National Navigator Award Scheme - Gold

The Gold Navigator Award marks the pinnacle of your navigation skills.

The Award builds on the skills acquired at the Bronze and Silver levels and adds techniques and skills for dealing with complex contour features both large and small. You will be happy and familiar with all the bronze and silver skills and now wanting to get even more out of your navigation.

The Gold Award is all about reading the landscape and comparing it to the ground. You’ll use contour features to enable you to identify where you are on your walk and be able to navigate to small and subtle contour features.

If you’re looking to complete a Walking or Mountain Skills course, then the skills learnt on a Gold Award course will be invaluable.

On completion of the Award, you will be able to:

• Utilise the skills and techniques of the Bronze and Silver Awards in the context of Gold Award navigation strategies.
• Utilise contours and fine detail as the prime method of navigation.
• Accurately: Follow a route, judge distance, check progress against time, use relevant compass skills and maintain continuous map contact.
• Use back bearings and transits to confirm current position.
• Use aspect of slope as an aid to relocation.
• Select appropriate techniques within an overall navigation strategy.
• Navigate in intricate terrain in reduced visibility (mist or darkness).
• The Gold Navigation Award includes pre- and post-course question papers.
• Gold courses are run by Course Directors who not only have plenty of top-level navigation experience but also have been on a special NNAS development course in tutoring "Gold" courses.

Maximum tutor to participant ratio is 1:4

The NNAS Gold Navigator Award is accredited by the Scottish Credit & Qualifications Framework (SCQF) at Level 6, and 2 SCQF credit points are awarded on completion.

For more information on this course, please call 01454 321153.