HAT Orienteering for Adult Leaders, 9/21

Do you feel uncomfortable about taking your Unit hiking into a new location? Have you felt that your outings are too trail-bound or provide too little challenge for older participants?  

The solution to both conditions is to develop/improve your navigation and route-finding skills. This course is designed to do just that and help prepare you to use orienteering to teach these skills to your Scouts. The Orienteering merit badge pamphlet states that "All you need is a map, a compass, curiosity, and common sense."

This High Adventure training provides the adult Scouter with a thorough understanding of the use of map and compass and introduces them to a variety of route-finding techniques. We use the sport of orienteering as a method to teach this important set of skills.

Topics will include the tools of navigation and strategies for their utilization, demonstrations of various types of maps and compasses, route finding, collecting terrain features, the Global Positioning System (GPS), being disoriented, avoidance of getting lost, and getting "un-lost." We will also discuss orienteering events: how they are run and why they are useful in route-finding and off-trail navigation. Participant teams will complete an existing orienteering trail as well as design one for other teams to complete.

• Participants should bring a compass, lunch, sun protection, and water
• Annual Health and Medical Record Forms, Parts A, B1, B2 are REQUIRED. Be sure to include copies of insurance cards and all signatures; bring the completed forms with you.
• Open to registered Scouters, 18 years and older, limited to 25 participants

Questions? Contact Michael.Ryan@vhcbsa.org.

Registration is open through 11:59 PM, 9/16/25 or when capacity is reached.