"ORIENTEERING MAPS TOWARD 2000"
László Zentai
Assoc. Prof., cartographer
"Eötvös Loránd" University
Department of Cartography

Abstract:
In the last years orienteering has become a worldwide sport. Members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) come from 49 countries from all continents. The maps for orienteering sport are fully standardized, however the Map Committee of IOF is working on a new legend: ISOM2000 (International Standard for Orienteering Maps). On one hand there will be only minor changes because of computer technology (there is a special program for drawing orienteering maps). On the other hand we have to take into account the new strategy of IOF. There are several different forms of orienteering, which are now at equal level with each other: the traditional orienteering sport (foot-o); winter orienteering with ski (ski-o); mountain bike orienteering (MBO) and; for the handicapped (trail-o).
This new strategy was announced in 1997 and the Map Committee also have to rethink how to serve better the new forms, how to make special maps for these new forms. The first official legend for orienteering maps were published in 1968 and since then it is fully accepted all over the world: it is a common language of orienteers.
For cartographers it can be very interesting to know about maps of Smatroll events. The term Smatroll indicates the events for young children (5-8 years old) using special maps (which of course are not standardized).

WHAT IS ORIENTEERING?
Orienteering is a sport in which orienteers use an accurate, detailed map and a compass to find points on the terrains. It can be enjoyed as a walk in the woods or as a competitive sport.
A standard orienteering course consists of a start, a series of control sites that are marked by circles on the map, connected by lines and numbered in the order they are to be visited, and a finish. The control site circles are
centered around the feature that is to be found; this feature is also defined by control descriptions (sometimes called clues). On the ground, a control flag marks the location that the orienteer must visit.
Both the maps signs and the control descriptions are fully standardised: there are no (or very few) text on it: only the basic information.
1. The scale and equidistance of the maps (on most of the terrain it is 1:15000/5m)
2. The course data and codes of control points
So - even the Chinese or the Japanese - can accept the map and control description if he/she can understand Arabic numbers.
The International Orienteering Federation was founded in 1970 and how it has 48 members.

The route choice
The route between "controls" (refers to the flag or the site) is not specified, and is entirely up to the orienteer; this element of route choice and the ability to navigate through the terrain are the essence of orienteering. Navigation in orienteering can be reduced to two factors:

- choosing one of the many possible routes to the control,
- finding your way along that route.

Once the competitor has learned some basic techniques and rules of navigation, it should always be possible to find the control - given that the map is accurate. Therefore, much of the variation among individuals' times may come from their choice of routes. This is particularly true when speed through the terrain varies dramatically in different places, which can occur for any number of reasons. Another factor is that each individual may have particular strengths; one may run very fast on a trail, but slow down dramatically in the forest; another may have no great turn of speed, but chug away steadily uphill; still another may have no confidence in her
ability to follow a compass bearing, but may be able to read contours very well. The best route for a beginner may not be the best route for an advanced orienteer.
Hence the choice of a route on a given leg between controls may have many possible "best" solutions. But, in turn, the true best solution may not be immediately apparent to orienteers who don't plan carefully.

SPECIAL FORMS OF ORIENTEERING
Officially there are four forms of orienteering that exist and are supported by the IOF: foot-o (the traditional orienteering sport), ski-o (orienteering in winter by ski), MBO (mountain bike orienteering), trail-o (orienteering for handicapped). The last two forms are brand new, but still practised in several countries.
Other orienteering activities also exist in other special forms: park orienteering, kayak-o, triathlon orienteering, and horse riding-o.

