Mountain
Navigation

 

Navigation can be a tricky business,
after all I should know,
I have been lost more times
than I can remember

I have been walking along
not paying attention and found
myself on the wrong peak,
this is fine when walking
in reasonable weather

But YOU MUST know how
to rectify this mistake
Remember it takes only two things to become a proficient navigator
time and practice

Yes this can be speeded
up with good tuition

but experience gained over time
is the only true way to learn

as you can only learn theory online,
I have added a few navigation
pages to my site to assist
you with that theory

 

 

 

   

anyone can navigate in fine weather
with good visibility

   

 

navigation is easy

just
follow the signs

and only get lost,
if you doze to sleep

P-WAY-SIGN.JPG (33332 bytes)

but
the weather could change

if the weather was like this pictured above

true "white out navigation conditions"

 

can you navigate ??

bad weather
is when your navigation skills really count

 

below
navigating in the lake district in  NIL visibility

using both "new" and "traditional" skills

imagine navigating around this ridge
if the visibility suddenly dropped

 

 

 

 

keep your map handy there is only one easy way to Navigate
Keep your map handy in all weathers

remember a map is no good in a rucksack,
even in rain, wind, or snow keep it handy

 

 

 

Ben Nevis

is a good example of a

potential serious problems for the navigator

it has many paths up to its summit,

they can all be a very tricky
(even dangerous)

it's not a place to use to learn
to navigate

Image produced from multimap.com

www.nigelspencer.co.uk

 

 

A note on accuracy

Always navigate as accurately as possible
If you drew an X on your map how much land would it cover ?

If you used a 1:50,000 map
Assuming your "X" is 3 mm wide and 3 mm high - it would cover 150 x 150 meters of land.

150 meters in any direction would put you over the edge if your "X" was on the top of this crag.

If the width of the pen stroke of your "X" was 1/2 of 1 mm wide - the width of the pen stroke would be 25 meters on land.

The area at the top of this crag is more like 25 meters wide.

If you walked on a bearing that was 6 degrees different to what you thought it was for a distance of 52 meters

The error would be 52 meters
a long way in poor visibility

If you walked 52 meters in the wrong direction here it could be fatal.

 

 

get a mountain map by clicking here

Image produced from multimap.com

 get a

mountain map

with

multimap.com

and

www.nigelspencer.co.uk

click on the map left to
search for the maps

 

 

remember

navigation can be a tricky business

for organisations concerned with the teaching of navigation see the links at my main navigation index

In the meantime learn the
theory of navigation basics

see below

 trekking in the jungles of Borneo

 

 

as you can only learn theory online,
I have added a few navigation pages to my site
to assist you with that theory

navigation equipment

the map

map scale

map symbols

Britain's national grid

North

the compass

what is a contour line ?

distance & time
including Naismith's rule

height gain

example of a pacing chart

route planning considerations

what should be on a route card

what to do when
lost

navigating
in mist, darkness, and poor visibility

which navigation technique to use
 get to your goal

 

and to get right up to date

GPS navigation

 

A to Z
of navigation terms

 

examples of navigation

pictures of actual
navigation situations

what should I learn ?

techniques to practice

 

 

 

 

remember to look for the map monkey

WHAT me ?

do not look this this when
navigating

 don't want to look like the map monkey

 

nnas logo

then join the scheme
click here