GPS, maps and compasses: Are we losing our sense of direction?
GPS, maps, Wikiloc and other gadgets
Top Summits of the World contributor and mountaineering enthusiast
Before the advent of smartphones, GPS and mountaineering apps, when any hiker made a list of things they couldn’t leave out of their backpack, they could always include a map, a compass and sometimes an altimeter, among their water bottle, sandwich and warm clothing.
Nowadays, this list no longer seems to be valid. In fact, what good are maps and compasses if you don’t know how to interpret them? Most people who start out in the mountains, hiking and mountaineering, neglect this learning process, which was once so essential. New technologies have relegated maps and compasses to the category of dispensable, outdated or irrelevant. However, just as no one would think of teaching a child to use a calculator before they know how to add and subtract, beginners in the mountains should not miss the most essential interpretation and understanding of a cartographic map.
Is it possible to be a good mountaineer without knowledge of orienteering?
In Catalonia we can find entire collections of maps of routes and climbs of absolutely all mountain ranges, massifs and mountains. Editorial Alpina or Editorial Piolet are clear examples of two Catalan publishers that specialized in maps and guides for hiking, both mountain and cycling, a vestige and example of the importance that having a map was for any hiker. Currently, like many other sectors, these publishers are not going through their best times, in the same way and for the same reasons that in gas stations they do not sell so many maps of the Michelin Guides, mountain maps have been relegated to collectors or to lovers of the old methodology of orientation.
The basic question is, can a hiker, mountain walker, mountaineer or any other person who practices any type of sport or hobby in more or less wild and natural environments be good at these modalities without knowing how to interpret maps or without having any basic knowledge of orientation? The answer is not simple, at least it cannot be categorical, therefore, everything that can be said or thought remains in the realm of opinion. But what is clear is that anyone who, although being in good physical shape and well trained, does not have knowledge of orientation and does not have a map of the area where they are, will always be good and effective depending on the battery level of their mobile phone, since being good and effective means knowing how to get home.
The impact of new technologies in the mountains
Good cartographic maps show elevations and gradients, distance quadrants in steps, even forests, rivers, paths and roads, hermitages, villages and shelters in full colour, as well as the cardinal points which, together with a compass, this piece of paper, gives you exhaustive and exact information about your surroundings, all that remains is the capacity of interpretation and use of each hiker.
The other consequence of the use of new technologies in the depreciation of maps and compasses, and this is no longer an opinion, is the fact of the overcrowding of any peak, pool or stream in our lands, nothing remains unknown, complicated or inaccessible, everything is within reach of everyone, lovers and non-lovers of nature and this is where the key problem lies.
I do not intend to criticize new technologies, in fact, I think they are a good tool, practical and comfortable, however they should not imply the disappearance of the classic form of orientation, since knowledge of the use of the map and the compass can save you from a lot of trouble in case of failure of your GPS.
OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS
The five summits you can’t miss in Asia
From snow-capped giants to sacred volcanoes: a tour of Asia’s most fascinating peaks Asia is a continent of extreme contrasts. From the vastness of the
The 5 summits you can’t miss in South America
The most impressive mountains on the continent that every mountaineer must conquer South America is a paradise for mountaineering enthusiasts, with some of the most
The 5 summits you can’t miss in Europe
Rediscovering Europe from its most emblematic peaks At Top Summits of the World our mission is to climb the highest mountains in each country and
