![]() In the February edition of Scottish Mountaineer magazine, Nigel Williams (Head of Training at Glenmore Lodge) wrote an article on this very issue. The result is a bearing that took you in completely the wrong direction. It would be easy to assume that it was you who had made the mistake, but in the scenario above the compass has been affected by the magnet in your mobile phone case and the north/south needle has been reversed. But imagine if this had been winter and the ground was snow covered how easy would it have been to walk right over the edge? Suddenly out of the mist, the ground drops dramatically in front of you over what looks to be quite a significant crag. Alarm bells start to ring as the ground ahead seems to be dropping far more steeply than you remembered on the ascent. Taking a bearing to the top of the ridge, you start heading down. Photo: Sandy PatersonĪs usual, your compass is sensibly attached to the zip in the chest pocket of your waterproof jacket - the same pocket where you put your mobile phone. ![]() The underfoot conditions mean that the normal baggers' path has not developed, and a compass bearing is required to locate the descent ridge. Descent, however, is a little more challenging. Navigation is easy you are ascending a defined ridge which leads onto a broad summit plateau which gently rises to the summit over a shattered boulder field. Undeterred, you continue onwards and upwards. Unexpectedly the mist descends and you find yourself in poor visibility. You are out on the hill alone, ticking off that remote Munro. Is this always the fault of the individual navigator - or might there sometimes be a problem with the compass, a tool we tend to take for granted? Heather Morning, Mountain Safety Advisor at the MCofS, tackles the little-known subject of reverse polarity. A substantial number of mountain rescue callouts in the UK result either directly or partially from a navigation error.
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