Orienteering ACT will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of orienteering in Australia at the junior league finals.
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The event which led to the establishment of orienteering as a regular Australian sport was held at Upper Beaconsfield on August 23, 1969.
![Map and course used by competitors at Upper Beaconsfield for an orienteering event on 23 August 1969. Map and course used by competitors at Upper Beaconsfield for an orienteering event on 23 August 1969.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc76rrid309z71ddkq36gt.jpg/r0_172_3543_2164_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The control markers were 18 litre metal oil drums, painted red with a white stripe, with self-inking stamps or coloured pencils attached.
David Hogg, one of the finishers, moved to Canberra and staged the first event in the ACT on Black Mountain on 16 May 1971.
Orienteering technology has since advanced with electronic and digital technology being used in every way from the production of highly accurate maps to electronic timing and GPS tracking of competitors in major events, in real time.
Orienteering ACT will celebrate the advent with the junior league final, which is also the territory's secondary schools championships, on Isaacs Ridge on Saturday.