Advanced Navigator
14-Day Land Navigation Training
Alumni of our Navigator course have been pushing us to offer a chance to delve even deeper into navigation skills, and to organize longer, wilder navigation routes. We decided to take it even further: with this course our aim is to use our five decades of experience to offer as high a level of land-navigation training as we possibly can.
About the Course
The BOSS Advanced Navigator course will build on the core skills you’ve learned on the standard BOSS Navigator course. It will be intense, and we will use every hour of our field time for instruction and practice. We’ll begin with a very brief review of key topics, then jump right in to the new adventures.
Each Advanced Navigator course will be tailored to the student group. We will use all of our experience in navigation and wilderness travel to create the best and most challenging learning experience we can.
We’ll want to get everything we can from the days we have in the field, so don’t be surprised to get some review documents to read ahead of time.
Course Highlights
- Route planning – in our standard navigation course we give you a lot of information. This time not so much. Students will build on the lessons from your first course and take responsibility for a lot more of the planning.
- Navigating without advanced maps – for most people GPS is required, for BOSS it’s an unnecessary luxury. In one phase of the Advanced Navigator even your USGS maps are a luxury, and also unnecessary.
- Figuring out where you are – in our standard navigation course, we practice this mostly from known areas to build your skills. This time, we drop you in an unknown location where you need to figure it out for real.
Know More, Carry Less
In line with the BOSS Positive Impact philosophy, the 14-Day Advanced Navigator course emphasizes the use of renewable, natural, and local resources. Tents, sleeping bags, stoves, backpacks and many other “required” pieces of outdoor equipment are replaced with their low-tech counterparts: a poncho, a blanket, a campfire, etc. The skills we teach you allow you to travel in comfort without relying on modern gear.
BOSS Challenge
On the BOSS Advanced Navigator course, students will hike long distances over the rugged terrain found in Southern Utah’s mountains and desert canyons – sometimes 15 or more miles in one day. The combination of high exertion and moderate rations may leave students 5 to 7 pounds leaner at the end of the course. However, please note that rations on the Advanced Navigator course will be larger than those on our Field courses.
For information on other courses we teach, check out:
Practice
Students take on more and more navigation responsibility throughout the course, culminating with a group expedition minus instructors, and finally a three-day solo navigation challenge.
Course Location
This course takes place in the canyons, mesas, and mountains surrounding Boulder, Utah. All 14 days of the course are in the field, where students learn traditional living skills and the arts of orienteering.
Food and Diet
All students are provided with BOSS food packs that provide a student with approximately 1500-2000 calories per day — enough to keep you healthy and active for the duration of the course. Students who wish to supplement their diet with wild edibles may do so in a responsible manner and only with instructor permission. Students with allergies or dietary restrictions should contact us before applying.
This course is not on the schedule at the moment.
Contact Us if you're interested!
