A healthy Scandinavian lifestyle!

When I lived in Norway one of the things I loved to see was people of all ages out cross-country skiing. Parents would ski pulling babies and small children in pulks behind them. Sometimes dogs would pull their owners along! People of all ages were out skiing for both exercise and pleasure, including the elderly. Children are taught to ski almost as soon as they can walk, and there is a joke that Norwegian children are born "with skis on". Being an enthusiastic devotee, of course I assumed that all Norwegians love to ski, but some of my friends had to set me straight about that!

I remember one time I was skiing home after a tour around Sognsvann (a large lake on the outskirts of Oslo) and a group of people suddenly crashed out of the forest, ran across the ski trail and disappeared again. I had absolutely no idea what this was all about, but it was later suggested that they were probably an orienteering group.

Orienteering is also very popular in Scandinavia. Not only your standard orienteering, but also ski orienteering and biathalon orienteering.

Some friends of mine in Sweden are heavily involved in orienteering, both locally and internationally, and it is an activity that they have been able to do as a family. I was interested to discover whilst visiting a couple of years ago that the sports psychology side of orienteering is taken very seriously indeed and is the subject of academic research and teaching.

Their local club is based where they live in a satellite suburb of Stockholm. (www.tabyok.se). Very considerately some of the information on the website is also available in English. Have a look if you are interested to see how orienteering is approached in Sweden.

It is lovely to see the wholesome and family-based nature of this sport, the enthusiasm of the people who have made a lifestyle out of it, and the support which is provided to participants at all levels. If you're looking for a sporting activity that gets you outdoors (without getting lost), keeps you fit and allows you to make lots of new friends then perhaps orienteering would be something good to try!