Intermediate Navigation Training

Multiple dates available.

Improve your navigation skills with our one-day intermediate hill and moorland navigation course.

What to expect?

Building on your existing lowland navigation skills and knowledge, you’ll develop more advanced skills to enable you to navigate in hill and moorland areas during this one-day intermediate course.

Spending the day in the beautiful hills and moorlands of the Brecon Beacons National Park, you’ll be guided by an experienced and qualified Mountain Leader. As part of a small group with a maximum of 4 people, you’ll have a great opportunity to tailor your learning to your individual needs and ask as many questions as you need, ending the course feeling confident in your new skills.

With hands-on practice from the start, you’ll be navigating through open moorland, exploring remote areas and developing new skills to navigate off the beaten track. You’ll be walking over rough ground with varied terrain, including a moderate amount of hill-climbing throughout the day.

This full day starts at 9:30am and finished at around 5pm, depending on conditions.

Upon booking, you’ll be sent full details and a kit list to prepare you for your training day. Lunch is not included, so you’ll need to bring a packed lunch with you, and maps and compasses are available for use on the day.

Who’s it for?

Once you’ve grasped navigating at lowland level, you’ll have the foundations you need to progress onto hill and moorland navigation. So, this intermediate course is designed for people who already have an understanding of the basics of navigation, but want to progress to the next level and build on their existing skills.

If navigation is new to you, our Beginners Navigation Training may be a better option for you.

What you’ll learn

During this course, we’ll recap everything covered in the beginner’s lowland navigation course, including:

• Understanding relevant map symbols and scales

• Measuring distances on a map and on the ground

• Understanding the principals of distance judgement in various types of terrain

• Interpreting contour formations on a map and relating them to features on the ground

• Understanding the principals of the magnetic compass, identifying the cardinal points and using them in conjunction with the map

• Understanding appropriate relocation strategies

• Making informed route choices

• Understanding six-figure grid references

• Orientating your map to the ground

• Identifying and using linear features

Intermediate Learning

By the end of this intermediate hill and moorland navigation skills course, you’ll also be able to:

• Navigate to features unto 500m away from the path

• Judge distance travelled

• Take accurate bearings from your map and use them for direction-finding

• Understand and competently use strategies such as ‘attack points’, ‘aiming off’ and ‘check points’

• Employ appropriate more advanced relocation strategies

• Navigate to medium and large contour features

• Take accurate magnetic bearings from the map and use them to direction-find over long distances

• Reliably use the principals of distance judgement in various types of terrain

What comes next?

You’ll finish the course with the skills and confidence to navigate independently at hill and moorland level. You’ll receive an individual action plan, feedback and debrief, to help you identify areas to develop and focus on.

Following completion of your Intermediate Hill and Moorland Navigation Skills course, you can progress onto our Advanced Mountain Navigation Skills training to further develop your skills.

This course is run subject to a minimum of 2 bookings. If minimum numbers are not met, an alternative date will be offered, or you’ll be given a credit voucher to re-book.