Trail-O
I have always been fairly dismissive of Trail ‘O’, reckoning that it was probably quite easy and was just a way that disabled people could take part in orienteering. However, I began to take a bit more notice of it at Easter last year when we saw a Trail ‘O’ course in operation near Leeds. Also, Dave Gittus won a gold medal in the recent World Champs. I have met Dave on a few occasions at British Orienteering Coaching Conferences and have great respect for the work he has done on the mapping and coaching fronts.
Dave gave us all a chance to try this branch of the sport at the 2007 British Orienteering Coaching Conference. The grounds of the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall (in Shropshire) were ideal for beginners! The idea is that you walk between ‘viewing points’. These viewing points are not marked on your map. You stay on roads and paths all the time; you are not allowed onto the grass etc.
From the viewing point, you will see up to five control kites, lettered a – e from the left. The location of a control is marked. There are also control descriptions, which you have to look at for the exact location. The last column in the control descriptions shows the approximate direction of the kite from the viewing point. You have to decide which of the kites (a, b, c, d, e) is correct; if none are correct, you have the option ‘z’ (zero). You can walk around the control site provided you stay on the paths, and none of the paths are marked with X for ‘no entry’. Once you have decided which is the correct kite (a, b, c, d, e) or z (zero), you use a pin punch to mark a control card in the box. There are no second chances – you have to be sure that you get it correct!
On the accompanying map, I have marked all the viewing points with a purple X so that you can see why it was important to walk around the paths from this point!
Dave had a sample control site and he coached us through it – only two kites this time and would we chose a or b? You had to judge the distance on the ground between the pond and the well then measure it on the map (controls are placed very accurately on the map by measuring in the OCAD mapping software). We then all went off to start at a different control.
I went off to no. 7 first of all. Not too hard, a pace count down the path and some transits (sighting angles) taken and a punch in the box a. On to no.8, a little harder. Eventually take a compass bearing through a stone statue and some single trees before I finally make up my mind for ‘c’. I then decide to go 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 (we could not visit 5 and 6 due to storm damage to some trees in the area).
No. 4 was a little tricky as there were 4 kites hanging within 6m of one another. I was able to discount one (d) as it was part way up the bank and not at the foot. ‘a’ was discounted as it was nowhere near the bank, let alone the foot! Again, some pacing along the path, measuring off the map and sighting through a (rather large) tree all helped me make my decision for ‘c’.
On to no.3 and it was the easiest of the lot as the control description reads ‘inside corner’ and all the kites were outside! So a punch mark in the ‘z’ box.
Then no.2 and I make a reasonably quick decision on ‘b’. Serves me right for not walking along the track, as we were all standing at the viewing point which was situated by a clearing 20m to the SW of the one that was marked on the map! Very sneaky and I could not alter my punch mark to ‘z’!
No. 1 was probably to one I found the hardest of the lot. It was not possible to pace along the road as the road did not run parallel to the edge of the thicket. It was hard to get a good transit as the angles were very acute. In the end, after a lot of dithering, I made a decision for ‘b’ but was not 100% confident. It turned out to be the correct one though! The best technique in this situation evidently is to take a sight-line on something like a building corner behind the control circle and work out which is the correct kite.
Overall, I got them all right except for no. 2 (which I knew about). It really challenged me mentally, but I missed the navigation under the pressure of time and reading the map ‘on the run’.
Dave mentioned that they do have a ‘timed’ section in Trail ‘O’. You sit on a chair and then a number of kites are revealed. You have a minute to decide which is the correct one. Dave has been at an event when, as soon as you started you were taken into a shed and sat down. A wooden window opened and you had a minute to identify the correct control. You then had to turn round and another window opened up; same again. This happened four times, and remember that you have not yet seen a map of the area – only the small piece with a control circle in it! Real pressure!
If I was at an event and there was an opportunity to do a Trail ‘O’ course I would take part. I would urge anyone else to do so as it pulls together many skills you need to succeed in foot ‘O’ – accurate map reading, decisions under pressure, knowing your control descriptions!
Lynne Walker
My control card, with pin punch marks.
