NAVIGATION IN THE NEW ZEALAND BACKCOUNTRY
Become more confident with route planning, navigating, and understanding the nuances of topographical maps.
These courses cover essential skills for trampers, hunters, mountaineers, ski-tourers, and anyone else venturing off the beaten paths in Aotearoa’s backcountry. Suitable for beginners and anyone needing a refresher.
We don’t offer one-day courses like you might see elsewhere. We believe that a single day leaves you feeling overwhelmed with too many new techniques, without enough opportunities to consolidate your learning.
The Two-Day Course is our most popular navigation course and is ideal if you want to be prepared for slightly more adventurous routes with well-known descriptions but with untracked river valleys or tops travel. We head out after dinner to practice navigating in the dark, and on the second day undertake an actual journey with everyone taking turns to navigate.
The Three-Day Course is for those of you who want to hone your navigation skills even further, to really set yourself up for trips off the beaten track. The skills taught on the first day are the same as on the 2-day course, but you’ll have a full extra day to put them into practice, on more complicated terrain.
The Four-Day Course is our most advanced navigation course but can still be suitable for beginners, especially if you have the ambition to become not only confident but also efficient with your navigation and route selection. This is the course for those of you who want to elevate your off-track game to the next level, whether your sights are set on navigating adventure races or being able to quickly decide on the best line in remote transalpine terrain.
