Recently in a post about navigation on Mountain Journal I asked if, in the electronic era, there was still a role for traditional tools such as the paper map and compass.

In this post Kelly Van Den Berg, who trains people in navigation, offers her thoughts.

Traditional navigation skills in the mountains? Do we actually need this skill?

In an age of robust and accurate electronic devices, where do the traditional map and compass fit in ?

Up until a few years ago, all of my navigation experience was with a map and compass. I was thrust screaming into the electronic era after taking some work as a Backcountry guide. I quickly had to launch myself into understanding what these newfangled electronic things were all about as I pretended to understand how to download GPX files into programs I’d never heard of late at night in the days leading up to tours.

This process certainly made me realised how out of touch I was, but it helped me to realise something way more useful …how much my traditional skills overlapped and complemented the modern adaptations and that the dark arts were far from obsolete.

Now days I enjoy the functions of a GPS mapping unit. It shows us where we are in relation to other things, including where we’ve been before, and how we got to where we are now. This is the value of having a track (a connected line showing the recorded path). There’s no doubt that the mapping GPS units excel in showing us where we are, and plotting how we got there.
Some of the advanced layers available on mapping apps are excellent tools for pre planning route selection and navigating tricky terrain, making decisions based on information from overlays giving us so much information to plan with. Anything from terrain gradient to solar aspects and trajectories which I’ve found especially useful when planning to travel in complex alpine environments.

All of this is great and I’ve found it all to be such a useful tool, especially for pre trip planning, but for me there was something missing….

Where was the context on these tiny screens ?

What we don’t see, is the context at ALL scales that a paper map can give us. I still struggle with the small screens for this reason. A real map, even when folded, is much bigger and of a higher resolution than any mobile device. As such, the fidelity of the image is greater, contains more detail, and most importantly, places that detail in context.

In a research paper published in 2008, researchers found that pedestrians using GPS units travelled slower, made more errors, showed less knowledge of their route and their surroundings in comparison to using a paper map and compass. This all comes down to how our brains process what’s called ‘persistence of vision’ or a mental model of the map and how we build our context of where we are in space. The small screens of the GPS units make this detail in context mental image building extremely difficult.

I discovered myself that looking at the line on a screen really diminished or dulled my conscious awareness of my environment and orientation in my surroundings. Even my sense of direction was at times tuned out. These are skills that need to be constantly exercised in order to retain.

IMAGE: Hiking the Australian Alp Walking Track where traditional navigation skills are definitely recommended

However, I have very competent friends who navigate complex routes solely using GPS devices, so I was curious to ask them what they thought about this whole idea of loss of awareness and orientation. The conversations were quite interesting and different to what I was expecting. Most people I spoke with admitted there were some real limitations when using GPS devices and every one expressed a desire to become better navigators with a map and compass. One of these discussions was on a multi day adventure with a few buddies. That night around the fire, I brought out my paper map and spread it out on the ground. Instantly everyone was drawn to it like moths to the flame, kneeling around as a united community, we looked at where we had travelled from that day and pointed out which route would be best to travel on tomorrow. At this moment I realised that the importance of context went far beyond orientation, the tactility of the open map, the way in which we could all share the information and planning together as a collective team, was an experience that would be lost on a single small screen device.

This is why we come out here isn’t it? To reconnect. Reconnect to our environment, ourselves and each other.

IMAGE: Navigating in the alpine presents its own specific challenges and where a competent working level of navigation skills are a must.

The next task was to investigate how many of my friends used a map and compass, or rather, how many of them knew how to effectively use these tools. Many people were a little shy in coming forward with this information as it appeared that although most people I knew carried a compass, most admitted to really not being able to confidently use it.

I remembered that shocking story of a hiker who went missing while walking the 3541km long
distance walk on the Appalachian Trail. Over two years later, when her remains were discovered
with some heart breaking handwritten notes about her experience, it transpired that she’d briefly left the path to go to the toilet and, unable to find her way back to the track, spent 26 days hopelessly lost and alone before dying of starvation and exposure. It was revealed that she’d left her GPS device behind in a motel by accident and she had a map and compass but was not able to competently use it.

A basic knowledge of how to operate one simple piece of kit could have averted that awful scenario.

IMAGE: The many braids of the Yukon River; one of the most complex river systems in the world and one of the most complex navigation challenges Kelly faced in 2023 along with her partner Patrick as they paddled a canoe 1600km’s from Canada through the Arctic Circle to Alaska.

Some other concerns I wondered about with my GPS device still bug me. Batteries don’t last that long therefore you need to carry lots of extras on longer trips. Being a small person, I usually cull my weight in my pack down to the bare minimums. The idea of carrying extra batteries didn’t excite me.

I started carrying a battery pack instead. Until one day it randomly failed … then what? No problem for me. I just pulled out the map and compass. I concluded that GPS mapping is a great tool, and excellent for recording routes, but when you need something failsafe to get out of strife, a magnetic compass is your best mate. It’s also the lightest and cheapest option for basic navigation, and there’s simply no substitute for using a map and compass and being able to use them well.

These days I travel with both! For all of us hiking, backcountry touring and heading out on
adventures it’s an important question to ask yourself next time your packing your backpack for
another trip out; if your safety depended on it, would you how to navigate your way out without a GPS device?

Happy Trails
Kelly van den Berg

Kelly van den Berg is a mountain guide, adventurer, coach and outdoor educator who loves getting out in the wild in both winter and summer environments.

If you’d like to learn more about navigation click on this link for Gippsland Adventure Tours who offer 2 day courses in becoming competent navigators in Victoria, NSW and QLD.

Check out these Alpine Navigation Courses.