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Navigation Courses in the Lake District

2-day navigation course + mountain skills

Learn how to use a compass to navigate accurately

Well developed navigation and mountain skills are key to enjoying our challenging mountain environment in a safe, responsible and enjoyable manner.

Over 2 days, we can offer more than just your average navigation course. Having the skills and ability to deal with inclement weather, poor visibility, the need to relocate, navigate in the dark, move safely on steep ground and deal with an emergency high on the hill are skills that we believe every walker and climber should have. On our navigation days we look at all of these skills and more.

Our 2-day course covers the basic topics that are included in our 1-day course but in a lot more detail. It also introduces more advanced navigation and mountain skills which will leave you with a well developed toolkit to navigate safely in all kinds of conditions.

On a 2-day navigation course we would seek to cover the following areas from our 1-day course, plus the intermediate to advanced skills listed further down this page.

• Understanding map symbols
• Orientating the map
• Taking 6-figure grid-references
• Basic compass skills
• Simple navigation strategies
• Estimating time and distance
• Basic contour interpretation
• Relocation: What to do when you don’t know where you are

Could you navigate safely in these conditions?

• Mountain skills
  • Planning a suitable, safe walk
  • Basic weather knowledge and forecasting
  • Equipment choice
  • Dealing with emergencies
  • Access and conservation

• Intermediate to advanced navigation skills, including
  • Micro-navigation
  • ‘Course’ and ‘fine’ navigational strategies
  • Aiming off, attack points and tick-off features
  • Navigating off contours
  • Measuring distance, using pacing and timing
  • Advanced relocation strategies
  • Walking on bearings and more advanced compass work
  • ‘Map to ground’ versus ‘ground to map’ techniques

Night navigation training

Information

This is a 1-day course that is run in the Lake District. We run private courses so you can enjoy the benefits of being able to learn at your own pace and having the course tailor-made to your requirements and skill level.

Info on our 1-day course is here

Prices: are shown in the table below.

Click here to make a booking or to find out more. You can also contact us by telephone on 07702 942980.

Navigating in one of the more remote parts of the Lakes

Ages and abilities: Our courses can be tailored for all ages and abilities, so whether you’ve never picked up a map before or whether you’re an experienced navigator looking to push things to the next level – our courses are for you.

Group sizes and ratios: Our courses can be run to an instructor:client ratio of 1:1. Also, to ensure that you get the best quality training possible, we will never exceed an instructor:client ratio of 1:6.

Venue: We will choose a venue that suits your aspirations and minimises the travelling that you need to do. We can run private courses from anywhere in the Lakes, in the Peak District, in Snowdonia and in Scotland too.

Kit: We will share a kit list with you when you book, but all you really need are warm and waterproof ‘outdoor’ clothes and footwear.

Times: Courses can be run at a time to suit you – they generally start at around  09.30 and end around 17.00.