What is orienteering? Orienteering is a competitive form of land
navigation. It is for all ages and degrees of fitness and skill.
It provides the suspense and excitement of a treasure hunt. The
object of orienteering is to locate control points by using a
map and compass to navigate through the woods. The courses may
be as long as 10 km. Orienteering began in Scandinavia in the
nineteenth century. It was primarily a military event and was
part of military training. It was not until 1919 that the modern
version of orienteering was born in Sweden as a competitive
sport. Ernst Killander, its creator, can be rightfully called
the father of orienteering. In the early thirties, the sport
received a technical boost with the invention of a new compass,
more precise and faster to use. The Kjellstrom brothers, Bjorn
and Alvan, and their friend, Brunnar Tillander, were responsible
for this new compass. They were among the best Swedish
orienteers of the thirties, with several individual
championships among them. Orientee