Navigation – Full Day – SAAIG Outdoors

The ability to navigate when out on a walk is an essential safety skill. Whether on a mountain, bridleway, footpath or Moor, the ability to know where you have been, where you are and where you are going is fundamental.

Join SAAIGOutdoors on this full day course. This course is also good for those with little or no experience of navigating with a map and compass. Also, If you have learnt to navigate before, but aren’t too sure anymore, then this course is for you. We will take you through the basics again, allowing you to navigate on marked paths, footpaths, tracks, Dales and Mountains alike.

EVENT DATES

LOCATION

Yorkshire Dales or elsewhere

START TIME

08:45

END TIME

Approximately 16:00

EVENT CONTENT

Basic Navigation Skills, – Map scales, rights of way, compass fundamentals, distance and direction gauging. Timing and pacing. Map orientation, bearings, Handrails and more.
Mountain Weather and the effect on planning your day.
Route Planning and hazards and the avoidance of.
Technology, GPS, Phones and useful apps training.

KIT LIST TYPE

Walking Kit List –Download PDF

WHAT WILL I NEED

Personal items

Food/Packed Lunch

Kit List (From above detail)

WHAT WE PROVIDE

Suitable Compass and Maps

NOT INCLUDED

Accommodation

Personal Climbing Equipment

Lunch and Evening Meals

PRE REQUISITES

A General level of fitness
Ability to walk for 5-6 hrs carrying a small rucksack

08:45 Meet up

Meeting in SAAIGOutdoors HQ, near Ingleton (unless otherwise informed), stock up on breakfast, brews and equipment. During this session your instructor will introduce the concept of a navigation strategy that you will be using for the rest of the course, plus some specific information about maps and compasses. This is a short theory session to ensure everyone has the background knowledge necessary to fully participate in and understand the practical exercises throughout the rest of the course.

09:30-15:00 Go walking

Depending on conditions and previous experience of the group your instructor will decide on an appropriate location. We are lucky to have a number of routes that start from the site but on some occasions we may decide to drive to a different area. If this is the case it will typically mean no more than 15 minutes drive time.

09:30-1:00 Start Navigating

From the start your instructor will begin to explain how to use the idea of a navigation strategy to successfully negotiate each section of your route. They will introduce skills and practised steadily throughout the day. During the morning expect to focus on map orientation, accurate measurement of distance from the map, using timing to measure distances walked and recognising which features will make useful check offs and overshoots.

12:30-13:00 Lunch

You will be eating lunch out on the hill so don’t forget your packed lunch. This is a good opportunity to practise new found contour recognition skills. During the afternoon we will move away from footpaths in part and onto more open land. Now your instructor will introduce you to taking and walking along bearings as well as using pacing to measure distances. Towards the end of the day you will typically be presented with a group challenge of navigating to a reasonable small target that cannot be accessed directly from a footpath. This will give you the opportunity to use a variety of the skills you have learned in a real world situation.

13:00 - 16:00 Heading back

Head back to the village. As you return you will have the opportunity for one last practise of anything you feel less confident about, or you can just enjoy the countryside and the company!