Being dinosaurs, we have always relied on the old skills of map and compass to navigate round the Sierra Nevada. Emerging into the gadget era we now acknowledge the place of GPS and digital mapping in modern navigation. Not as a direct replacement for the map and compass, to to work alongside them.
The Patagonian Icefield. Not a place to get lost!
There are only 3 times and places in my life when I have been glad to carry around a GPS. The first two were in Scotland some years back. The Cairngorm and Ben Alder plateaus providing perfect terrain for their use. The other time has been on one of our Patagonia Icefield Expeditions. Blizzard conditions here are notoriously fierce. Having to navigate in a whiteout down the biggest piece of ice outside the polar regions can be a testing experience. Here we utilised both map, compass and GPS to ensure we kept on track.
From then on I was sold on the use of a GPS. Living and working in Spain’s Sierra Nevada means most mountain days are fine, clear and sunny. But, on the odd occasion there are certain areas that demand respect in blizzard and whiteout conditions. Especially the area around the Alta de Chorrillo and the approaches to Siete Lagunas.
We have, for our own use, provided digital waypoints for the Sierra Nevada. By scanning in and calibrating maps to “Ozi Explorer” we digitise them and then are able to download tracks to our GPS handhelds. These are available for free download from the links below.
Download Digital Map of the Sierra Nevada (available by Google Search)
Download Ozi Explorer GPS Mapping Software which runs on your PC or laptop and will work with Magellan, Garmin, Lowrance, Eagle, Brunton/Silva and MLR GPS receivers for the upload/download of waypoints, routes and tracks and most brand of GPS receivers for real time tracking of GPS position
Download Sierra Nevada Ozi Explorer Map Calibration file
Download our own Waypoints File for Ozi Explorer
GPS Waypoints
[iframe http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tFjae56dyp8Svao4SAjX8WQ&single=true&gid=0&output=html&widget=true 500 300]
N.B YOU USE THE ABOVE AT YOUR OWN RISK. NOT ALL POINTS HAVE BEEN CHECKED ON THE GROUND. A GPS IS NO REPLACEMENT FOR SOLID MAP READING AND COMPASS SKILLS
THE MAPS
The best map by far is the following:
Parque National de Sierra Nevada
Scale 1:40000
www.penebetica.com
ISBN: 84-933461-9-5
The Editorial Alpina 1:50000 is still sold and is useable.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Victoria Twead, Richard Hartley. Richard Hartley said: News: Download digital maps and waypoint files for the Sierra Nevada http://bit.ly/bLSVhs [...]
Hy,
Very interesting article.
I have dowloaded the .jpg file but for some reasons i don’t understand, it doesn’t work for the .map file. Am i doing something wrong ?
Best regards
Lionel
Hi Lionel
Sorry you had have had problems with the .map file. I too cannot download for some reason, so will try to fix it asap and post a comment here. Thanks for pointing it out though.
Richard
Lionel
I have put in a support call. If you wish me to email you a copy in the meantime send me your email address (richard at spanishhighs.co.uk).
Lionel. The issue has now been resolved and you should be able to download the .map file.
Thanks
Richard