Navigation is a fundamental skill for hill walking which will increase your enjoyment and safety in the British hills and further afield. This course will challenge your preconceptions of what is possible with just a map and a compass. We will get lost and we will walk around in circles but by the end of the training you should have a good personal strategy for navigating and have gained plenty of confidence in your new skills.

With experience from everything from hill walking to fell running and adventure racing we can customise your course to your interests.

The Introduction to Navigation course will equip you with the skills to get off the beaten track whatever the weather. Aimed at those with minimal or no experience we will start with the basics to give you a solid foundation on which to build

The Advanced Navigation course is for those walkers who have the basic skills but maybe lack the confidence required for bad weather navigation or wish to challenge themselves further and develop a reliable and robust navigation system

• Route planning - duration, objectives & difficulty
• Group management
• Scale - the most common mistake
• Macro & micro navigation
• Contour recognition
• Reading the terrain
• Science of navigation versus the Art
• Aiming off, attack points & collecting features
• Following bearings
• Pacing & timing
• Slope aspect
• Navigation strategies
• Strategies for relocation
• Bad weather systems
• Building confidence

Location
MTN Adventure are based in the Lake District with some of the UK's best walking on our doorstep. We are also happy to run these courses in Scotland, North Wales, Yorkshire or the Peak District

Previous experience
These courses are for those people with previous hill walking experience and are reasonably hill fit. For the Introductory course an understanding of basic navigation eg. setting the map etc would be useful but not essential. The Advanced course assumes a reasonable level of proficiency in taking bearings, setting the map, contour recognition but will be tailored to your existing skills.

Dates
We can happily run this course on any dates throughout the year.  Courses are usually two to five days in length

Price
£200 per day plus £20 per additional person up to a maximum ratio of 1:5

Included

• Instruction by qualified Mountaineering Instructors (Association of Mountaineering Instructors)
• Safety and group equipment including first aid kit and emergency shelters

Not included

• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Transport to, from and during the course

Equipment required

• Rucksack: 30 litre day pack with waterproof liner.
• Waterproof Jacket & trousers
• Walking boots with good grip and ankle support
• Warm hat & gloves.
• Walking trousers. Not Cotton
• T-Shirt/Shirt/ Thermal: Made of a wicking material. Not Cotton.
• Fleece: Thin fleece.
• Jacket: Primaloft or thick fleece.
• Socks to wear with Boots.
• Water bottle or Thermos
• Lunch
• Head Torch and spare batteries
• Map - OS Explorer OL24 (1:25,000)
• Map protection eg Map case (Ortilieb recommended) or laminated maps
• Compass (Silva Expedition 4 recommended)
• Pad & pen
• Whistle & Orange survival bag
• GPS and/or altimeter (Optional)
• Trekking Poles (Optional)
• Camera (Optional)
• Personal medication

If you have any queries regarding equipment then please contact us for advice and recommendations. We have a small pool of equipment available for use including maps, compasses, waterproof jackets, rucksacks, climbing helmets, belay plates, karabiners, ice axes, crampons, ice tools and snow shovels. There is no additional charge for the loan of this equipment. Please contact us to check availability.

Please also look at our Booking Conditions