WHY SPECIAL MAPS?
Orienteering Clubs put a considerable amount of time and money into producing special maps for orienteering. The obvious question is ‘Why not use existing government topographic maps?’ Special maps are needed for orienteering so that the element of luck in competition is minimised. The International Specifications for Orienteering Maps states that ‘No competitor should gain an advantage or suffer a disadvantage because of faults on the map’. Orienteering maps show sufficient detail to permit an orienteer to choose the optimum route between control points. They show both the features that hinder progress, such as water, thick vegetation and cliffs, and also features like track networks and open land which allow for fast movement and easy navigation across the terrain. Existing government 1:25 000 topographic maps do not show this level of detail so are not suitable for orienteering. These maps are, however, used for the related sport of rogaining. Rogaining can be described as long dist
