Wilderness Navigation Courses
located in Crowsnest Pass, near Lethbridge and Fernie
Open up a world of opportunity for you to adventure!
We guarantee your world of adventuring will become deeper and stronger when you have mastered this fundamental outdoor skill.
Helping you get outside to explore the mountains is our passion. We love seeing adventurers enhancing their skills to explore the beautiful natural world and we want to help you enhance your outdoor skills beyond following a blue dot on an app. How cool would that be?
These small group, hands on courses include in class instruction with outdoor practice. Read each course in detail, but our goal is for you to be able to:
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- Navigate on and off trail in the mountains by selecting your own routes
- Use a compass and map read
- Make trip plans and be able to predict your adventure time by looking at a topographic map
- Translate two dimensional maps into your adventure lifestyle
- Create your own maps
- And much more
Wilderness Navigation Courses
You can pick from two navigation courses:
- Beginner Navigation Course (Friday night and Saturday)
- Tech Navigation Course (Sunday)
You can take these courses together in the same weekend or you can just take one. We highly recommend taking the Beginner Navigation Course first as it will give you a solid base knowledge.
Book your navigation course now!
Select a date from the calendar to select from our current courses.
For more information and tentative itinerary, click on the 'Details' tab below.
BEGINNER NAVIGATION COURSE
This course will focus on map reading and how to use a compass. This is a one and a half day course to give you enough information to understand how to navigate with a topographic map and compass, and to commuicate this information to others.
The first day (Friday evening), we will focus on map reading skills and will be in the classroom. The second day will be a mix of classroom (morning) and being outdoors (afternoon).
The key objectives of the course include:
• Map Reading (legend, scale, grid reference, map symbols, map interpretation)
• How to plan out a route
• Identifying map features in the field
• How to take a compass bearing
• Declination
• Orientating yourself on the map
• Key navigational techniques to help you in the backcountry
Location: Crowsnest Pass, exact location will be sent out closer to the course date
Itinerary:
Day 1: 6:30pm – 9pm (Friday evening)
Day 2: 8am – 4pm (Saturday)
Included: course booklet, professional instructor, safety equipment (carried by guide, first aid kit, bear spray, satellite communication device)
Not Included: maps (a list of maps required are sent out upon booking), compass (recommendations are sent out upon booking), personal items including outdoor gear, accommodation
* A list of what to bring will be sent out upon registration.
TECH NAVIGATION COURSE
This course will focus on using modern day technology to navigate. Please ensure you are proficient with your map reading and over trail trip planning skills before signing up for this course. We will expect that you are familiar with how to do these things and will not be teaching this during this part of the course. There will be a morning session in the class, followed by an afternoon outdoor session.
The key objectives of this course are:
• How to use a GPS and/or smart phone apps
• Creating waypoints and tracks using these systems
• How to use Google Earth to help with trip planning
• How to create your own topographic maps
Location: Crowsnest Pass, exact location will be sent out closer to the course
Included: course booklet, professional instructor, safety equipment (carried by guide, first aid kit, bear spray, satellite communication device)
Not Included: smart phone with apps and/or GPS, laptop with software, personal items including outdoor gear, accommodation
* A list of what to bring will be sent out upon registration.
Navigation courses can be offered to private groups with a minimum of six people. Please contact us for a private booking.
"I signed up for the Navigation course with Uplift so that I would feel comfortable using a map and compass in the backcountry. I learned how to read topographic maps, navigate by compass, and how to check my work to confirm I'm on the right path. Heather is an extremely knowledgeable, patient, and fun teacher! I feel confident planning my multi-day hikes now!"
Our Wilderness Courses
Uplift Adventures wants to be your go-to outdoor center in the South Canadian Rockies. We are expanding our offerings as we find the right people to join our team to provide you with a high-quality learning experience.
Want to try, but don't have the gear?
We rent gear for all our activities, look for the gear rental add-ons in your checkout, or find out more about rental gear here!