Understand TrailO in 5 minutes

Understand TrailO in 5 minutes

What is the difference between TrailO, TempO and PreO? Get a good grip on the differences with the help of this brief overview.

Trail Orienteering, also known as TrailO, is an orienteering discipline just like FootO, MTBO and SkiO. In Trail Orienteering, competitors use an orienteering map to follow an accessible track. On the map is shown a number of controls placed within view of the track. In the terrain, 1-5 flags are placed around the area where the control is centered on the map. The competitors have to use the map and the control description to decide which one of the flags, if any, is placed correctly.

Just as FootO has different formats such as Sprint, Middle and Relay, so TrailO has two individual formats, PreO and TempO, and a relatively new relay format called TrailO Relay. The main difference between PreO and TempO is the number of timed controls.

At a timed control, the competitor is seated looking at a cluster of flags. The competitor is given a set of map samples, 2-3 in PreO and 4-5 in TempO, showing the area they are looking at with one control circle plus control description on each. At the time they see the first map, a stop-watch is started. Then it is about making the right decisions as fast as possible. Each wrong answer adds 30 seconds to the time.

An example of a TrailO control. The map sample is the solution. At a competition, the red dots showing where the flags are places would not be on the map. The letters in the second row of the control description tells how many flags you find around the control. A-C therefor tells, you will see three flags A, B and C.

The maps used in TrailO are drawn and printed according to either the ISSOM or ISOM norm. The map scale is normally 1:4000 or 1:5000.

Trail Orienteering was recognised as an official IOF discipline in 1992. The first ever World Cup in TrailO was held in 1999 and replaced with the World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC) in 2004. The WTOC are organised annually.

Still in doubt? The best way to resolve that is to go to a TrailO event and experience it in real life!

A further introduction to Trail Orienteering with tips and tricks can be found here.

One of the PreO courses at WTOC 2016. The competitor walks along the track from the start to the finish and solves the controls on the way.