Staying Safe and Navigating Confidently in Adverse Weather and at Night

This course is for people who already have a basic understanding of navigation in the outdoors. The course develops existing skills, and teaches advanced techniques for relocating, navigating in adverse weather and at night. We also take a more in-depth look at planning routes and the use of route cards. There is a night time element to this course and the terrain can be steep and uneven. The instructor to student ratio is purposely kept low to allow for ample one-to-one tuition. The course is based at St Arnaud, Nelson Lakes.

Programme

Over the course of the two days, we will cover the following skills:

Refresher of basic navigation skills
Winter, adverse weather and night time hazards
Planning a route for difficult terrain and assessing conditions
Practical navigating at night and in poor weather conditions
Clothing and additional equipment for the adverse weather and night time environment (eg enlarged maps, torch filters and snow goggle lenses)
Boxing, searching, use of outriggers
Using an altimeter for navigation
Sighting using a person
Aiming off and catching features
Aspect of slope
Emergency procedures

Itinerary

Meet at venue (location details will be sent on booking)
(we can arrange pick up in the Nelson or Richmond areas if you prefer)
On the first day, the course starts at 1pm and finishes at 9pm. On day two, the course starts at 9am and finishes at 1pm.
There will be a session of theory on each day before heading off to the hills.

Fitness Level

The walking pace will be very relaxed with frequent stops. You should be comfortable hiking with a small pack containing your lunch, water/flask, water proofs and warm spare clothing. Please note, this course has a night time element. We will be navigating in the hills, on moderate slopes and uneven ground in darkness.

Prerequisites

This course is for people who are able to take bearings, work with grid references, and measure distance using time and pacing, and those who have attended our Beginners Navigation Course.

What you will need

Suitable clothing for the weather and temperature
Waterproof jacket and over trousers
Warm layers
Sturdy boots with good ankle support
Your lunch and snacks
At least 1 litre of drinking water (optional flask if cold weather)
Small first aid kit and personal medications if needed
Headtorch and spare batteries (or even better, a spare headtorch)
Suitable compass (if you don’t already have access to one, please contact us before purchase so we can advise of the most suitable one to buy)
Altimeter if you have one
Watch with stopwatch function
Pencil and pad
Map case if you have one
Maps will be provided, and we can lend you a compass if needed

Please note: this is a practical, hands-on course, and we want to create a good learning environment where students can get the most out of the course content. For that reason, we may suggest rescheduling the course if the weather conditions are forecast to be too adverse to learn. The theory sessions will take place in a tent classroom.

Getting there

Its about an hour and 10 mins drive from Nelson to St Arnaud.
We encourage car sharing and will help arrange this.
If you want to save the drive on the first night you can stay here (click for details):
- Kerr Bay Campsite (has hot showers)
- Alpine Lodge (bunk rooms and ensuite room options)