Over in the West Highlands around Fort William and Kinlochleven over the last couple of days running a private National Navigation Award Scheme (NNAS) Silver course for new client Heidi. Heidi had plenty of experience in less mountainous parts of the UK and had previously completed her NNAS bronze award. A good feel for the map and how it relates to the ground meant she had a strong base to build on, and it was great to see her progress over the two days. We spent two long days looking at taking a bearing from map to ground and following it accurately, measuring distance travelled using timing and/or pacing, coarse vs fine navigation and attack points, aiming off etc etc. By the end of the two days she had more than shown her ability to navigate accurately across stretches of open country. The first day we made use of the hills to the South of Roybridge and the River Spean, on the second we were in the unfrequented hills to the east of Kinlochleven. Both of these venues were perfect for our purposes, and even the mist and drizzle was a bonus for these days, really allowing some "poor visibility" navigation. A Pass at Silver award for Heidi---well done and thanks for your company.
For more info on the NNAS scheme see our webpage:
http://www.onhighhills.com/navigation/
