and a green reporter. We hemmed, we hawed. But only briefly. The clock was running. Yes, it might be quicker to backtrack on the trails. But there was a creek running north from the control point and a trail running south. That gave us two natural boundaries to ensure we wouldn't overshoot the control as we bushwhacked toward it from the west. We took a compass bearing and set off into the bush. "There goes a deer!" said Suellen. - Orienteering has been likened to a scavenger hunt in the woods, but that doesn't quite do it justice. Orienteers race on unmarked routes, navigating with map and compass to find checkpoints. From there, you can tailor the sport to suit your needs. For some, orienteering is a family outing. The Lambert family of Brigham City tried the beginners' course at Snowbasin -- with five children, a stroller and a baby backpack. "It was a blast," said Wasel Lambert. "It was really fun. They've got one at Soldier Hollow next month, and we might try to do that." Others use it to practice their navigational skills for adventure racing. That's what drew Michael Johnson to the Snowbasin event. "Just practice, practice, practice," said Johnson, one of Utah's top adventure racers and owner of ARGEAR, an adventure-racing gear company in Pleasant Grove. "It's a good excuse for me to get out from in front of the computer, stop being a workaholic and just have some fun." Riffkin was getting reacquainted with a sport that her schoolteacher father had introduced her to as a teenager. Husband Matt appreciated the chance to run in the woods with his border collie. For many Europeans, orienteering is a competitive event. It even has an international governing body, the International Orienteering Federation, which holds world championships, runs a World Cup circuit and compiles international rankings. Barring miracles, when national teams from 42 countries -- including newcomers Taipei and Liechtenstein -- travel to Switzerland in August for the 20th World Orienteering Championships, there won't be any U.S. athletes on the podium. No American man or woman is anywhere near cracking the top 100. The top-ranked U.S. male orienteer grabs the 376th spot, and the top U.S. woman checks in at 399th. Scandinavians, Russians and Swiss dominate, with Swedes the royalty of the sport. As many Swedes take part in orienteering as in all other countries combined. There's even a biannual Scientific Journal of Orienteering, which runs pieces examining whether mossy logs are harmed by trampling orienteers, how being born earlier in the year can influence orienteering success and whether wearing Lycra tights rather than traditional loose-fitting pants affects performance. But worrying about such things is a long way off for Utah orienteers or those who would like to try the sport here. The international federation, by the way, uses the term "foot" orienteering, to distinguish the running version from ski or mountain-bike orienteering. There's also "trail" orienteering for the disabled. At most orienteering events, participants can choose between courses of varying difficulty. Beginners start with the shortest, easiest "white" courses, progressing through yellow, orange, green, brown and red to the longest, toughest "blue" courses. After signing in, participants are handed a special orienteering map, detailed enough to show waist-high boulders. Various colored symbols are used to show cliffs and roads, lakes and rivers, open meadows and overgrown areas. Also marked on the map are a series of numbered control points marked by circles and connected by lines. The challenge is to navigate to each control point as quickly as possible, then verify you have found it by using a red plastic device next to the control flag to punch your control card. You get a clue sheet, too, which helps you zero in on the exact location of the control flag. "West side of small clearing," was our first clue. How you get to each control point is up to you. Your speed will vary depending on the terrain you choose. A trail is faster than the woods. Climbing up and down a hill may be slower than going around it. A longer route might be quicker if it offers obvious navigational aids, such as a pond or road. Besides your brain, a compass is the only navigational tool allowed. Orienteer use a compass to orient their maps and take bearings. But don't let lack of compass skills dissuade you from trying the sport. At Orienteering Utah events, a quick compass review is offered to newcomers before they set out. And most courses -- except those that are flat and featureless -- can be completed without a compass. Soon after we startled the deer, we hit the trail leading north toward our fourth control point, ran down the trail to the creek and crossed a wooden bridge. "North side of small stream," said our clue. And a little further up the creek to our left, there it was: an orange-and-white control flag hanging on an aspen tree. Orienteering Utah UPCOMING EVENTS July 12, 2003 -- Soldier Hollow Aug. 9, 2003 -- Snowbasin Sept. 13, 2003 -- Soldier Hollow Oct. 18, 2003 -- Salt Lake City park to be determined * Start anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Varying start times staggers the field, allowing participants to navigate on their own. * Bring water, a pencil and a compass, if you have one. * Cost: $10 * Tip: For intermediate and advanced courses, which can involve bushwhacking, wear long pants. * For more information, visit www.o-utah.org � Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune. All material found on Utah OnLine is copyrighted The Salt Lake Tribune and associated news services. No material may be reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The Salt Lake Tribune.