News from Peak Navigation Courses

Map Reading for Mature Walkers At Peak Navigation Courses we are seeing an increasing number of “mature” walkers attending our map reading and navigation courses. People come into walking for various reasons, some are taking it up in retirement, others come via the “walks for health” programme though many have walked as part of a group for many years but have always followed others and now want to plan and follow their own routes.   Whatever your reason for wanting to learn to read a map and navigate, Peak Navigation Courses have a course to suit you. This is why we are introducing a course specifically for mature walkers who want to enjoy walking paths and lanes at a slower pace rather than crossing open moorland. Map Reading for Mature Walkers is a one day course that starts with the very basics though by the end of the day aims to leave you confident to plan a route and follow it using a range of map reading and navigation techniques including using a c...

Learn Map Reading and Navigation in The Peak District Whether you are a seasoned walker, a complete novice or someone who has for years followed others, Peak Navigation Courses have a course for you! For the past ten years we have been delivering training from our base in The Peak District and occasionally further afield in the mountains of Snowdonia and The Lake District. 1st Steps to Map Reading and Navigation Entry Level: Most people come for the one day 1st Steps to Map Reading and Navigation Course . It doesn’t matter if you are a complete novice or have some experience, this course starts with the very basics and leaves you able to cross easy open moorland using a compass. A great day out. National Navigation Awards: Some come to us wanting to gain an award under the National Navigation Awards Scheme. We highly recommend that adults can come straight in at Silver level not needing to have gained a Bronze Award first. This is a 2 day cours...

Peak Navigation Courses, Autumn programme 2014 1 st Steps to Map Reading and Navigation (Silver NNAS Day 1) Our “entry level” course suitable for the novice or those with plenty of experience who want to learn properly to navigate through fields and easy open moorland using a map and compass. (This course also forms day 1 of our Silver National Navigation Award Courses and is undertaken with “Moving onto Moorland” to complete the award).  Based from Foolow in The Peak District, a one day course costing £40. Dates: Saturday 6 th September Saturday 11 th October Saturday 25 th October Saturday 8 th November Sunday 23 rd  November Moving onto Moorland (Silver NNAS Day 2) This course is for more experienced navigators who already understand how to use a map and compass but want to progress onto moorland. The course introduces “micro” navigation techniques such as pacing and timing on a compass bearing. (This course also forms day ...

Hill Skills Courses in The Peak District Peak Navigation Courses have been accredited by Mountain (Leader) Training to provide the new Hill and Mountain Skills Courses. Learning Hill Skills on Eyam Moor Hill Skills will be run at weekends from our base in The Peak District, the weekends of 17 th & 18 th May   and   18 th & 19 th October. These are non-residential courses and cost £85, (though in addition you will need to register with Mountain Training for an additional cost of £20). The Hill Skills Course will teach you:   To read a map and navigate;  How to Plan a Walk; About equipment and clothing for hill walking;   The effects of weather in the hills; About the upland environment;  and   How to deal with emergencies. Learning Navigation Day 1             Saturday We meet at 9.30am in the village of Foolow, using the village hall as ...

Mountain Skills Course    – 2 nd May   Bank Holiday Weekend  24 th , 25 th and 26 th  May There’s quite a lot to cram into a weekend Mountain Skills Course, so we at Peak Navigation Courses are seizing the opportunity to spread the course over three days and ensure that course participants get the most from the course. Scrambling in Langdale Learning Navigation Based in Keswick, The Lake District, we have planned the following: Saturday The course starts at 10.00am with introductions and a indoor session about navigation. We then go out for a walk where we put our navigation skills into practice, identifying “contour” features, walking on a compass bearing and learn a bit about pacing and timing. We’ll move onto some steeper ground and look at techniques for safe movement on steep ground and easy scrambling. Mid afternoon we return to Keswick and have a session in a local equipment shop discussing and comparing different...

Hill Skills and Mountain Skills Courses Mountain Training (formally Mountain Leader Training) are about to launch two new awards: Hill Skills and Mountain Skills.   Peak Navigation Courses have been chosen as one of the first organizations to run these courses on behalf of Mountain Training. Unlike the other awards which are about leading others, Hill Skills and Mountain Skills are   about personal competence so that those new to Hill Walking and Mountain Walking can learn the basics of being safe in the hills or mountains, from qualified professionals . Mountain Navigation Both Hill Skills and Mountain Skills courses can be delivered over a weekend.   For Hill Skills, Peak Navigation Courses will run these in the hills of the Peak District.   For Mountain Skills, we believe that this course can only be delivered in genuinely mountainous areas so we will run these courses in The Lake District. Hill Skills and Mountain Skills a...