All courses are based in the Yorkshire Dales, Lake District or Scotland. Click through to our OUTDOOR SKILLS webpage

BEGINNERS MAP READING COURSE

1-day course for novices and beginners
If you use phone apps, guidebooks, follow others or are a novice countryside walker, then our 1-day Map Reading course is ideal. This course covers all of the key topics, from weather forecasts to understanding maps and using a compass, to get you on the right path to enjoy the countryside. We cover around 6 miles over the day, following paths & tracks in the Yorkshire Dales. Our Map Reading course is suitable for everyone from beginners to more experienced countryside walkers who want to fill knowledge gaps. Learning outcome: plan and follow your own walks in the countryside using paths, tracks and Rights of Way.

INTERMEDIATE NAVIGATION SKILLS COURSE

1-day course for more experienced walkers
This course will introduce you to the key hill skills needed to navigate across hills and open country using contours as the prime method of navigation – contour interpretation and how they relate to landform. We will also look at appropriate compass use, from setting the map to ‘quick’ bearings and ‘full’ bearings. This course is suitable for people who already have some navigation skills and wish to develop these skills further to navigate across Open Country. It is ideal for walkers who have attended a 1-day Map Reading course, NNAS Bronze Award or Lowland Leader course and want to move to the next level and learn how to navigate across the hills using compass and contours. It is also a great refresher day for NNAS Silver Award holders and HML trainees.

ADVANCED NAVIGATION SKILLS COURSE

1-day course for accomplished hill-walkers with good navigation skills
Are you preparing for your ML Assessment? Working towards your NNAS Gold Award? Are you a competent Navigator who wants to perfect your skills? During the course, we will move progressively into more challenging terrain and conditions, and we will actively seek out poor visibility and complex landform. This course is suitable for accomplished hill-walkers with good navigation skills, who have attended previous navigation skills training such as NNAS Silver or Gold Awards, Hill & Moorland Leader (HML) or Mountain Leader (ML) training, or are working towards these awards. It is also a great refresher day for HML, ML or NNAS Gold Award holders.

NIGHT NAVIGATION

Evening course for more experienced walkers
Have you ever been caught in the dark at the end of your walk? Do you worry about what to do if the mist comes down? This evening training course will give you the key skills needed to deal with nightfall and/or poor visibility when out on the hills. Ideal as a refresher for NNAS Bronze or Silver award holders or those working towards their NNAS Silver/Gold awards or ML assessment as well as experienced hill-walkers who wish to brush up their hill skills.

NNAS BRONZE AWARD

2-day course for novices and beginners
If you use phone apps, guidebooks, follow others or are a novice countryside walker, then this course is for you as no experience is necessary for the NNAS Bronze award. From novice walkers to experienced hill-walkers who wish to any knowledge gaps, this course is the ideal choice for people who wish to learn the foundations of good navigation in the countryside. With 2 days to learn, practice and consolidate, our NNAS Bronze courses cover the same topics as our 1-day Map Reading course, but in much more detail. These courses are your passport to freedom on the hills. We cover 6 – 8 miles each day, and keep to the dales, lower hills and some moorland using paths, tracks and Rights of Way. Learning outcome: plan and follow your own walks in the countryside using paths, tracks and Rights of Way. Accredited to NNAS and you gain an award upon successful completion.

NNAS ‘STRAIGHT TO SILVER AWARD

3-day course for more experienced walkers 
This award combines the Bronze and Silver Awards into an intensive 3 day course. We cover the NNAS Bronze syllabus on the first day (see above), then move onto the NNAS Silver Syllabus on the second and third days, learning the skills to navigate across open country away from paths and tracks. This course is ideal if you are a more experienced walker who enjoys walking in the countryside and wants to move your walking up onto the open hills and develop your skills and confidence further. The course includes the upland environment, route simplification, compass bearings, navigation strategies, relocation, dealing with poor visibility, contour interpretation and distance estimation. We cover around 6 – 10 miles each day, and head across valleys, farmland, moorland, hills, fells and open country. A reasonable level of fitness is required. Includes an evening of night navigation. Learning outcomes – plan and follow your own walks in the countryside using paths, tracks and Rights of Way, as well as walks away from paths and tracks for short legs across open country. Accredited to NNAS and you gain an award upon successful completion.

NNAS SILVER AWARD

2-day course for NNAS Bronze Award holders (or HML / ML trainees)
This award builds upon the Bronze Award and gives you the skills to navigate short legs across open country, such as the hills, fells and moors of the Yorkshire Dales. The course includes the upland environment, route simplification, compass bearings, navigation strategies, relocation, dealing with poor visibility, contour interpretation and distance estimation, giving you the skills to plan and follow your own walks across open country. We cover around 6 – 10 miles each day, and head across dales, pastures, moorland, hills, fells and Open Country. A reasonable level of fitness is required. Includes an evening of night navigation. Learning outcome: plan and follow your own walks away from paths and tracks for short legs across open country. Accredited to NNAS and you gain an award upon successful completion.