ISOM2000 (INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR ORIENTEERING MAPS)
The first official legend was published in 1968. At that time the sport was known mainly in Europe (the IOF was founded in 1961 by ten countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany [GDR and DDR], Switzerland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria) and the official language was German. Since 80's there were only minor changes in standards.
The actual legend is fully appreciated in all member countries. In the 70's and 80's some countries used some special signs on their national maps, but the internationalisation of orienteering force the countries to follow the standard legend and avoid national specialities.
Asking the national federations to collect their suggestions and send them to the Map Committee as the official suggestion of the certain country started the process of creating the new standard (ISOM2000). The Map Committee itself initiated most of the changes. The reason was very obvious: the changes of mapmaking technology can give better, more accurate results. Computer drawing is able to create so thin line widths that are not acceptable under competition circumstances. We have to thicken most of the lines (from 0.14 to 0.18 in case of thinnest lines, like contours). Only one new sign will be accepted, which is not a brand new sign, only a variation of an existing one.
We have to deal with different kinds of digital colour reproduction methods which can be cheaper then traditional offset printing even if printing less copies and the quality of different digital colour methods can give acceptable results (4-800 dpi, homogenous colours).
The main problem of orienteering mapping is the stress of competition organisers to make more detailed maps by mappers. To help this process the organizers are very keen on using 1:10000 scale for o-maps. The standard scale is 1:15000 for foot-o, but in special cases (relay, short distance event, maps for seniors) 1:10000 is also allowed, but it can be only the simple magnification of the 1:15000 map. Using too many details on the map makes the map unreadable for the runners. Generalisation is the main tool to solve this problem. This is the most important and difficult part of orienteering mapping. There are several tools to help the mappers (special stereo photogrammetry for orienteering maps, rangefinder, etc.), but the right generalisation needs cartographic skills.

NEW STANDARDS FOR NEW FORMS OF ORIENTEERING
One of the main reason of ISOM2000 is to create standards for mapmaking of all new forms of orienteering. The new Council (1996-98) in its politics makes the different forms of orienteering totally equal, even if some of them are known only in few countries and practised only by less orienteers.

Ski-o
Ski-orienteering has its origins in the 1890s. For many years, the sport was limited to northern Scandinavia, based mainly on paths used for timber transportation. The competitions were relays, with very long legs of 30-60 km. The sport developed, and Ski-orienteering become a recognised Olympic sport in 1949. But it has not been part of the Olympic program.
The scale of maps is 1:20000 (from 1:15000 to 1:25000) according to the larger speed of competitors. The legend is simplified: only those signs are shown on the ski-o maps which are visible from the ski tracks. There is no sense to use signs of runnability: the competitors use only special ski tracks, the main task to choose the right one according to the competitors physical condition and navigation skills.
The most important special signs are the ski tracks (distinct and indistinct).

Mountain bike orienteering
The requirements and scales of MBO maps and ski-o maps are similar. In both forms the competitors use roads and tracks, so to show the runnability and the small inner forest features are not necessary. Bikers can use any road on the terrain so special signs are not necessary, but erasing some small features can help the readability of the map because of the higher speed of biking.
This form became more and more popular in some countries, and gave them the possibility to beat Scandinavians who are nearly unbeatable in foot-o.

Park-o
The park orienteering is a quite new, but very perspective form of the orienteering sport. The new strategy of IOF (started in 1996) aimed to make one kind of orienteering to an Olympic sport. The advantages of this form of orienteering:

- can serve television broadcast more easily,
- needs only smaller areas (1-2 sq. km),
- parks can be found nearly everywhere, so events can be organised in any country to help developing and popularising orienteering,
- mapmaking requires less time and financial support.

Trail-o
The trail-o is a new form of orienteering, too. The IOF Map Committee is just starting to make map standards for trail-o maps. We are collecting information on special requests of trail-o competitors based on general rules for trail orienteering:
- The map has to look correct from a sitting position,
- because of the smaller speed smaller scale and more detail can be used on the maps,
- the course must be accessible to the least mobile, competitors must follow tracks, paths etc. defined on the map, or indicated in the terrain by streamers, all other areas are out of bounds,
- any routes not passable by all wheelchair users, because of width, protruding roots, fallen trees or other unsuitable surface must be banned to all,
- acceptable path width is 100 cm, (some plants may encroach on small sections but hands could be badly scratched by thorns), the maximum slope for unassisted wheelchairs is 14% for no more than 20 metres, the cross slope should be no more than 8%,
- separation by gender in a competition is unnecessary.
Park-o and trail-o maps can use the same legend, but additional correction can be necessary for trail-o maps (out-of-bond areas, small steps, narrow paths).

Smatroll
Smatroll is a special Scandinavian term for children orienteering. The Smatroll maps are rather pictures then real maps. These kind of "maps" can help children to understand the "map language". These kind of maps are very popular in Scandinavian countries, where orienteering in one of the most popular sports.
To create this kind of maps is more difficult than it looks. It is not easy to choose the right terrain: it must be mostly open or semi-open area and have to contain several distinct features on the terrain (roads, rocks, houses, power lines etc.).