Is the terrain suitable for Elite Trail Orienteering?
The key to elite Foot-O is high quality terrain; terrain that is detailed, complex, interesting, subtle, a pleasure to be in and to run through. The key to elite Trail-O is high quality terrain; terrain that is detailed, complex, interesting, subtle, a pleasure to be in. There is no running through the terrain. The best terrain is that with complex ground and contour detail demanding skills of map interpretation in three dimensions. The presence of rock, water and vegetation features adds variety and further interest. Man-made features can play a part in elite Trail-O but are generally of secondary value, the best competition being based upon complex natural detail. Judging from an existing Foot-O map whether terrain is suitable is difficult because the Trail-O competition uses detail which is usually too fine to be shown at the Foot-O map scale. The terrain must be visited to determine whether there are enough potential sites of elite standard to support the competition.
