Maps & Mountains: a unique navigation course in Scotland
Join us for a three day navigation and reading the mountain landscape course in the West Highlands of Scotland.
Boost your skills and confidence with using a map and compass in a mountain environment. Discover the landscape of the highlands and how understanding more about the rocks at your feet can be useful when moving through the mountains. The culmination of the course is to put everything learnt in to practice on one of Lochaber’s classic hillwalking routes. The location for this will be one of the following areas: Ben Nevis, Mamores or The Grey Corries.
Course Logistics
The course will be based out of Fort William and over the three days you will get the opportunity to visit a diverse range of beautiful locations in the local area. Fort William can be reached via public transport and lifts can be arranged from there to the location for each day.
The course is led by Anna Danby. Anna is a qualified Mountain Leader with over 15 years experience working in education and leadership. She has a wealth of experience in the Scottish mountains and a long held love of maps!
The courses are run with a maximum group size of 6. This ensures plenty of time for everyone to benefit from 1:1 support and guidance. You do not need any previous experience of using maps or compass to participate. You will get the most out of the course if you have a good level of hill fitness and some previous experience of mountain walking.
The three day course costs £175 per person which includes; transport from Fort William if required, hire of maps and compasses and hot drinks during the day. It does not include accommodation or food.
Course Content
- Interpreting maps; features, contours, scales and direction
- Paper map based navigation techniques
- Compass bearings, pacing and timings
- Route planning
- Digital navigation aids and their uses
- Introduction to the geology of the West Highlands
- Identifying different common rock types and landscape features
- Landscape stories of the area including natural and human history
- A mountain journey including munro summits
- ** The October and November ** courses will include some night navigation and skills for finding your way in the dark.
If you are looking to improve your ability on technical walking terrain then check out our other course: Rocks & Ridges
Scheduled courses and booking
Scheduled open group courses are below. If you are interested in this course but can’t make any of the dates then get in touch as we can make a bespoke arrangement.
If you would struggle to meet the cost of the course, The Neil Mackenzie Trust may be able to help. They are a small charity who offer a limited number of grants for skills training and expeditions. You can find out more about their grants here.