Maps could be cumbersome issues. Particularly when it’s windy. They are often fairly confounding even when the weather are in your favour. However we’ll come to that.
We had been on a hill – not the technical time period – in Snowdonia (Eryri nationwide park), searching for first a path, then a boundary line, after which a spur of land – at night-time. Every member of our group was geared up with a map, a compass and a head torch. The wind was excessive, the solar was down and it may have all felt like an uphill slog. Nevertheless it was, the truth is, exhilarating. The final time I did this, and the final time I felt this energised by the weather and shadowy environment, I used to be 11 years outdated and yomping about with the Scouts.
Again then, I’d have been within the rump of the group, whereas an older and extra accountable boy was entrusted with the map and compass to steer our little troop throughout craggy terrain. Ever since, I’ve all the time managed to buddy up with a extra technically gifted walker in a position to learn the runes. However I’ve by no means misplaced the topography of envy, and the slight sense of unease about hanging out alone or straying too removed from waymarked paths.
Which is why I discover myself sitting in a classroom with 5 different learners on a two-day navigation course at Plas y Brenin, the nationwide outside centre, in Capel Curig. The very first thing we’re informed by our teacher, Grace, is that the contour is the king. “Different issues on the map, corresponding to boundaries, buildings, woods and paths, can change, however contours are much less more likely to.”
These reddish-brown traces spaced at common intervals paint a two-dimensional image of the panorama round us and inform us whether or not it’s flat (broadly spaced contours), undulating (spherical) or steep (shut collectively). They inform you which approach is up (the numbers on each fifth contour might be legible) and which is down (numbers might be the other way up). There’s tons extra to absorb in addition to: map scaling, setting the map to north with a compass, recognizing ring contours and re-entrants, calculating top and distance. However you may solely be taught a lot within the classroom, so we head out into the hills completely satisfied to observe contours as our king.
The primary recce lifted us out of the rain in Capel Curig and up into the blue-skied hills above Conwy Bay, the place we began out on the Wales Coast Path earlier than peeling off to discover ways to set the map by the options we are able to see round us.
We measure distances utilizing the size on the compass and pacing – counting what number of paces it takes us to stroll 100 metres. On excessive floor, we set a compass bearing and discover ways to observe it by conserving the compass needle consistent with the north arrow (pink on pink). We take again bearings to remain on the right track and estimate how lengthy it takes to hike a route, together with going up hill, utilizing Naismith’s Rule. All of the whereas, Grace units us new paths to map and teaches us to seek out proof within the panorama to decide whether or not we have now arrived or strayed off track.
The explanation for this focus on plotting a course over brief distances turns into clear when Grace drives us into the hills at night time. Climate circumstances can change rapidly and dramatically within the mountains, and it’s important to have the ability to navigate in poor visibility. Evening-time is disorientating sufficient, taking part in tips with scale and distance, however with all the abilities we’ve discovered, we handle to seek out our approach safely again to the van. And that’s the fantastic thing about studying to navigate – it turns disorientation into discovery.
The 2-day Full Navigation Abilities course at Plas y Brenin takes place as soon as a month all through 2025, £258 for non-residents and £398 for residents together with meals
Supply hyperlink
