Imagine you’re walking in the mountains, reach the summit as the cloud engulfs you. The sky lights up, seconds later you hear a crack of thunder as rain start falling from the sky. You take a selfie and the phone battery dies. You confidently get your map and compass out, and easily get yourself off the mountain to safety because you learned some navigation and map reading skills. Your Instagram photo on the summit was a bit crap but you’re still alive!
Why learn navigation and map reading?
Learning navigation skills and how to read a map properly will mean you can go out on more adventures, like in bad weather or even at night! You don’t need to rely on tech, which will fail you eventually, I promise. Taking a one to one course with me will mean you are independent on the fells and could be the difference between getting to safety yourself or being carried down by Mountain Rescue.
Your experiences in the wild outdoors will become more interesting AND much more fun.
If all you ever want to do is walk in good weather, you are living in the wrong country! The Lake District seems to have its own weather system and can be unpredictable, the Peak District can be murky most of the time (Bleaklow has a very apt name) with low lying fog and don’t get me started on Scotland! It’s like cloud and bad weather is hiding round the corner waiting for you.
Instead of being afraid of fog, mist, cloud, rain, sleet and snow, why not just embrace it all, learn how to navigate, buy a good coat and have the time of your life? Now you can venture out into the wild in bad weather or even at night!
Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping
Just because we love the freedom to be able to navigate with a map and compass, this doesn’t mean we are anti-digital mapping. Even if you pretend that you never use it on the hills, digital mapping is very useful when planning a trip or expedition.
Plotting routes on Ordnance Survey Online is an excellent way to gauge your distances and moreover the ascent along a trail. Take a look and give it a go. You can even download GPX files (showing you the route on the map like in this image) from my blogs.
You upload the GPX file and follow the route laid out on the map.
Learn Navigation & Map Reading With Me
A day isn’t a long time to teach all of this stuff so I’ll try to get all of the basics through during the morning.
You’ll learn how to use an Ordnance Survey map as a visual representation of the world around you and how to read symbols on it to recognise features on the ground.
After lunch we’ll look at the compass and how it can help you cross featureless terrain. Then it’s up to you to get us to the summit and back down to the car. You’ll work out a plan for this yourself and everything will start slotting into place.
I’ll show you how to use what you’ve learned without having to hold your map and compass in your hand all the time. I’m patient, friendly and good at gauging how you learn so will adapt my methods to suit you.
Come out for a day or two and turn your walks into adventures!
What you’ll learn on my Navigation Workshop
Learning how to navigate and read maps can change your life.
Navigation isn’t just about getting yourself to safety when bad weather comes in, it’s about having fun planning your routes in the first place, being able to adapt and even plan for change.
It’s about making your route more interesting and then not having to focus so much on all of that when you’re out in the mountains with your family and friends.
My Navigation Credentials
I got the NNAS Gold Award in navigation whilst I was training to do the Mountain Leader Award. Why bother, when the navigation in the MLA is ‘worth more’?
When I did the Mountain Leader assessment (a three day expedition in the mountains, the toughest I’d done at that time as I was really ill), I could navigate with my eyes closed – actually that’s sort of the idea – and could focus on other things. The navigation on the assessment was easy.
What’s Included On The Course?
Here’s a brief syllabus for my navigation course:
- Reading Maps – Map scales & symbols
- Grid references
- Open access and ‘where you’re allowed’
- Measuring distance – pacing & timing
- The compass & taking a bearing
- Hand rails, catching features, attack points & aiming off
- Understanding contour lines
- Naithsmith’s Rule
Oh, and I will provide the map and compass for the day AND a pint or brew at the end so we can talk about what you’ve learned – and you get a chance to ask as many questions as you need to.
Book your course today…
…or send me a message asking about my Masterclass Series!