NNAS GOLD AWARD

2-day course for NNAS Silver Award holders (or HML / ML trainees)
This advanced award gives you the skills needed to navigate across any area of open country including mountainous terrain in areas such as the Yorkshire Dales or Lake District. This course includes complex contour features, detailed compass work, dealing with poor visibility, route planning on the hill, continuous location, appropriate navigational strategies, developing the skills required to plan and follow safe routes away from paths and tracks in any area of open country. A good level of fitness is required. Includes an evening of night navigation. Learning outcome – plan and follow safe routes away from paths and tracks in any area of open country. Accredited to NNAS and you gain an award upon successful completion.

MOUNTAIN SKILLS

2-day course for experienced walkers who want to move their walking from hills to mountains.
The Mountain Skills course is an ideal choice for walkers interested in applying their countryside walking skills to the mountain environment. Ideally, participants will have done some hill walking previously in areas such as the Yorkshire Dales or Peak District, or already enjoy fellwalking in the Lake District and want to improve their skills. You will already be confident navigating with a map following clear paths. This course teaches the skills required to plan and follow your own walks across the Lakeland mountains, deal with the mountain environment (including steep ground) and look after yourself in the mountains. A good level of fitness is required; this course is not suitable for novices. Accredited to Mountain Training.

KEY WINTER SKILLS & SCOTTISH WALKING WEEK

5-day skills course & guided winter mountain walks

This 5-day course is designed for walkers who want to move their walking from the mountains in summer conditions to hills and mountains in winter. No winter experience is required as full guidance will be given. However, a good level of fitness is required as there will be four days of winter mountain walking (plus one day of planning and preparation), which will  be physically demanding and include steep and mountainous terrain. This course includes Winter Skills and Mountain Journeys in the magnificent Cairngorms National Park hiking some of Scotland’s most magnificent and wildest mountains in winter. You’ll learn the key winter walking skills, crampon and ice axe use, understanding the winter mountain environment and winter navigation skills whilst enjoying some wonderful winter walking days in the mountains. We’ll then put your new skills into practice, as we progress to longer and more remote mountains journeys each day as you consolidate your skills.
With Graeme Nimmo, Winter Mountain Leader

All courses are based in the Yorkshire Dales or Lake District. Click through to our OUTDOOR SKILLS webpage

COGNITVE NAVIGATION

1-day course for people who want to think differently outdoors
This 1-day Cognitive Navigation course is ideal for hill-walkers who want to move away from being ‘passive’ navigators using phones and apps to become ‘cognitive’ navigators who are more in tune with their surroundings. The ‘cognitive map’ hypothesis is that our brains build a representation of our spatial environment to support memory and guide future action through place, distance, direction and decision making. These are the building blocks of human thought, which are integral and essential for navigation. Suitable for novices through to experienced hillwalkers.

NNAS TUTOR AWARD

1-day course for people who want to teach navigation
This course is for anyone who currently teaches or wants to learn to teach navigation skills, specifically the NNAS Navigator Bronze and Silver Awards. It can also be useful to those working towards leadership qualifications such as the Lowland Leader, Hill & Moorland Leader and Mountain Leader, or if you just want to gain practical ideas about how to teach navigation.

All courses are based in the Yorkshire Dales or North York Moors. Click through to our OUTDOOR SKILLS webpage

GEOGRAPHY OF THE YORKSHIRE DALES

1-day course for people who love the Yorkshire Dales

Spend the day in the Yorkshire Dales with Mark Reid FRGS, learning about the physical and human geography of this wonderful area. We’ll explore the physical, human and environmental geography of the Yorkshire Dales on a 8 mile walk, from the rocks beneath of feet and the effects of glaciation and erosion to settlement patterns, place names, farming and climate change. This Geography of the Yorkshire Dales will introduce you to the key elements that make the Yorkshire Dales such a special place – an overview and understanding of the landscapes, how it was formed and shaped, and what makes it so special. Suitable for novices through to experienced hillwalkers who want to understand more about the world around them and how it was shaped – the physical, human and environmental geography.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE NORTH YORK MOORS

1-day course for people who love the North York Moors

Spend the day in the North York Moors with Mark Reid FRGS, learning about the physical and human geography of this wonderful area. We’ll explore the land beneath our feet as we move through different layers of the Jurassic rocks, whilst also looking at the numerous layers of human history and land use stretching back to prehistoric times. This Geography of the North York Moors will introduce you to the key elements that make the North York Moors such a special place – an overview and understanding of the landscapes, how it was formed and shaped, and what makes it so special. Suitable for novices through to experienced hillwalkers who want to understand more about the world around them and how it was shaped – the physical, human and environmental geography.

NATURE OF THE YORKSHIRE DALES

1-day course for people who love the Yorkshire Dales

Spend the day in the Yorkshire Dales with Mark Reid FRGS and Mike Raine, learning about the Nature of the Yorkshire Dales – discover, explore and learn about its amazing array of flora and fauna as well as the incredible physical and human geography of this wonderful area. Suitable for novices through to experienced hillwalkers who want to know more about the natural world around them.