NAVIGATION ESSENTIALS is a navigation workshop. Lisa has completely revamped the course to include more practical exercises on understanding maps, orientating your map and using your compass. Lisa will also focus on the sport of orienteering, which is the best way to practise your navigation. She’ll take you through orienteering maps and also compare orienteering navigation to adventure racing navigation.
This course is being run especially to prepare teams for the Kinetic Full Moon race in August.
This course is for you if:
- you’re a total beginner and would like to learn how to navigate
- you battle to visualise topographical maps as a 3D landscape
- you don’t know how to decide on one route over another
- you lack confidence in your navigational skills
- you keep getting lost
DATE: Wednesday, 8 June 2011
VENUE: Exercise & Nutrition Centre, Rivonia. Cnr North & Rivonia Roads (in the downstairs Energy Bar). Tea, coffee and other refreshments, as well as tasty food, are available from the Energy Bar – perfect for those coming directly from work.
TIME: 18h00 for 18h30 till 21h30
COST: R150.00 per person.
RSVP soonest as places go faster than hot cakes!
This fee includes:
- AR’s ‘Navigation Essentials’ manual
- Orienteering & 1:50 000 map
- Practical activitiy handouts
- Compasses for use during the course (please do not go out and buy one, rather see what works first)
Numbers are limited.
Your booking will only be confirmed on confirmation of payment.
PLEASE NOTE: Should you wish to cancel, you may give your place to someone else. You will not be refunded.
Course Content
- Geography 101: Longitude, Latitude, magnetic vs true north, 00°00.00′, map symbols, interpretation and understanding
- Tools of the trade: what you need and how to use them
- Cartography 101: preparing and planning
- Advanced skills: route finding, map reading, when lost, etc
- Psychology: The psychology of navigation and being a navigator
What to bring
- Stationery: Pens, Clutch Pencil, Eraser, 2x highlighters (yellow, green or orange), 30cm ruler
Please don’t buy a compass specifically for the course. I don’t want you to buy the ‘wrong’ kind. I have compasses that will be available for use.
REGISTRATION: To reserve a place/s, please email Lisa at lisa@ar.co.za with the name/s of those wanting to attend. Should there still have space available, I will email banking information to you. Your place will be confirmed via email on confirmation of payment.
NOTE: I encourage you to take part in the first colour-coded orienteering event of the year (middle or lower course). Yes, even though you haven’t yet been on the nav course, come. Information on orienteering events is available at (www.orienteering.co.za). Watch this Beginner’s Orienteering video on YouTube. It is HIGHLY recommended that course participants attend orienteering events. The theory section is only that; attendance at these practical sessions reinforces what you’ve learned and is essential.
Feedback from previous courses
“I would like to thank you for the great navigation course last Monday. I cannot tell you how excited it made me about adventure racing! I feel the excitement and passion within my heart! I think you are a great teacher and your passion for adventure racing is contagious. You would be happy to know that we attended the orienteering yesterday. My friend and I did the light green route as you recommended. I think we did pretty good. We really enjoyed it and definitely used the theory we learnt in your course. I think we are ready to try the next route next time and each time we will try to do one level higher.” – Liesel
“You are a STAR and your enthusiasm is contagious! Thank you for a very well presented, informative, fun AND entertaining course.” – Ryno
“Thank YOU for being such an EXCELLENT teacher – you went through everything so thoroughly and I feel less intimidated now by a map. Your passion and love for this sport really comes through.” – Giulia
“Thank you for a great course! After seeing the maps and experiencing the course content, I would have been so frightened if I had gone to a race without your course and guidance.” – Mark
“Thank you Lisa, I really enjoyed your course. It was good for me to go back over all those basics I had forgotten from school days!” – Duncan
“Thanks again for the well run course on Saturday – both Willy and I thoroughly enjoyed it and both learnt a lot and re-awoke our memory banks (from our army training all those years ago). The practical reinforced what we had covered in the morning and the first exercise was critical and perhaps could be expanded. I think your course should be compulsory for any team considering any AR longer than 100km. Your friendliness and enthusiasm is infectious and your communication and explanation of the subject makes it is easily understood.” – Mike
“Thanks for a great day on Saturday. I’m pleased to say that I can now identify objects on a map and can even plot a point or two! I’m definitely going to try my hand at the smaller routes to come to grips with my ‘toolbox’. As they say, practice makes perfect. Congrats on a well present course. The level of information supplied both orally and written was perfect and the pace was just right. You’re enthusiasm and passion for AR is inspiring. Thanks so much!” – Ashleigh
“We had great fun and were impressed by the professional way in which you conducted the course. Your enthusiasm for Adventure Racing is contagious and we can’t wait to put our new found skills to use!” – Karen & Mark
“I learned so much! It was like being in geography all over again! The prac was fantastic. It’s so amazing to put things into practise instead of just learning it all in the classroom.” – Kerry
“Thank you for taking out the dread of reliving those awful school geography lessons and for showing us that navigation can be challenging and fun. The course was excellently presented and you made every one of us feel comfortable.” – Brett
“I would like to thank you for a well organised navigations course. For most of us who want to get into AR this has been a brilliant learning curve not only to understand map and compass reading but to also have a better understanding of what the navigator of the teams has to go through and it makes us step back and respect their decisions.” – Gabi