page_title: Control point (orienteering)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Control point (orienteering) / History
caption_attribution_description: Bromma kyrka/church, Diocese of Stockholm, Sweden.
context_page_description: A control point is a marked waypoint used in orienteering and related sports such as rogaining and adventure racing. It is located in the competition area; marked both on an orienteering map and in the terrain, and described on a control description sheet. The control point must be identifiable on the map and on the ground. A control point has three components: a high visibility item, known as a flag or kite; an identifier, known as a control code; and a recording mechanism for contestants to record proof that they visited the control point. The control point is usually temporary, except on a permanent orienteering course.
  For events held under International Orienteering Federation rules the kite has a triangular form with each face being about 30 cm x 30 cm and coloured white and orange. Most national governing bodies, and related sports use the same design. The earlier specification used white and red.
  The location of control points is kept secret from the competitors until the start of the competition when they receive the map. The map may be pre-printed with the control points, or the competitor may be required to copy control points onto the map from a master map.
context_section_description: In the early days, control points were staffed. Often the competitors were given at the outset only the location of the first control point and were given the next location by the control point staff, who also stamped the control cards.
  The first public orienteering competition, in Norway in 1897, had three controls, at the farms Finnerud, Bjørnholt and Slakteren, while start and finish were on the farm Grøttum (see map in ref). The first Swedish public orienteering competition, near Stockholm in 1901, used two churches (Bromma and Spånga Church) and two large farms as control points.
caption: Bromma Church, used as an orienteering control point in 1901
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS OPTICAL CO.,LTD", "Image Model": "C5050Z", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "v558-78", "Image DateTime": "2008:03:29 10:36:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2338", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 20, 0, 1, 0, 20, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "6014", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7544", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/650", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:03:29 10:36:54", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:03:29 10:36:54", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "17/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "71/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2560", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1920", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5638", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "3624"}