Mountain Safety
The Teaching of Navigation Skills
-Time for a Review?
By Nigel Williams
(Glenmore Lodge Head of Training)
Around 145,000 young people start the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme every year. Most will undertake a walking expedition in the countryside, and be taught some map skills. It would be interesting to survey those who teach these skills about the methodology they use.
Maps were initially created for military purposes and the teaching methodology came from the military using the standard Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale map. This methodology seems to be perpetuated in an ad hoc manner with many simply teaching how they remember being taught.
Orienteering Maps
The development in the 1970s of orienteering maps, usually 1:10,000 scale (1cm = 100m) has revolutionised the teaching of navigation skills for orienteers into a well developed and successful coaching system. It is no coincidence that these methods and maps are providing the UK with world class navigators of all ages. It would be wonderful if the orienteering coaching methods and access to maps etc. could be filtered down to the wider recreational and education community.
The principles of map reading are the same whether you are a walker or an orienteer so the teaching methodology ought to match. In Scandinavia every school has an orienteering map of their grounds, this is now starting to happen in parts of Scotland.
Teaching Practices
An emphasis on quick repetition aids learning and crucially with map and compass work, builds confidence. Having several ways of teaching the same thing to help different learning styles is helpful. Teaching in a safe non-threatening environment helps concentration. Breaking down skills into their component parts and teaching skills appropriate to the objective are all good principles and should be applied to teaching navigation as they are to other subjects. Small scale maps and orienteering coaching methods follow these principles.
Using an Orienteering Map
With a 1:10,000 scale orienteering map instant success, feedback and accelerated learning is available, it enthuses and inspires. Lots of features can be identified every minute as you walk along a forest track thus emphasising the importance of maintaining contact between the map and the ground, additionally keeping the map set (with or without a compass needle) is instilled because to keep up with all that is happening it has to be correctly orientated. An appreciation of scale is grasped quickly as well as interpretation of the key. A “map walk” with these small scale maps is an excellent teaching and confidence building tool.
Teaching the Compass
Explaining everything an instrument can do is usually too much information, you just want to know how to do one thing at a time and have a chance to try it out. Recent research in Scandinavia suggests that if you introduce the compass needle only, from the start, purely for map setting, more complex skills are better grasped later on, as and when they are needed.
Introducing Bearings and Their Context
Bearings are often taught on an O.S map in the classroom. The problem is that in order for the class to take a bearing from A to B they have to find A and B, grid references then get in the way of learning compass skills. Actually grid references have little to do with navigation yet become a focus of class room based navigation teaching. If you teach navigation skills outside you won’t bother with them.
In order to teach someone how to take a bearing and use it to go from A to B cross country you will have to teach the following skills:
How to take a bearing off the map & adjust for magnetic variation
How to follow a bearing, aiming at things and staying on line
How to measure distance on the map and then on the ground (pacing / timing)
How to read the ground and map as you go whilst staying on the bearing, map memory.
How to identify a catching feature in case you overshoot, and if that happens or you fail to identify the feature then you may also need some reliable relocation skills.
These each need to be taught in isolation and slowly drawn together; when the journeys being undertaken require accurate route finding across country. In reality most folk just need to take a bearing off the map to determine which path they want at a junction, assuming that setting the map is not giving them an obvious answer. For that you only need to be able to do the first point above.
Using a 1:10,000 map, bearings can be repeated in quick succession using path junctions, stream junctions, ride junctions etc. Repetition aids learning and confidence, also making an error does not leave you in a potentially serious situation in the mountains.
SUMMARY
Orienteering and hill walking are different activities but orienteering’s progressive teaching methods can be applied very successfully to teaching hill navigation, especially for beginners. Orienteering develops confidence with map and compass skills in a relatively safe environment with little real consequence to a mistake (a mistake on the hill can have quite big consequences and shatter confidence; often there is not an immediate opportunity to have another go).
It provides the opportunity to learn through regular repeated practice which is rarely available during a days hill walk. It is a good option if the weather forecast is bad or time to get to the hills is limited. An hours orienteering will often give you a dozen legs to make route choices, measure and pace distances and use strategies such as attack points, aiming off and relocation skills.
TEACHING QUALIFICATIONS
There is one and two day certificated courses for teachers and leaders to gain orienteering qualifications. Glenmore Lodge, the National Mountain Training Centre, runs “teaching navigation” weekend courses aimed at those teaching hill navigation to youth groups and schools. Take up the challenge, improve your navigation skills, develop a range of techniques for teaching others and have some fun.
