Navigation - Identifying Catching Features
Catching Features
Catching Features are features in the landscape that will tell you if you have overshot your target.
In the example shown here the route goes over Sgoran Dubh Mor on route to Sgor Gaoith.
Sgoran Dubh Mor is an important feature to aim for along the way. If you find yourself going downhill before you have identified the summit you know you have gone too far. The downhill slope is the catching feature in this example.
In this second example the route heads up to the foot of a ridge and then turns to climb the ridge...
If you miss the foot of the ridge and the turning you will reach
the steam and the valley it flows down. This will tell you that you
have overshot the turning. Remember that steams are not always
reliable features because there might not be any water running in
them. It is often the contour feature which a stream flows down
which is most significant. Some streams flow down significant
features but many of them don't. So always check the contours. The
stream and the valley it flows down are the catching feature in this
example.
Catching Features should be identified before you set off for your
target.
Timing and pacing can also be used as mental catching features.
- This page reproduced with the kind permission of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS). They run a number of Mountain safety courses, Seminars and Lectures. You can join the MCofS here.