Orienteering Hutt Valley is heading towards a 1:20,000 map of the greater Wellington area suitable for muscle-powered travel – foot and bike. We have contours, roads and streams for about 1300 sq.km and are gradually fixing the geometry, updating the track network, and colouring in the areas which are normally open to public access.

We’re over halfway there thanks to people who have organized rogaines and MTB-orienteering events and passed on the corrections. The best way to do this is to get a printout of the area you are interested in, mark it up and send it back. This describes the raw printouts which we can produce, and the best way to label the corrections. Thanks for your help!

If there seem to be a lot of words here just get on with the fun bit – out on the course – then read them after a visit or two.

Ph 04 566 2645
Orienteering Hutt Valley

The Raw Printouts

We use software called OCAD – 99% of orienteering mapping is done with it. You probably DON’T have it, so a printout is usually the best way to give the map to you - or a pdf.

We’ll usually print out at a bigger scale than usual, 1:15,000 or 1:10,000 - or make a pdf which is 10 or 15,000 if printed to fill A4. It won’t have a border and legend etc. It’s the intellectual property of OHV – contact us if you see uses for the material beyond orienteeringJ

Don’t take it into the field – make copies. Inkjet ink is not waterproof, and there are plenty of other things that can happen to a piece of paper in the outdoors.

The map will look like maps used for rogaines or MTBO with the following possible extras:

Purple lines – any unsubstantiated line which might be something useful like a road or track. It could have come from an aerial photo or some other map such as published street maps. Solid means the shape is probably right (visible from the sky), dashed means shape could be approximate (lines from other maps). We hide these lines before production printing but they can help mappers. Old stuff which is no longer passable is not just deleted – it is turned into a purple line “just in case”.

Green lines – we use fat dashed green lines for MTBO to mean “allowable route, no visible track” and these might be inadvertently left switched on. Thin solid green lines are used for apparent edges of vegetation traced from aerial photos, maybe some dashed thin green lines if the vegetation edges are not distinct. When you’re mapping, these hints can be useful.

Purple text – we write notes to ourselves on the map in purple, eg “subdivision Mar 06” to indicate that this bit of the map is dodgy and will need attention. Sometimes “res” or “sch” for parks, reserves and schools indicated on other maps. A lot of “?” if there is some doubt over something. Of course all these are hidden before production printing.

Purple bars across tracks – these are specific MTB obstacles which definitely cause a dismount.

A bit of aerial photo – might be visible where the map hasn’t been “coloured in” yet.

Marking Up the Corrections

The most likely and most useful corrections are to the road/track network. Don’t try to duplicate the various dashes and line widths etc, just draw solid lines and put a code number beside them.

We classify the tracks for MTB riding. Turns out that this is fine for people on foot too, so the mapping can be used more widely.

Wide roads - that two (or more) cars can readily pass: code 2W (or perhaps 4W) – stands for 2-way etc. Most of these are on the map already as the double black line with brown filling.

Narrow roads/wide tracks - wide enough for ONE CAR only – but two bikes could readily pass: code 1 (well maintained), 3 (some reduction in speed, approx 50-75% of top speed), 5 (you are picking your way round holes, rocks or obstacles, approx 25-50%), 7 (you can't ride or riding is as slow as walking your bike). The ones we have already are shown as thick black solid lines, long dashes, short dashes, and dots respectively.

Single-track - wide enough for one BIKE OR PERSON only: code 2 (well maintained), 4 (some reduction 50-75%), 6 (picking your way 25-50%), 8 (can't ride). The ones we have already are shown as thin black solid lines, long dashes, short dashes, and dots. Just think “fast-medium-slow-push”, wide is the odd numbers, narrow is even.

Something for bikers only who are restricted to tracks - you spot a good route that doesn’t have a visible track, you can specify that it have a “green line”: code G1 (well maintained, which of course is a contradiction in terms), G3 (not maintained, some reduction in speed 50-75%), G5 (picking your way 25-50%), G7 (can't ride, this would presumably be only a short stretch.) Rogainers don’t worry about this.

If there’s a road/track on the map and it has to come off, put an “N” (for “no”) on the line. DO NOT use an “X” as that has another meaning. You don’t need to “N” the purple and green lines, we hide any not converted into tracks etc before production printing.

If there are other distinctive features you think should be on the map then sketch them. If there isn’t much room, do them on the back. If it’s a significant man-made object, use “X”. Trig beacons “T”. Pylons a plus with a blob in the middle. As above, for any to come off use an “N”.

Finally the point of all this – your event. Draw circles REALLY ACCURATELY and number them. Probably best on a separate copy unless the corrections are very few. Don’t forget a triangle for the start. A schedule of descriptions helps us get them accurate.

If there are heaps of corrections feed them to us progressively. Even if there are just a few corrections and the control circles it takes a while – we also have to cut out your bit of map from the larger file and give it a legend and title etc. Give us a week to fit in the cartography and order the copies and have a day to spare for possible cockups!

While there are other ways we suggest you let us order the printing - OHV has an account with a printer that we trust and a negotiated price. DON’T print from a scan.