Gold Weekend
The culmination of your navigation training, this long weekend course (Friday evening until Monday afternoon) will give you the opportunity to consolidate the skills learnt over the previous weekends and to develop new ones.
Once again we will follow the syllabus of the National Navigation Award Scheme. The weekend will be a mixture of practical sessions on the hill and indoor sessions. As well as the training elements, Monday will be an assessment day with group and individual opportunities.
Friday Evening
A discussion/practical session giving you the opportunity to share experiences gained over the previous two weekends and during your own practice sessions.
Saturday and Sunday
Two practical days on the Peak District moors using skills learnt previously but also with an emphasis on contour evaluation and navigation. Macro and micro navigation techniques will be employed to navigate round a challenging course.
Evening sessions
Preparation for the following days activities (and on Sunday evening, assessment). Time on Sunday will also be set aside for a celebratory dinner (price not included), but hey, you have come a long way.
Monday Assessment
A day of practical navigation assessment individally and in small groups. Will you get the much admired Gold badge?!
The syllabus
- Confidence in the use of the skills detailed in Bronze and Silver Awards in open countryside or on hillside as well as in forests and mountain environments.
- The ability to use contours, to identify land forms and to utilise them as the prime method of navigation. (e.g. hill tops, valleys, ridges, spurs and knolls) This means forming a three dimensional mental picture from contour features and basing navigational decisions on this image. Ridges and valleys can be used as reliable handrails as well as the size and relationship of contour features used in micro navigation to distinct locations [eg. a series of knolls]..
- The use of macro and micro compass skills, distance judgement and continuous relocation (by frequent checking) in complicated areas as an integrated back up system to accurate map-reading. This involves the use of both map to ground and ground to map techniques, the selection of the right techniques for each situation and the integration of these into a navigational strategy.
- The ability to plan a safe walk or course in wild country in line with set criteria on duration, difficulty, and objectives. This should involve Gold Award skills and strategies and may be used as a basis for assessment if appropriate.
- An understanding of the special physical and navigational demands posed by high mountain and moorland terrain, poor weather conditions and the effects of fatigue and discomfort on decision making and execution of route. This includes the identification and treatment of hypo- and hyper-thermia as included in Silver Level.
- Candidates should be competent in handling particular navigational skills relating to their specialist areas like senior citizen walks, long distance mountain biking or night navigation.