Navigation Lesson #1: Navigation is King No other skill is as important in adventure racing as navigation. You may blow by other teams in your canoe or on your bike, but lose all of your advantage with just one misread of the map. In fact, a navigation error is often two or three times more costly … Read More
The first rule of navigation is to always know where you are on the map. You can’t get to where you want to go if you don’t know where you are. Until you develop the skill and confidence to move along without your compass bearing, it’s important to get that bearing right. Ideally, share the … Read More
As you begin moving along your planned route to the CP, employ navigation strategy #1: Collect Features. The navigator should be constantly visualizing features in their mind and telling their teammate(s) what they should encounter up ahead. “There should be a reentrant (gully) coming up on my right, and then there will be a marshy … Read More
Another navigation strategy is selecting attack points. These are fairly obvious features/locations that you can travel to quickly and without a careful following of your compass bearing. This is the best strategy if the checkpoint isn’t on or near a large, distinct, easily identifiable feature. When you reach the attack point, you then establish an … Read More
The use of handrails is another navigation strategy that allows teams to move more quickly and with greater accuracy and confidence toward a checkpoint or transition area. Handrails are features that you can follow easily (like a handrail on a staircase). Examples include shorelines, trails, roads, fences, streams, ditches, ridge lines, power lines, edges of … Read More