If your Geeklings are getting tired of Geocaching, and you're looking for something a little more challenging for them, then it's time you gave some thought to Orienteering. The basic idea of the sport is that you're given a map with a sequence of navigational checkpoints, and then you race like mad through woods and swamps, scrambling up and down rocky peaks, desperately trying not to get too lost, all the while competing against other runners to complete the course. Great fun, right?

Participants in orienteering races range from children under ten years of age all the way up to senior citizens. To even things out, age categories are assigned a "handicap" which allows them to skip a certain number of checkpoints along the way. For example, in the most recent race we ran, women 19 or younger, women 35 or older, and men 55 or older were given a handicap of "3," thus allowing them to skip 3 of the checkpoints (not all checkpoints are eligible to be skipped – the ones that are eligible are clearly marked on the map).

The orienteering maps are incredibly detailed, with contour lines, trails, creeks and swamps, and even types of vegetation clearly indicated; this level of detail makes it much easier to determine your location and navigate to each checkpoint. Of course, the quality and richness of information on the maps also makes it possible for participants to strategically plan routes to take advantage of the local terrain. The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but when it comes to orienteering, that may not be the fastest or easiest route. Following a looping path along a well-groomed trail may be twice as long as the straight line through a swamp and up a near-vertical hill, but which one do you think is going to take longer to travel?

In order to make best use of the map, each racer also carries a compass. A so-called "orienteering compass" includes an elastic strap to attach the compass to the racer's thumb, and a small ruler for measuring the distance between checkpoints on the map. Using the compass to determine North, it's easy to orient the map and determine the direction of travel to the next checkpoint. For short races, the distance between checkpoints is only a few hundred meters, but longer races could easily sport checkpoints that are kilometers apart. Depending on the racer's preference, he or she may opt to simply guesstimate distance and trust to distinctive landmarks, or the racer might actually count paces to measure distance more accurately.

Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Historically, orienteering checkpoints included a distinctive hole-punch that the racer would use to perforate a progress card or passport; recently, though most races have begun using an RFID-based electronic system produced by Sport-Ident. The SI "cards" are carried by each racer and are inserted into a battery-operated encoder unit at each checkpoint along the race. Each encoder stores a digital time-stamp in the SI card, providing a complete progress record of the racer. The final statistics are downloaded to a computer at the finish, making it quick and easy to tabulate race results.

As mentioned above, orienteering races take place in large park-like areas with plenty of trees, water, hills, and other natural features. If you're an outdoor enthusiast, then this makes the sport immediately attractive. There are also a number of other obvious benefits to orienteering, such as the exercise of running for an hour or more, the inevitable increase in map-reading and navigation skills, the sense of accomplishment and confidence boost that comes from succeeding at something challenging, and the socialization and friendly competition. The last point is worth especially emphasizing: the people involved in orienteering are generally the embodiment of good sportsmanship, and provide a fantastic role model to the kids involved. It's also worth noting that this is an incredibly kid-friendly pursuit, and that shorter, easier races for kids are generally run alongside the longer adult-oriented races. And, yes, there is some irony in the kids' races being shorter and easier than the adults', since the kids are frequently able to run circles around their parents.

Explosions from the third paroxysm of Etna in 2012.

So, if you're interested in getting involved in orienteering, look around for an orienteering club near you. There are plenty of them around, and they'll likely have a website with plenty of information about upcoming events. Clubs are always eager to have new people turn out, and they'll frequently offer introductory courses to get you started with map reading and navigation. They may even offer advanced courses to teach you the proper way to drop your compass in the woods, lose your shoe in a swamp, or shred your favorite running tights on a thorn bush. If you happen to live in Southern Ontario, the Ontario Orienteering site is a good starting point.