YoIf getting lost in the woods sounds like fun to you, you’d love orienteering.
The sport consists of navigating unknown terrain, often in a forest, to locations circled on a detailed topographic map. (These locations are usually flagged and participants record proof that they were there, sometimes with a small electronic device.) You can only use your map and a compass, not smartphones or GPS, to guide the way. Instead of following a specific route, people must figure out which path makes the most sense, while maneuvering around obstacles like bodies of water, hills, or rocks.
While still under the radar in the US, thousands of spectators and participants are constantly attending events across Europe. The counselors, ranging in age from children to seniors, show up for adventurous fun, meeting new friends in beautiful surroundings, and enjoying a variety of mental and physical health benefits. Research suggests that orientation contributes to improved physical condition (by improving aerobic capacity, flexibility and speed), lower levels of psychological distressand better brain health.
“We call it a lifelong sport, because it adapts to your physical skills and abilities,” says Emma Waddington, a kinesiology graduate student at McMaster University in Canada, who did a recent study on the impact of orientation on the brain. He is also an athlete on the Canadian National Orienteering Team and travels the world to compete in races. “I saw these older adults out there and thought, ‘What are they doing differently that allows them to participate in such a cognitively demanding sport at such a late age, when we normally see declines in spatial abilities and awareness? memory?'”
Waddington’s study, published in January in plus one, suggests that sport could help combat or prevent age-related cognitive decline in spatial navigation and memory. After surveying 158 people aged 18 to 87, the researchers concluded that orientation “may be more beneficial than physical activity alone.” This is because exercising while boating activates parts of the brain that our ancestors used to hunt and gather, but are now largely inactive as people rely on GPS to find their way around. While convenient, such technology could be doing brain damage. “We’re going back to our roots, trying out space tasks that we don’t do much anymore,” says Waddington. And you don’t have to spend a lot of time doing it to benefit: “A little goes a long way.” In early data, his team is finding that even a single 15-minute counseling session could lead to improvements in cognitive function.
William Spencer (WA) and Janet Tryson (PA) in the final leg of a middle distance race at Fishtrap Lake in eastern Washington.
Orientation United States
If your interest is piqued, Waddington and other experts recommend contacting a local club; there is at least one in most states. Orienteering events typically consist of three or more runs with varying lengths and difficulties, so even newcomers can show up, get a quick lesson, and try a beginner route. It can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of hours to complete. “Your goal is to navigate a series of checkpoints as quickly and efficiently as possible,” says Waddington. “You are moving through difficult terrain as you try to match the information you are collecting from the map with what you can see in front of you.” That’s why counseling is often called “the sport of thinking”, it’s like solving a puzzle.
Almost anyone can try orienteering, says Ian Shields, 74, a member of the Backwoods Orienteering Klub in Raleigh, North Carolina. In addition to the welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, it’s affordable: Participants typically pay around $7 to register for one of their club events. which includes the cost of a map, and then an additional $5 for a finger prick, a small electronic device that records your start and end times. He suggests bringing water and a safety whistle, and wearing walking gear and bug spray.
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Shields has lost some of his vision since taking up the sport more than a decade ago, but that hasn’t diminished his enjoyment; he just uses a bigger map now. He regularly mentors people under the age of 10 and over the age of 95. “You can race against a buddy who runs at the same level as you, or against your previous record,” she says. “You can try to be the fastest in the whole group, or the slowest.” He’s not particularly fast, he jokes that the only way he’ll win a race is if he outlives all of his teammates, but he’s okay with that. There is no pressure in orientation. “We have a lady who goes out and spends more time photographing the flowers, and sometimes she finishes the course and sometimes she doesn’t,” he says. The benefits are clear regardless. “It keeps your brain working. I’m certainly benefiting from it, because I actually go out there and do something.”
orientation is like forest bath, but with an athletic edge, says Clinton Morse, 61, who lives in Connecticut. He has been orienteering since the mid 90’s and loves the sport so much that he retired a few years ago to devote more time to it. He is now the national communications manager for Orienteering USA, the governing body for the sport in the US Morse has orientated in eight states so far this year. “There’s a really good feeling,” he says, including a satisfying mental challenge. Some newcomers worry about getting lost, but as long as you start with a beginner’s course and learn the basics of the sport, you’ll be fine, she says. “Then you add intuition and you can basically infer things from the map.”
TeamUSA Elite Squad member Alison Crocker (OR) stops briefly to interpret the intricate rock detail of the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area (Agua Dulce, CA). Alison would win this elite women’s course to be crowned the 2022 US Middle Distance Champion.
Orientation United States
Paige Suhocki, who is 15 years old and lives in New Jersey, started counseling when she was 10 years old. She was recently selected to represent TeamUSA at the World Junior Orienteering Championships this summer in Romania. “There are so many different ages of people,” she says. “There are children younger than me, and there are still old women who go out and walk. I aspire to be them, because they are getting out into nature and exercising.” (Plus, she adds, sometimes seniors beat up high school kids, “because they know exactly where they’re going.”)
Suhocki believes that counseling has improved her mental and physical health in a number of ways, including helping her learn to make decisions quickly. She is on the school track and cross country teams, but she hasn’t always been into running. However, when she navigates an orienteering course, she doesn’t even realize how many miles she’s covered. “I just go out, have fun, look at my watch afterwards, and I’ve gone five or six miles,” she says. One day, when she’s older, she’ll make it a family tradition: “I definitely want my kids to participate. It’s great to have something to look forward to on the weekends.”
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