Well - yes and no, but in steep terrain it isn't exactly a walk in the park. Sometimes, one might choose to take calculated risks to get home, including applying your best navigation skills to find your way down in less than optimum conditions. Staying put on the mountain is risky, too. My rant below is to give a more realistic assessment of the risks and limitations involved.


This technique (which is EXACTLY how I use my GPS together with topo maps) has three limitations that needs to be taken seriously:

1: The accuracy of you reading the UTM grid off the map. At the best of circumstances, using a ruler and a flat table, warm and snug indoors you can perhaps do with an accuracy of +- 0.5 mm if you are really careful. Out in the field, being stressed and slightly freaked out, I would say an accuracy of +- 2mm is probably realistic - that is IF YOU ARE USING A RULER. Most base plate compasses has a ruler. For the maps I use most, being 2 mm off equates to being 100 meter (300 feet) away from where you think you are.

If you're not using a ruler, I would say an accuracy of somewhere +- around a quarter of an inch.


2: The accuracy of the map and how detailed it is. Can you really trust your map to have included all 30-feet vertical / not-really-true-vertical-but-the-fall-will-still-kill-ya drops? No, you can't - and absolutely not in steep (close-to-vertical) terrain.


3: The accuracy of the GPS. Being 3 meters (10 foot) away from your tracks going can and will kill ya on certain places.

Of course, if you're using the GPS tracks to guide you back then you're within the accuracy of 3).


The last limitation of the GPS is that for most models you have to move a certain distance (at least 10 meters / 30 feet) to have a reliable direction indicator. Also, the direction indicator can be a bit confusing when you start wandering back and forth, trying to find the exactly right direction. A compass is the right tool if you want to start moving in the right direction at your FIRST try.


Many places, the accuracy really isn't that critical - you might very well be several hundred meters away from where yo think you are - as long as you follow the GPS guidance or at least wander somewhere not-too-far away from the correct direction you will be OK. Steep mountains aren't one of those places.


In total white-out conditions and with fresh, powdery snow covering everything, you will NEVER see a vertical drop before tumbling down. Everything around you is slightly greyish white. No features. No shadows. No landmarks or boundaries. It doesn't matter if visibility is 500 feet or 5 feet - anything covered with fresh snow will blend in with the other powdery snow, and that includes the lip of snow that overhangs the cliff. What stands out is those things not totally covered with snow, such as rocks or bushes. The only exception is if it is blowing, then the older, harder snow MIGHT stand out in those places exposed to the wind.