Great Forest Rogaine to test mapping skills

As well as the standard on foot option, the Great Forest Rogaine includes mountain bike categories. Photo/Supplied

A true test of intelligence, fitness and teamwork is being held in the Whakarewarewa Forest this weekend.

The Great Forest Rogaine, being held on Saturday, is an orienteering event in which teams of two to five choose to compete in a three hour or six hour event, either on foot or on mountain bikes. There are open and junior men's, women's and mixed categories and the event also doubles as the 2018 New Zealand Secondary School Rogaine Championships.

Rogaining is a team sport based on navigating to checkpoints using a map.

Competitors are given a map with all the checkpoints on it. The checkpoints are worth different values. The teams have a defined amount of time to visit as many of the checkpoints as possible. Teams plot their own route around the map, choosing how many checkpoints to visit and in which order.

During an event each team finds their way round their selected course, adjusting their plans as appropriate. The team with the highest score within the time limit wins.

Orienteering Bay of Plenty secretary Darren Ashmore said there were about 500 competitors registered for the Great Forest Rogaine.

"There are also the secondary school competitors, the juniors will do the three hour and the seniors the six hour, and they're coming from all over the North and South Island.

"It covers quite a big area, this year's six-hour event this year will have checkpoints spread out right across the Whakarewarewa Forest, all the way out to Green Lake from where it starts near Whakarewarewa School.

"The idea is that there are too many checkpoints for any team to gather within the time limit, so you have to be quite careful and strategic in your planning. They've got a good hour before the event to sit down with the map and do their planning. It's really important their planning includes getting back on time, because they lose points for every minute they're late."

He said the Whakarewarewa Forest was ideal for this sort of event.

"It's pretty awesome, there's such an amazing network there. The event this weekend includes the option of doing it on foot or on a bike - there's a unique map for each.

"Typically rogaines are done on foot, but mountain bike orienteering and mountain bike rogaining are growing in popularity, we've always had it as part of the Great Forest Rogaine," Ashmore said.

Teams would be able to compete at their own pace, meaning the event catered to all skill and fitness levels.

"There will certainly be lots of fairly novice teams, that are just coming along for the fun to see how far they can get and where they can get to.

"Rogaines right around New Zealand are gaining popularity. It's good fun and it gets you out into a nice bit of nature, doing physical activity and the added element of having to use your brain and work with your teammates through the problem solving and strategic side of it. That certainly appeals to a certain type of person and there's plenty of them out there."

Registrations closed on Wednesday night, but there will be a limited number of entries available on the day, on a first in, first served basis. For more information go to www.obop.org.nz