This from the Guardian:
Magnetic Compass and paper map - far more reliable perhaps?
73 Ed DD5LP.
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Knowing how to use a compass and paper map is what is important. Plus many other traditional skills that people had before technology. When you can do it the old way, you can add in tech and have even more fun.
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Then you will never walk alone 
FB
Dave
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Highly recommended YT channel. Loads of good info.
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Absolutely agree.
I know I keep pushing this… but if you need the skills and live in the UK look up providers from the National Navigation Award Scheme. https://nnas.org.uk/
I suggest the Silver level is sufficient for most summer walking on paths and tracks.
Equivilants will be available in other countries I am sure.
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I agree. If you already know how to navigate with a map and compass, then using a phone gps app like Gaia probably won’t lead to disaster or getting lost.
However, when on a backpacking trip in the Wind River mountain range a couple years ago, I talked with a hiker doing the Continental Divide hike. I said to him, “There’s an amazing hanging lake just over the pass. It would be a great place to camp. You can see it on the map” (I was talking about the Gaia map). He said, “I don’t really look at the map, I just follow the line.” (on the Gaia map). It’s this kind of hiker who is getting rescued.
Also, in 2020, there was an article in the Pinedale paper about how rescues in the Wind River range had gone up about 75% since Covid started and droves of inexperienced hikers we’re calling for rescue with their inreach-type devices; eg “I need a rescue.” What’s the problem? Rescue asks. I’m tired says the hiker.
Or another inexperienced guy who was asking the Rangers about the trail into Gannet peak, a 20 mile hike, in late October. The rangers told him he probably shouldn’t go in there because he would likely find winter conditions. He went anyway and had to be rescued due to a multi-day snowstorm.
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We have a local orienteering club and I try to participate in an event or two each year to keep the skills sharp. Navigating with a paper map is definitely becoming a lost art. I admit I generally use Gaia in the field anymore. It’s just so powerful having all your routes, waypoints, activation zones, etc. so accessible. But for longer trips or more remote locations I usually bring a paper map as a backup.
73, Jared, N7MAW
"Honeypot locations posted on social media and poor quality navigation apps are likely to be responsible for a record number of callouts for mountain rescue services, including a huge rise in young people needing to be saved, analysis reveals.
For the first time, mountain rescue teams in England and Wales were called out every day of the year in 2024. Callouts in Scotland topped 1,000 for the first time.
Rescues jumped by 24% between 2019 and 2024, according to data from Mountain Rescue England and Wales analysed by Ordnance Survey and shared exclusively with the Guardian. The rise was most stark among the 18-24 age group, where rescues almost doubled, from 166 to 314."
From the Guardian newspaper as per Ed/DD5LP’s post.
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This suggests to me that double the number of young people are getting out into the hills. Yes more are getting lost but I hope that having got a sniff of mountain air they will learn from their mistakes and be back for more.
It’s an opportunity for some SOTA people to hook up with groups of younger people and take them out for some practical navigation and hill climbing training. In the past it’s been the Scout’s that did this but there is a reluctance to sign up for anything more than a day or a weekend nowadays.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
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Many of us would have developed a sense of direction in one way or another - on the roads, before the days of satnav for example. So yes, having a nose for it needs practice - some people have never even looked at a tourist map on holiday (just use google maps, right?).
I agree that having a refresher is good (I’m certainly overdue one). I recall walking out into the night (on Dartmoor), map/compass in one hand and step counter in the other… frost forming on my boots and rucksack. It all went well, save that the chap leading the expedition forgot to pack his tent poles. We’re all human.
In terms of rescues of young people etc - I wonder if it’s partly due to the desire to share (and like) images/videos of the amazing views/landscape, perhaps making adventure look a bit too easy/accessible?
We know there’s more to it (ie studying the map, diligently packing your rucksack, soggy sandwiches on a cold day, tick bites in personal areas, getting lost in fog, fatigue, sun burn, forgetting your thermos, losing one glove, toe fungus, leaky boots, betty swallocks, slipping and falling onto your coccyx, etc).
It’s not always idyllic, and humans get tired (therefore we make mistakes). Important aspects to share/promote to encourage more prepared approach?
As far as mapping is concerned, and the use of less than satisfactory apps, I think it’s partly down to money. I bought and paid for Viewranger years ago - all of our national parks, a licensed copy, 1:50 OS maps. I had them on my phone permanently, and I could access them if I needed to. They updated the app to “OutdoorActive”, and now I have to pay to have maps stored on my device… but I’ve bloody paid for the maps in the first place. Annoyed.
There are a few cracking spots where I dare not share photos (or take anyone with)… some places are best left peaceful.
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Since COVID, outdoor activities and hiking have become extremely popular.
Adding to this, hiking now seems much more accessible thanks to social media, compared to before, when mountains were seen as intimidating and feared by the uninitiated.
These two factors are now bringing huge crowds onto the slopes, most of them totally unaware of even basic navigation, technical, or safety skills.
Here in the Pyrenees, you can find hundreds of cars in summer at the most popular trailheads. No GPS needed, just follow the crowd along the highway.
As a consequence: more people = more accidents, and more inexperienced people = even more accidents. My local summit has already claimed two lives this year. The snow was extremely icy, and people ventured onto 40° slopes wearing shorts and trail running shoes… Well…
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