Find yourself in orienteering

By Colin Nicholson

It is one of Scandinavia’s more unlikely exports for the digital generation. Fancy trying to find your way in a forest with no phone, just a compass and a map covered in squiggles? Then welcome to the world of orienteering!

The sport has its origins in the Swedish military back in the 1800s and grew into a popular pastime in the Nordic countries encouraged by their right to roam policies. Now, orienteering is catching on in the English-speaking world.

In July, Kuopio was hosting the annual World Orienteering Championships ahead of the Finnish city’s 250th anniversary celebrations in November. I travelled there to try it out.

From the Orienteering World Cup in 2022. Photo: ErlingThisted

Kuopio is an inland harbour town in Savo, in Finland’s Lakeland, and you can reach it from Helsinki by plane, train – on a beautiful rail journey with water either side – or automobile, in which case do stop for a swim at some of the many beaches on Finland’s 200,000 lakes. High flyers in particular should be patient on the four-hour journey, as in Finland speeding fines are based on your salary.

Before the first race, I took one of the hotel’s bikes, cycling past Kuopio’s impressive national romantic stone architecture to its busy market. Here, around a tribute in the cobbles to what locals determined was the mualiman napa – the bellybutton of the world – were stalls selling everything from berries to freshwater fish. There were even children selling their old toys.

Pedalling onwards I reached the Puijo tower, which, with its revolving restaurant and lookout gave me a chance to survey the landscape I would be navigating, as well as the historic city of 130,000, its population boosted by students in winter.

To the north is Nilsiä, where the first race would be held. It was a city sprint, which provides an easy introduction to orienteering. It is part of a series of spectator races held throughout the week to encourage the curious to give it a go.

Buses are laid on, and when arriving in Nilsiä, the town resembled a newsroom just before deadline with people of all ages running around clutching sheets of paper, with lollipop men stopping traffic to let them pass. At a tent in the sports stadium, I paid 15 euros to a friendly volunteer, tapped the electronic chip I was given on a checkpoint and then I was off.

Colin Nicholson tried orienteering in Finland.

Among eight-year-olds and 88-year-olds

One of the nicest things about orienteering is that it makes you really notice the environment when planning the route. What was that circle on the map? Oh, a water tower looking like a miniature replica of the Puijo tower, which some people had ingeniously converted into a home. And that Lego-like shape? One of Nilsiä’s beautiful wooden houses.

But rectangles could be anything from the tiny orthodox chapel to a simple outhouse. For each find, I was rewarded with the sight of a brightly coloured checkpoint, which winked in recognition when I tapped it.

Sometimes these could be hard to spot, such as when they were tucked in the corners of F-shaped buildings that had us spinning the map round, just like during maths lessons at school doing rotations and enlargements. But the excitement of the hunt made us notice other things, such as the smell of wild roses growing up against a wall. It was as if turning off the phone awakened our senses.

A summer storm brewing on this hot July day finally broke as I approached the final checkpoint back in the stadium. So, though being no runner, the final stretch was indeed a sprint, albeit with the map over my head.

Sheltering under the tent with the organisers, I learnt I had done all eight checkpoints in 28 minutes 36 seconds – which put me among the eight-year-olds and 88-year-olds. But I found it great fun, and this, says Tom Hollowell, president of the International Orienteering Federation, is why they are seeing stronger interest in the sport.

Most events are still held in the Nordic countries, central Europe and the Baltic states, but he notes a particular rise in interest in the UK, North America, New Zealand and Australia, with participants setting up their own competitions there.

From the Orienteering World Cup in 2022. Photo: ErlingThisted

Mental challenge and geographical naivety

Buoyed by the success, I travelled further north to Tahko for the next race, which would be harder on the wooded slopes of this skiing-cum-summer resort.

Trekking up to the start, I commented on the number of lakes I could see, only to be told I was looking at just one, Syväri, which like most lakes in Finland points north by north-west due to the way the icesheet retreated 10,000 years ago. It was simply separated by myriad islands.

Finding my way between checkpoints further proved my geographical naivety, even though I had picked the easiest of three courses – a 4.1-kilometre route. Where were all those helpful roads and odd-shaped buildings?

Richard, a Briton in his late-50s, said that this was why he loved the Nordic landscape – “a proper forest with lots of squiggly contour lines to navigate by.” A keen runner, he clearly liked the mental challenge of orienteering.

Saara, 38, a personal trainer from Turku, reassured me: “Making mistakes isn’t bad. Each one is something you learn from.” Leaving the path for the springy, moss-covered forest floor after identifying a narrow gorge, I searched for the first checkpoint. On the map it appeared to be fairly clearly between two bogs, but only revealed itself after much squelching.

For the second, I carefully counted my paces to estimate my distance, but was still left scrabbling among the lupins, with the symbol ‘O.’ on the map telling me it was hidden south-east of a rock. When I finally spied the orange flag, my spirits soared.

The third target should have been easy, being due west of a water station staffed by volunteers, but the checkpoints were becoming as elusive as the bears and elk, lynx and wolves in the forest. My delight at finding it was tempered by the calculation that I would finish long after everyone had packed up.
Having managed just three of the 12 checkpoints, I descended at a more leisurely pace. But it was fun to see so many parents keen to get their children into the sport, clearly delighted at allowing their offspring the freedom they had grown up with.

Many other activities are on offer on the mountain, such as zipwire and mountain bikes, promising faster routes down. But despite my inexperience, I preferred the more naturalistic world of orienteering. And some Finns ascribe their top ranking in the world happiness report eight years running to their genuine connection with nature.

Photo: Emilia Hoisko, Visit Finland

Smoke sauna, cruise, and Moomin sculptures

While I was left pining to try the next race, there was so much to see and do in the area that my packed schedule was distraction enough.

First was a peaceful lunchtime cruise on Kallavesi – Finland’s tenth-biggest lake, with its archipelago of 2,000 islands, which you can combine with a berry wine tasting visit to Alahovi. That was followed by a traditional smoke sauna at Jätkänkämppä, with a dinner of the ubiquitous local delicacy of freshwater muikku fish accompanied by live music and a lumberjack display on the lake.

Then I followed the huge floating islands of logs down the lakes to Leppävirta, where the Vesileppis hotel features a remarkable permanent winter in the caves 30 metres below reception, with the intricate Moomin ice sculptures crafted from the incredibly clear ice from Lapland’s rivers.

I still have my eye on future orienteering events. Perhaps the overnight Jukola relay, the world’s biggest orienteering relay, in Kotka in June. Or the Fin5 tournament in Salla, Lapland, in July. Clearly I am just another Briton who is hooked on Scandinavia’s digital detox export.

Photo: Harri Tarvainen, Visit Finland

Colin travelled as a guest of Visit Finland (visitfinland.com), Hello Kuopio (hellokuopio.com) and Destination Savo (destinationsavo.fi). He stayed at the Tahko and Puijonsarvi Sokos hotels (sokoshotels.fi) as well as the Vesileppis hotel (vesileppis.fi).

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