Interesting thread guys.

Something I learnt from a very young age training for Ten Tours, D of E and Mountain Perambulations is the importance of Route cards.

Route cards are used in both the Mountain Leader Training and Alpine Leader Training.

They have three distinct advantages.

1 - When writing your route card before the trip you are studying the map of the area and getting some understanding of the route and terrain.

2 - During the walk you work from your route card, which already has the gridrefs of your waypoints marked. The bearing to your next waypoint, already worked out with declination. As well as other useful information.

3 - Your route card becomes your note which you can leave with a friend, loved one, hotel reception, police or rangers station.

A route card should contain the following information.

Main Objective
Date
Magnetic Variation
Start and finish point
Time out
Estimated time back
Time of nightfall

Then you have the grid ref for your start point followed by the grid ref to your first waypoint. This is your first leg
The magnetic bearing between the two.
The distance between the two.
Amount of height gained and lost between the two.
A short description of the ground between the two.
And, the estimated time to walk that Leg

You then do this for each leg of your trip so that you have the grid ref of each waypoint and the bearing to the next waypoint.

With experience a route card can be planed so well that you can estimate an entire multi day walk to arrive at the destination with in minutes of you estimated time.

Further information that is added to your route card

Escape routes – grid refs of the places you will try to
escape to if something goes wrong and you are confident
that you can extract yourself safely.
Names of your party
Equipment of your party
Weather conditions for the duration of your trip.

On the reverse of my route cards I add an accident report form. This can be filled out if an accident happens, giving me a record of the incident. If I need to send someone out to get help I can give them both the route card and accident report on one piece of paper to carry out detailing all the information about the party, the route and the casualty, the nature of the incident, injuries sustained and the type of rescue that may be needed.

I leave a route card at home with a friend or loved one. If I am going to a remote area I will leave one at the local police station, maybe one at my hotel or camp site. One will be left in the car and I will carry a couple with me. One for my navigation purposes. And a couple in case of an emergency, one for my record, one for anyone that may need to go for help and one for the casualty which stays with him/her all the way to hospital so there I a record of continuity.

I have been using this system for over 30 years and it is a proven system that has saved countless lives in the UK Mountains and the Alps.

The best thing about it. By researching your route card, you research your route and the terrain. You have some understanding of the weather conditions you are likely to experience. You are making a very detailed and accurate record of your route, which you can leave behind so people know where you are going. Whilst on the route you can work off your route card with your compass. You may never remove your map from your backpack. It is ideal for working in bad weather, when you are tired or when you are covering ground with no footpaths or trails. There should be no sudden surprises on your route and if there is you know to stop and check the map as you have probably gone wrong somewhere. You have a record of your route so if you need to turn around, you can do simple back bearings to retrace your steps. You have thought about and planed escape routes, removing pressure and panic whilst trying to decide your next course of action in an emergency. You have a means of sending someone out with detailed information of any incidents occur and you have a record of it.

Finally when you finish you trip your can file your route card away for further use in the future and have a permanent reminder of every trip you have ever done.