The Yukon Orienteering Association is welcoming the world to Whitehorse this week.

More than 260 athletes and supporters are arriving for the Western Canadian Orienteering Championships from July 16-18 and the Canadian Orienteering Championships from July 22-24.

Competitors are flocking in from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United States to get a taste of what the Yukon's true wilderness has to offer.

The Westerns will start Saturday with the middle-distance event on a revised Hidden Lakes map near Grey Mountain Road. The long-distance event will take place Sunday on the Long Lake Southeast map, the finish area for which will be at Rotary Park.

Athletes will hit the home stretch on the hills behind the Education Department, running across Riverdale Bridge and into Rotary Park.

On Monday, the sprint-distance map will be at Elijah Smith Elementary School, the finish line of which will be in the soccer field.

Each event will start at 10 a.m.

Last night, former president of the Yukon Orienteering Association and current executive member, Barbara Scheck, looked over one of the maps, which have met the specifications set by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).

The International Map Advisory also looked over the maps to ensure every detail was precise, right down to the colour.

"The maps are beautiful. They are truly a work of art,” Scheck said.

In addition to the Westerns and nationals, there are also world ranking events.

Sanctioned by the IOF, these races allow elite participants to earn world-ranking points.

Few races of this standard are held in North America each year, Scheck pointed out.

A lot is riding on the competence of volunteers and organizers, she added.

Scheck called the calm before the storm an exciting time.

"There is are so many technical requirements for orienteering. The key thing is to get the controls hanging in the forest in the right spots. And we've been working towards that; but even the details to make sure that the right marker, the right timing piece, gets to the right spot. There's so many opportunities for mistakes to be made, so our adrenaline is running to make sure that all those technical things are spot on, because if there's any mix ups with that, the race is null and void.”

Another key aspect to making these events successful will be making the sport accessible to the public.

Not an easy feat considering orienteering involves mostly running through the wilderness finding controls.

Magnus Johansson, from the Greater Vancouver Orienteering club and Canadian Orienteering Federation board member, will be announcing the progress of the athletes to spectators.

Johansson is a former Canadian champion and on the selection committee for the National High Performance Program.

Scheck said it's getting easier to track progress of competitors.

"It's a huge technological feat, and luckily we have better minds than mine working on that,” she laughed, adding of the event.

"This event has been over three years in the works. It's a huge amount (of work), but on by a pretty small volunteer base, who are all still working full time. It's a lot of volunteer hours.”