At White Marmotte we believe in giving you the tools you need to embark on your own adventures. With this in mind, we launched the White Marmotte Navigation School. Our training and awards courses range from a taster day to a comprehensive Alpine navigation week. The school is based in Chamonix in the French Alps, and we can deliver courses across the Alps. As a result, our courses cover specific skills for hiking in these mountains such as the use of IGN maps, signposting systems, alpine weather and hiking at altitude. For younger hikers, we offer children’s navigation courses and a family navigation day. We are accredited with the National Navigation Awards Scheme (NNAS) in the UK. Currently, we deliver the NNAS Bronze and Silver awards and the NNAS Outdoor Discovery Awards.
If you don’t see the course for you, or you are looking for alternative dates, just drop us a line and we we’ll see what we can organise for you. We can often put on an extra course, or organise a private course for a group.
Group courses
These courses have scheduled dates available for booking or pre-registration. Bespoke and on-demand courses are listed in the following section.
A two-day beginner navigation course in the Alps, leading to an accredited navigation award. The NNAS Bronze Navigator Award will teach you to navigate using linear features, learning map orientation, navigation strategies, distance estimates and basic compass skills. We will also cover the basics of safe, responsible hill-walking practices in the Alps.
Chamonix 23rd-24th June 2025 – €160 Course only – Pre-registration open
A two-day intermediate navigation course in the Alps, leading to an accredited navigation award. The NNAS Silver Naviator Award will expand on the skills of the Bronze award, teaching you to navigate away from paths using contour interpretation, compass techniques, route planning and appropriate navigation strategies. Safe, responsible hillwalking practices will also be covered.
Chamonix 26th-27th June 2025 – €160 Course only – Pre-registration open
Our five-day course allows you to gain both Bronze and Silver NNAS Navigator Awards in one week. The first two days will consist of the NNAS Bronze Award. Between the courses, a day of guided alpine hiking will let you practice your new-found navigation skills under the watchful eye of your tutor. The final two days will give you the chance to take the NNAS Silver course and assessment.
Chamonix 23rd-27th June 2025 – €320 Course only – Pre-registration open
This five-day course will give you the confidence needed to take on Alpine hikes on your own. You will learn navigation, route planning and the practical skills needed for one or more days walking in the mountains. Five days will give us the time to mix the training element with some challenging hikes. This course has no assessment element.
At 400€ per person, the course only option gives you days guiding and instruction in the Chamonix valley. We can also put together an accommodation and transport package on demand.
Our navigation school offers a range of courses for youngsters aged seven and upwards. These courses introduce and develop navigational skills in a fun way through games and play, with themed days for different ages. We are able to offer the NNAS Outdoor Discovery Awards on these courses. All children taking part will have the opportunity to gain an ODA Star Award. These go from One Star to Three Star as the children gain skills and experience.
We also offer a family navigation day where children and their parents can learn to navigate together. Teenagers are welcome to either take part in the family course or to join one of our adult navigation courses.
Course Info
Introduction to Navigation
This one-day course will introduce you to the world of maps. Assuming no prior knowledge, we will build up your knowledge of maps and how to use them. The idea is to learn the essential skills in simple steps. We will spend the morning on practical exercises close to the resort. These will teach you the basic techniques of maps and compasses. Lunch will be followed by a short theory session before we head off on a short hike to practice our new skills.
This course runs on demand only. Please contact us at bookings@whitemarmotte.com to learn more or to make a booking enquiry.
Navigation on snow
In winter, the paths are buried under snow, signposts are rarer and visibility can deteriorate rapidly. Descending on skis or snowboard makes it hard to estimate distances too. It is easy to see how navigation is more challenging on snow. At the same time, shorter days give us less room to make mistakes.
This one-day course looks at the specific challenges of navigating over snow, and the strategies to solve them. We also look at the tools available to help us, from altimeters to mobile apps.
This course runs on demand only. Please contact us at bookings@whitemarmotte.com to learn more or to make a booking enquiry.
