At the Easter 3 Day event in Tasmania this year it was announced that IKO founding member Chris Wilmott had been inducted into the Orienteering Australia Hall of Fame – General Division. This was in acknowledgement of his significant contribution to Australian orienteering mapping over four decades, through his fieldwork and photogrammetry.

Chris started orienteering in 1973, when the production of coloured orienteering maps in Australia was just beginning. He soon became involved in mapping, an interest that took him to Norway, where he spent three summers and one winter, and was the first non-Scandinavian to make maps in Norway. He returned to Australia in 1978 as a skilled fieldworker and photogrammetrist. Using a stereoplotter and his detailed understanding of Australian terrain Chris commenced production of high-quality base maps for state associations and clubs throughout Australia. Fieldworkers now had access to base maps with well plotted contours and detail which could be used for accurate positioning of complex detail on the ground.

In due course Chris went on to pursue his career as Australia’s only full-time orienteering photogrammetrist, plotting a total of 422 base maps. These included the maps for the 1985 World Championships and several World Cup events. If his name is familiar to you it is probably because you have seen it printed on your orienteering map either as “Base map by Chris Wilmott” or “Photogrammetry by Chris Wilmott”. Whilst new technology has reduced the need for skilled manual stereoplotting, maps bearing Chris’s name are likely to continue to be used for many years to come.

In addition to his mapping activities Chris competed at the elite level. He represented Australia in the 1976 World Championships in Scotland and competed in a number of Australia/New Zealand challenges coming first in M35A in 1986. He was also Australian Champion in the M35A age class in 1988 and in M45A in 1998.

Chris was a founding member of two orienteering clubs. The first being the Uringa Orienteering Club which was formed in May 1974 where he was the inaugural secretary & treasurer. The second club was the Illawarra Orienteering Club which was established in December 1982. Chris was involved in map production for both clubs. He had a reputation for being top notch course setter. 

Chris’s contribution to Australian orienteering has previously been recognised by receipt of the Silva Award for Services to Australian Orienteering in 2017.