Thursday 30 May 2013

Bespoke Mountain Navigation Skills Training day Courses in The Lake District. May 29th 2013.

Lake District map reading & navigation courses for beginners.
Even before Iain ran the Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course of May 25th & 26th, he knew that he would be running an additional bespoke Mountain Navigation Skills Training Day for Sally Gallo and her family & friends on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Gallo family & their long standing friends Richard & Nicky Foxall together with their children regularly visit the Lake District to go hillwalking. Sally wanted to learn the the skills to be able to estimate the length of time it would take to do a planned walk in the mountains - having had some rather longer than expected days out in the past.

Having fun on a Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District.
Whilst we all met on Monday, after the fabulous bank holiday weekend weather, the weather was most definitely not good. The forecast rain arrived within a hour of us starting our day making conditions c/w low temperatures untenable for a full day out with young children. We wisely decided to call time at midday and get together again later in the week when the weather had improved.

The weather did so yesterday, so we all met up again in the morning to finish off the family's one day Lake District Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course.


Map Reading & Navigation Skills Training Courses in North West England.

All three photos were taken yesterday where, whilst there was a strong easterly breeze, at least it was dry. The parents did their best to learn additional navigation skills whilst the children played - and they certainly had a great time!


During our one day bespoke Lake District map reading & Navigation Skills Training Course, we covered everything from the basics - setting the map through pacings & tick off features right through to walking on a bearing using a combination of pacings, timings (using Naithsmiths Rule) and reading the map to have an idea of what the ground ought to be doing according to contour features & lines.

Some of the children also enjoyed getting involved with the skills of finding grid references, measuring distance and taking bearings as well as working out timings through the use of Naismiths Rule.

Iain reckons that between all of them, this group now have a much better idea of map reading, route finding and route planning that will no doubt help them with their future forays into the Lake District Mountains. You can book your own bespoke Navigation Skills training course with us here at Kendal Mountaineering Services any time you choose by contacting us here. Check our upcoming courses section for our next scheduled Lake District Navigation Skills Training course for beginners. Good reading material to help you prepare for such a course can be found here.

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