The History of Orienteering

While many sports-minded people participate in sports that involve running, or simply decide to be runners themselves, others choose to take running to the next level and find new and interesting ways to make the sport more challenging. One such sport that people have come to accept as part of the running sport is orienteering, which involves cross-country running, only with quite a few twists.

Orienteering involves navigating the terrain one will be traversing with a map and a compass. For people who can’t read maps or understand compasses, it is wildly challenging as sports go. Orienteering is a timed race that people participate in where they’re racing to find specific “control points” that are located at different points unknown to the racers. The idea is for the participants to navigate from point to point using their compasses and maps, and the winner is determined by the amount of time it takes the participants to finish the course – the fastest is the winner.

There is actually a group that sanctions the races and sets the rules – the International Orienteering Foundation. Derived from a military exercise the Scandinavian army practiced in the 1800s, the first sporting derivative of orienteering was held in Norway in 1897. Although this was a small event, it did not take that long for orienteering to catch on – by 1918, there was a major event held in Sweden, involving orienteers from multiple countries.

The sport endured, although it waned in popularity. In the 1930s, when more reliable and accurate compasses hit the market, it enjoyed a renaissance from people who were interested in trying out the sport using the more advanced equipment. It remained a popular sport in Europe, for the most part, for quite some time, though after World War 2 ended, it spread to other parts of the world including North America, Australia, and Asia. The first North American orienteering event took place in 1941 and was held in New Hampshire, which is known for its forward-thinking, hippie culture. Swedish and Norwegian immigrants were essential to the sport taking hold in North America, with Bjorn Kjellstrom and Harald Wibye taking the reigns of a compass company and the first North American orienteering society, respectively. Because of the sport’s long European heritage, they were already familiar with all the ins and outs and were able to show the sport to legions of new fans and participants alike.

In 1949, orienteering had grown to such an extent that eleven countries decided it was time to hold an international conference to set international standards for the sport. Each country sent representatives to the conference, held in Sweden, and this laid the groundwork for the modern-day orienteering maps that participants use when enjoying the sport. This helped the sport grow exponentially, to the point that the International Orienteering Foundation was formed in 1961. The group sponsored the first World Championships just six years later.

The initial countries involved in the International Orienteering Foundation were Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Soon after, Japan and Canada joined the ranks. In modern times, though, there are over 65 countries who are members of the group, which sanctions multiple semi-annual, annual, and bi-annual events. Beyond that, the group has splintered off to cover orienteering via mountain bikes, skis, canoes, trails, and radios, amongst other deviations from the original running races that were associated with the sport.

As you can see, orienteering is a challenging sport for any athlete, with a long, rich history. By taking something that was once part of military training and turning it into a sport, many people were able to push their limits and test their boundaries – as not many people can easily complete military exercises.