Education > Event Guide

Local Events

Local events are generally open to the public, and beginner instruction is offered at almost all local events. Preregistration is required for all participants. Participants may choose from beginner, intermediate, or advanced courses, and may go out on the course as individuals or as a small group.

Schedule

Stagger starts typically run from 9 a.m. until noon with a 3-hour time limit. Participants select their own start times when they preregister. All participants must be off all courses by 2 p.m.

Price

Cost is $7 for a GAOC member or $10 for a non-member. A small group (up to 5 people) may go out on a course together; cost for the group is $12 if one person is a GAOC member, or $15 otherwise. Most parks also require a parking fee of $5-$10. Events require a finger stick (e-stick) for timing; rental finger sticks are available for $3 per day.

Selecting Your Course

For local events, GAOC uses the guidelines in the table below when designing courses. White, Yellow, Orange, Silver, Brown, Green, and Red courses are usually offered. When selecting your course, consider your physical ability as well as your orienteering experience. If you're trying orienteering for the first time, GAOC recommends that you try at least one White course to familiarize yourself with the map and sport.

Special Events

The Georgia Navigator Cup, Interscholastics Champs, Junior Training Camp, and Radio-O/ARDF Champs are large national events hosted by GAOC. Other special events are simply variations on the local event format.

Bike-O

In Bike-O, competitors use a bicycle to navigate part or all of an orienteering course.

Bubba Goat

The Bubba Goat is the southern version of the famous Billygoat event established by Peter Gagarin in Massachusetts. A "Goat" event is typically one very long course, sometimes with an optional shorter, although still long course. The format is what sets it apart from other Long-O courses. There is a mass start, and following is not only allowed, it's encouraged! Packs of orienteers form, break up, re-form, and competitors may skip any one (or sometimes two) controls, in order to add another element of strategy. The Bubba Goat started in Georgia and has since rotated to several SE clubs.

Canoe-O

Canoe orienteering is a great event to enjoy with the family. Traditional orienteering controls may be places around a lake and in the woods. The course is usually designed as a Score course with points assigned to each control based on difficulty and distance. One or more competitors navigate the course in a canoe and the winner is the canoe team that accumulates the most points within the time limit.

Contour-O

Contour orienteering is the same and traditional orienteering; however the Contour-O makes use of a map with only earthen elevation features (contours). All man-made and detail features are removed from the map. This type of even can turn a park that has many trails from very easy orienteering to very challenging.

Extreme-O

Extreme-O is patterned after the CIOR competition, a three-day military competition held in a member NATO country each year. Typically, competitors orienteer from several different types of maps, including aerial photographs, quads and topographical maps. Past events have included rope bridge crossings, canoe legs, culvert controls, memory legs and other interesting tests. Extreme-O is usually offered on the last day of the Georgia Navigator Cup event.

Georgia Navigator Cup

The Georgia Navigator Cup, GNC for short, is an annual Orienteering USA-sanctioned NRE (National Ranking Event), hosted by the Georgia Orienteering Club. A GNC will usually include 3 days of traditional orienteering courses, plus an Extreme-O. For detailed information, follow the GA Navigator Cup link in the navigation pane.

National Orienteering Day (NOD)

Orienteering clubs across the nation celebrate National Orienteering Day by scheduling orienteering events specifically designed for newcomers to the sport. GAOC typically participates by hosting a NOD event annually in September. We have more instructors on hand to give more individualized attention to beginners.

Night-O

Orienteering at night is challenging and fun. Traditional orienteering bags may be substituted by reflective sticks and competitors light their way with a flashlight or headlamp. GAOC hosts at least one Night-O each year in conjunction with an afternoon of traditional orienteering courses and an evening picnic.

Radio-O/ARDF

Radio orienteering, also called Amateur Radio Direction Finding, is a really fun radio-active event, using a map, compass, and radio direction finding equipment to locate hidden transmitters in the forest. You do not need an amateur radio license to be a radio orienteer. At every event there are suitable challenges for both novice and expert.

Score-O

Where traditional orienteering has specified courses, Score-O is a free form type of event. A smattering of controls are set in the field and assigned a point value based on distance and navigation difficulty. The object of the event is to get the most number of points in a designated time. Each Score-O is uniquely designed by the course setter, but many course setters design the event so that even beginners may win. Points are usually deducted for every minute over the designated time, so endurance and strategy play an important role.

Trail-O

The object of Trail-O is to identify the correct control from a cluster of three or more controls. The orienteer uses all available information, such as clue descriptions, map features, terrain observation and the control arrangement, while viewing the control cluster from a fixed position. Winners are determined by the number of correct controls identified, with one or two timed tie-breaker controls.

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