In New Zealand Orienteering, courses are color-coded to indicate difficulty and length, helping competitors choose a course suited to their skill level and fitness. Here's a breakdown of the standard course colors and what they mean:
🟢 White Course
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Navigation Difficulty: Very Easy
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Typical Audience: Young children, complete beginners
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Course Characteristics: Follows linear features like tracks, fences, or streams. Controls are very obvious and placed right on the path.
🔵 Yellow Course
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Navigation Difficulty: Easy
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Typical Audience: Older children, novice adults
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Course Characteristics: Uses linear features with some short cross-country options. Introduces basic decision-making.
🟡 Orange Course
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Navigation Difficulty: Moderate
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Typical Audience: Intermediate orienteers
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Course Characteristics: Involves cross-country navigation with catching features. Requires some compass and contour reading skills.
🔴 Red Courses (Short Red, Medium Red, Long Red)
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Navigation Difficulty: Hard
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Typical Audience: Experienced orienteers
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Course Characteristics: Full technical navigation, off-track, contour reading, route choice. Multiple lengths available:
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Short Red: Technical but shorter distance
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Medium Red: Balanced technical and physical challenge
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Long Red: Long distance, high fitness and nav skills needed
