This is an example of a beginners' course. It has four controls, which must be visited in the order in which they are connected and numbered - though the orienteer is not constrained to following the lines (it's easier to go out of your way a bit to use a trail). With the course comes a clue sheet, describing the exact location of the control flag within the circle on the map.
The clue sheet for this course is:
WHITE 3.5 km 75 m climb
Start: Corner of the field
1 | BL | trail junction |
2 | JC | stream junction |
3 | PG | SW corner of the evergreens |
4 | MP | SW end of the knoll |
5 | BL | upper part of the reentrant |
The clues define:
Because verbal descriptions can be somewhat variable as well as specific to the language of the event organizer, advanced orienteers use a system of symbols to define the clues. Clue symbols are related to but not identical to map symbols, and the international clue symbol system is well worth learning once an orienteer progresses beyond the advanced beginner stage.