GPS For Hillwalkers

Who Is This Course For?
Many people are involved with rambling and walking clubs and have a wide range of experiences. In recent years, the popularity of GPS units has dramatically increased, however Northern Ireland remains the only major area in the UK and Ireland to remain unmapped, digitally. This course seeks to cover the basic skills involved in using GPS software to plan and undertake journeys in area with digital maps. We will spend an evening planning, in Tollymore, before heading to the Galloway Hills in Scotland for a day hillwalking.

This course will give you a taster of the skills required to plan journeys in the hills using GPS and digital mapping technology.

You will need an understanding of basic navigation skills before undertaking this course. reasonable level of fitness is required.

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Course Aims

- To develop a level of understanding and independence

- Apply newly learned skills on gentle mountain terrain

- Provide an individually tailored learning experience with nationally qualified coaches.

Skills Covered

- The basics of a GPS unit

- Memory Map Software – what it is and how we can use it

- Basic navigation refresher

- Planning simple journeys in the hills

- Equipment appropriate to this environment

These are some of the essential skills required in order to understand the uses and limitations of GPS and digital mapping software. These skills are relevant whether you want a one-day experience, or a practical introduction to expanding your experience in the hills. All of these areas will be covered in a practical way during the course of an evening in Tollymore and a day spent in the Galloway Hills, giving you the opportunity to learn from the staff and other course participants alike.

Outline Programme

It is important to note that the above outline programme is a guide. Times may vary due to weather conditions or other reasons.

Our Staff
The instructor(s) who will work with you are all highly experienced and qualified. Tollymore prides itself in the knowledge and experience that its full time and part time staff bring to its courses. Our staff are all keen hillwalkers and mountaineers and know the Mournes very well. You may well have met them in the hills in the past or will bump into them in the future on days when they are not working!

All are obliged to attend annual staff updates and training courses

What do I need to bring?
The following list is a suggestion of what you should bring. Waterproofs, walking boots and rucksacks may be borrowed from our extensive stores. We advise you not to rush out and buy kit for the course, but use it as a chance to find out what would best suit your needs. If you have a GPS unit, please bring it along. Tollymore has a stock of Garmin GPS units and some will be available for use on the course. You should bring the following:

Tollymore Information
Tollymore Mountain Centre, on the edge of the Mournes, is Northern Ireland’s National Centre for Mountaineering and Canoeing Activities. It is funded and managed by the Sports Council for Northern Ireland as a National Centre. The Centre is an attractive, purpose-built facility of log construction with accommodation for 30 people in 2, 4 and 6 berth bedrooms. Quilts, pillows and bed linen are all provided. The Centre is well appointed with toilets, showers, modern kitchen, lecture room, workshop and drying room. Outside there is ample parking space, a ropes course and a floodlit granite-climbing wall. A modern indoor climbing wall is open year round. The centre is ideally situated on the edge of the Mournes, with quick and easy access to the hills.

The Central Council for Physical Recreation opened Tollymore Mountain Centre in 1969. In 1974, it passed to the newly established Sports Council for Northern Ireland Trust. In 1995, Tollymore achieved the management standard BS EN ISO 9001:2000 for the quality systems it operates. However, as part of Sports Council for Northern Ireland’s ongoing commitment to the development of the National Centre, Tollymore will be undergoing a major redevelopment, commencing in 2007. The facilities will be improved and expanded, to ensure that Tollymore remains as an example of best practice in the provision of mountaineering, hillwalking, climbing and canoeing courses in Northern Ireland.

Accommodation
Your course is a two day course, and accommodation is provided in Tollymore on the Friday night. Tollymore has a number of comfortable meeting rooms, where the instructors will meet the group prior to the start of the course. We will also meet here and discuss the course and what to do next over a cup of tea or coffee.

Catering
We will provide breakfast in Tollymore on the Saturday morning, but you will need to bring a packed lunch for the hill day. We will be stopping at a major supermarket in Stranraer to enable you to do this. Additional food is available on the ferry. You can fill a flask with tea or coffee at the centre if required.

What next?
‘GPS For Hillwalkers’ provides you with an introduction to basic skills. You may choose to hillwalk in low-level terrain, or choose to broaden you horizons, but you should learn the ins and outs of navigating with map and compass. The logical next courses are Hill and Mountain Skills 1 and 2, or Mountaineering and Rockclimbing courses at t more advanced level.

You may choose to join a hillwalking or rambling club, or join the governing body for hillwalkers, climbers and mountaineers – the Mountaineering Council of Ireland (MCI).

A full list of clubs is available from the MCI.

Useful Books

Recommended by and available from Tollymore
Hillwalking by Steve Long (published by MLTUK)

Useful contacts:

Mountaineering Council of Ireland,

Sport HQ,

13 Joyce Way,

Parkwest Business Park,

Dublin 12.

Tel +353-1-6251115

Fax +353-1-6251116

Email mci@eircom.net