Mountain Navigation: Introduction (South Lakes)

OVERVIEW

This mountain navigation course provides a hands-on introduction to essential navigation skills for outdoor and mountainous terrain.

You’ll learn practical map reading, compass use, and route planning to navigate confidently in hills, moorland, and mountains. The course emphasises real-world application in a controlled environment, ensuring you develop the skills to find your way safely and independently.

​##COURSE OUTLINE
-Theory Session
-Map choices, legend, scales and symbols
-Understanding the Map
-Features, contours & topography and grid references
-Map Reading Skills
-Orientating the map, feature association, recognising prominent landmarks,
-Orienteering and Journey Planning
-Measuring distances and forming solid strategies, relaying information from map to ground with pacing and timing
-Compass Basics
-Anatomy of the compass, its features and basic usage
-Practical Navigation Exercises
-Participants practice their navigation skills in a controlled outdoor setting with an emphasis on using maps, compasses, and orienteering techniques appropriate to the terrain travelled
-Intro to GPS
-Looking at appropriate apps and technology, whats recommended and what should be avoided
​

SKILLS COVERED

-Choosing a map and map types
-Grid references
-Orientating the map
-4 D's of navigation
-Measuring distances
-Timings
-Navigating via linear features such as paths, walls and streams
-Developing hand railing techniques
-Basic contour interpretation​
-Intro to GPS