For more information see:
- http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/ - Scottish clubs, events, training courses etc
- http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/ - Clubs, events coaching courses and lists of permanent forest and park courses.
- http://www.nationalorienteeringcentre.org/
- http://www.nnas.org.uk/ - Developing skills, and a badge scheme
Go Try an ORIENTEERING Course
Orienteering conjures up ideas of running and being competitive. Like all activities it can be, but many treat it as a past time, taking a walk with a map in the woods (woods hide the detail as does mist on the hills). Most areas of the UK have an orienteering club with maps of local woods and parks and there are now 1000s of small scale mapped areas, and dozens of permanent orienteering courses in woods and parks (with maps available at the local tourist office for around £3). So club membership, running and wearing lycra are not a requirement!
Club membership is around £7 – 10 per year; the clubs organise events and generally this is the best way of finding out what is going on in your area. (you usually pay around £3 – 4 for entry and a map). So long as you pay for your map at the registration and report to the finish, no one minds. People walking in boots with walking poles and rucksack are quite acceptable and surprisingly common.
Most events have a range of level of courses. Orienteering uses a colour coded system to signify the difficulty. The sequence from the easiest to the hardest is: Yellow, Orange, Light green, Green, Blue and Brown. It is important that you start well within your ability and have some consistent success at one colour before moving to the next. Orange is a good starting point for people already familiar with some basic map reading. Don’t be tempted to look at the distances given for the courses too much – the longer the distance the harder the course. If you can do 15 minute kilometres when you start you are doing well.
Green level uses all the navigation skills and strategies including ‘relocation’! Successfully getting around these courses is a great boost to confidence. Blue and Brown are just longer but not necessarily technically harder than Green.
You will find at light green and green that you are having to plan each leg between controls as there will be a choice of routes, this develops your map reading skills. You will have to consider other strategies such as aiming off, attack points, catching features, bearings and pacing. You might get to do that half a dozen times in an hour. You can walk many Munros and never do half of that if you follow the footpaths!
TIPS
Look for events classed as “Local” or ‘C5’ or ‘C4’. Avoid ‘C3’, ‘C2’ and ‘C1’ as these are high level events. You might hear of CATI events “Come And Try It”. Usually at these there is a master map and you just copy the controls onto your map. Do tell someone organising the event that you are not sure what to do and you will be guided through some top tips to map marking etc. ‘EOD’ means “Entry On Date” it often says ‘No EOD’ which means you have to enter before the event date so a map will be marked up for you, this level of event is usually C3 and best avoided.
Give it a go! See http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/, click on “Clubs” to find the nearest to you then try “Events” on your local club site and see what is on near you. Good Luck.
MOUNTAIN LEADER TRAINING ASSOCIATION (MLTA)
By Nigel Williams
(Glenmore Lodge Head of Training)
In just over 45 years in excess of 100,000 people have entered into the UK mountain leader award schemes such as summer and winter Mountain Leader, Walking Group Leader, Single Pitch Supervisor etc. Often they have had little to do with the Mountain Leader Training Boards once they are on their way with the schemes, as these awards are for life and there is no annual membership to be paid thereafter.
Well, as in most things these days there is a growing awareness of and the need for continued professional development or update training. A body of people can also have an influence within their sector and there can be financial benefits through reductions for bulk purchases. So the Mountain Leader Training Board for the UK has set up the MLTA to help those who have gone through, or are going through the schemes.
The MLTA is a web based association for anyone who has started on the schemes and wants to keep up to date, find people in their area to train with, get ideas to help them prepare for the assessment, or train others or gain access to workshops and advice etc.
It has been described as more AA and BMA and it will keep you up to date but being a member is not mandatory in order to practice as a mountain leader.
Annual membership is only £15. If you are working as a mountain leader, professional liability insurance is available at the cheapest rate I have come across by some margin. You would get your money back several times over.
The association has been going a few months now and already there is a busy workshop planned at Plas-y-Brenin in North Wales on 11th November - this is further training at very little cost (don’t worry there could be one in Scotland next year). Some member discounts on MLTUK books and equipment are also being considered.
It is an exciting new training aid and at last a link for those already qualified to be a part of the instructional fraternity whether in a professional capacity or as a volunteer leader with the Scouts, Guides or DofE. There are other areas on the site for jobs, equipment sales, top tips etc.
Go to http://www.mltuk.org/ and follow links
Or go direct to http://www.mlta.co.uk/
NOTE:
You have to be a member of the MCofS (or BMC) either as an Individual Member or as a member of an affiliated club, in order to join the MLTA.