Navigation

Where are you?

Second to fitness the skill most likely to keep you safe in the outdoors is the ability to navigate. The act of pinpointing your exact location at any given moment is a skill easy learnt but mastered over a life time.

As with any action, physical or mental, its vital to start with a solid foundation so not to accumulate any bad habits. By understanding the principles behind the teaching and practicing the same steps over and over you can perform the basics no matter how cold, wet or hungry you are. Navigating may be a new skill to you but the ROOTS method is guaranteed to make it stick. Do it fresh, do it tiered, do it in your sleep.

Many people believe they already have a basic understanding of how to navigate using a compass and a map but more often than not a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Without the underpinning information and a good understanding of why things work, many people will be blissfully unaware they are making mistakes and endangering not only themselves, but also the team dispatched to rescue them.

Getting to grips with the basics in a friendly stress free environment is what we provide at the DAY adventure. Our navigation workshop will last about two hours and is designed to lay a solid foundation that you will get to practice again and again as the adventure unfolds.

During the DAY you will start at the top and work your way through,

Map data and keys   How to select the right map and understand why it’s important.

North                                      The difference between the 3 Norths and how it affects you.

The grid system                   How a 2D map represents a 3D globe.

Scale                                      The distance on the map in relation to the distance on the ground.

Orientation                           How to line up the map with your direction.

Map to ground                    Locating your position on the map.

100m pacing                         How to track your progress on the map

Parts of a compass             What’s there and how is it helpful.

Bearings                                What way to travel.

These are the basics and we would expect Seeds looking to complete in LOST to have a good understanding of their meaning.

Everything we do at ROOTS is designed to get seeds to complete the NIGHT race, an unaided ultra-marathon adventure race like on other. One of the hardest races there is on the planet. To do this you will need far more than a good grasp of the basics.

To develop your ability to navigate further we increase the skills taught at our LOST adventure. We look to expand on the simple techniques delivered during the DAY and demonstrate how to use the information to maximise your output and plot the most efficient way to your destination.

LOST is a 24 hour adventure so naturally you will need to develop your ability to perform all the navigations skills you picked up during the DAY and repeat them in the dark. Getting lost is inevitable, its how you recover that’s important.

During LOST the navigation workshop covers,

Handrailing                            Following a feature towards a way point

Attack points                        Straight line travel towards a way point

Back bearings                      Pin pointing your location

Resections                            Identify and avoid

Altitude                                 As a way marker

Fall lines                                Efficient waypoints

Contouring                           The preservation of energy

Route selection                   The path of least resistance

Lost procedures                 How to regain control

This is a huge amount of information to absorb. These skills will not simply stick in your mind without a great deal of practice. We provide a safe environment for you to grow and make mistakes without endangering yourself in the process. Making mistakes is an important part of learning, with ROOTS you can be thrown in at the deep end and rest ashore that we are never too far away to ask the right questions to get you back on the right track.

Patience – Logic – Strength “