I remember watching Star Wars for the first time as a kid and being mesmerised by Luke Skywalker’s ability to ‘use the force’ in order to sense what was around him without actually seeing it.  For a long time, I was convinced that I could find similar powers within myself.  I still wake up from the occasional vivid dream, confident that I can levitate – and possibly fly – if only I concentrate hard enough. Well, don’t we all?

Maybe that’s never going to happen, but Jedis or not (personally I haven’t ruled it out), we do all have certain dormant ‘powers’ that most of us never use to their full potential.  In recent years it has been discovered that human brains contain levels of biogenic magnetite  – the same mineral found in the skulls of birds, bats, fish and bees which they utilise, along with the sun and moon, in order to get where they need to be.  So, it may be that we also carry the same inner compass that helps in our sense of direction.

As humans evolved outdoors and spent every waking hour surrounded by nature and all its signals and rhythms, a deep-rooted sense of direction would have been intrinsic to our existence.  Indeed, we would all have been astronomers and navigators to a large degree and it’s only relatively recently in our history that we have become so detached from these everyday experiences and skills.  The popularity of Tristan Gooley’s excellent book ‘The Natural Navigator’ says much about our desire to get back in touch with these environmental signals.

In the mountains, however, the techniques discussed in The Natural Navigator are of only limited use.  If you can’t read a map to tell you which is the best route to follow, knowing that golden coloured lichens grow on south facing rocks isn’t much help.  More important for mountain navigation is to be able to visualise landscape features and estimate distances and transfer your observations from land to map and vice versa.

Look long and hard at the landscape with the map to improve your navigation

Most of my enquiries and questions regarding navigation training are usually based around compass work.  Those new to mountain navigation, or those wanting to brush up on their skills often assume that the compass is the magic wand that will guarantee their safe passage through the hills.  Whilst the ability to use a compass correctly and confidently is an essential skill that shouldn’t be overlooked, particularly in low visibility and winter conditions, I would argue that it is more important – and more enjoyable – to be able to travel by reading and interpreting the landscape whilst checking your progress on the map.  The more you do this, the less likely you are to lose your way and have to get out to the compass to follow a bearing or relocate yourself. Consequently, the more you look, the less likely you are to get lost.

Whether our bearings are largely due to an inner magnetic compass or our immediate surroundings, the fact is our sense of direction can be re-awakened by spending more time surrounded by nature.  By simply getting outdoors and looking more, we become better at reading the landscape.  And the better we are at reading the landscape, the more competent we can become at deciding the best route to take.

So, leave the compass in your pocket, pick up the map, have a good look around and remember to use the force.