hill skills
Navigation courses and qualifications
Courses are run at all levels, from absolute "I've no sense of direction" to advanced skills development for experts and mountain professionals, bikers, fell-runners and orienteers.
Be safe in the outdoors. Navigation error is involved in a significant percentage of Mountain Rescue incidents. Learn to be safe on one of our skills courses.
Accredited Courses
HOW TO BOOK NNAS COURSES
Please contact us on 07904 190155 to arrange.
We are currently only running NNAS Outdoor Discovery Awards (Formerly the YNSA) and our bespoke Hill Skiils Navigation courses.
These can be run for school or other groups and are very popular with Home Educated children and those preparing for DofE. They are suitable for delivery on or near school sites or on park land. They are open to all boys and girls of all levels of physical and mental ability, including those with specific disabilities. The programme fits nicely into the National Curriculum for P.E, Geography and Maths. The YNSA Gold is equivalent to NNAS Bronze, thus providing progression routes. The scheme opens up a safe doorway to adventure in the countryside... In exploring the world, children learn to discover themselves.
"Absolutely... Five stars. Fantastic session. Lee was very understanding of disability too and made the session accessible. All participants were engaged throughout." (Facebook Comment)
HILL SKILL Navigation Courses
These courses have greater flexibility than the accredited courses in that they have no formal syllabus and assessment criteria. As a result, these courses can be tailored to your level of expertise and potentially allow us to work with a wider mix of ability.
Navigation for Hillwalkers
Navigation Progressions
Night Navigation
Natural Navigation
We can also by arrangement run NAVIGATION MASTERCLASSES for you or a group of friends on an entirely bespoke basis, for example tailoring the skills of navigation to fell runners or mountain bikers, or focusing on upland, coastal or night navigation or giving you a refresher course before a trip or assessment.
HOW TO BOOK our 'hill skills' navigation courses
Our Hill Skills Navigation courses are run throughout the year on an individual, bespoke basis. You can book yourself or a group of up to 8 people and then we can work towards your specific objectives. When booking on-line you will be directed to a calendar on our booking platform. If your selected date says 'Call to Book' then please contact us on 07904 190155.
However, if the date is available to book then make your booking. Please note that if you wish your course to run outside of Lancashire then additional travel costs would be incurred and it is best to call us or use the enquiry form.
We will run a number of open courses with predefined learning objectives throughout the year in mountain regions and these will be bookable once dates are confirmed.
The NNAS Navigator Awards are available at Gold, Silver and Bronze. Unfortunately we are not running any NNAS Gold or Silver courses at present and the information provided below is for information only. We thoroughly recommend these courses and are happy to link you to providers throughout the country. In particular, I personally endorse Ben at The Lakes Mountaineer https://www.thelakesmountaineer.co.uk/ and am happy to put you in touch directly with other great providers in any area of the UK.
The NNAS Awards are accredited on the Scottish Qualifications and Credits Framework and provide a good progression to the Mountain Training award schemes.
We hope to be running the awards again in the New Year.
Navigation in the countryside using paths tracks and other linear features, basic map interpretation and compass work is included.
Suitable for total beginners, the Bronze award will give you a 'sense of direction' and an ability to use maps for a range of purposes
Navigation in the countryside using skills acquired at bronze level and adding skills required to navigate to features and places some distance from paths and tracks, accurate compass work is required and an ability to use appropriate navigational techniques to go across country in some cases, eg. choosing an appropriate attack point.
Great for intermediate and experienced hillwalkers, climbers and other outdoor users who want more confidence in their ability to use map and compass. The course is often used by those wanting to prepare for professional Mountain Leadership qualifications, Mountaineering Clubs, Walk Leaders and those with no formal training but some experience.
