About

Joe Faulkner, NAV4 Adventure Founder (Left) and Stuart Smith,

NAV4 Adventure Lead Trainer and Safety Advisor (Right)

NAV4 Adventure is competency in the mountains and wilderness. We specialise in adventure, endurance events and all related safety, training and coaching. We are widely recognised as experts in our field.

Established over twenty years ago to teach navigation to mountain runners and trail runners NAV4 Adventure has evolved to deliver mountain and wilderness based activities and events along with relevant training, coaching and consultancy to a broad private and commercial customer base ever since.

‘Adventure Safety and Logistics’ is what we do.

Not just limited to training individuals, the team is often found quietly working behind the commercial scene; race planning, course setting, offering safety before and during events. Our expertise is in delivering experience based knowledge and skills to some of the UK's biggest brands and most demanding outdoor challenges. As well as supporting various television and film productions with pre production planning and on location support and guidance.

We have skills and knowledge gained through years of direct experience to help you or your team develop your outdoor abilities to a new level - enabling you to confidently and competently commit to ever more demanding challenges, deliver on exacting production briefs or simply improve your personal navigation and hill skills.

We believe that self-reliance, including the ability to navigate and look after yourself outdoors is the only way to experience a true adventure. Becoming self-reliant, with the ability to look after yourself and your friends in the great outdoors, gives you a great sense of satisfaction and reward. It opens up endless possibilities for walking, running and biking trips into the wild… and is a significant contribution to ensuring your safety in any expedition or challenging environment!

Our courses are practical and varied, using classroom and discussion when appropriate but always focusing on the hills and open spaces. We are experienced in delivering training on a 1:1 basis, to large groups or anywhere in between. However we always work on a small client / tutor ratio (4:1 max, often less) so you will never feel left out. Our approach is friendly, informal and always targeted to your specific needs.

Above all we love the mountains and wide open spaces. And whether you race, run or walk or have something entirely different in mind, we can't wait to share our playground and wealth of experience with you!

Meet the key people:

Joe Faulkner – NAV4 Adventure Founder.

Joe is the man behind NAV4 Adventure with over four decades of mountaineering, running, adventure racing and mountain skills training. A varied career in education, training and the outdoor equipment business underpins everything Joe set out to achieve with NAV4 Adventure.

Joe has created a number of uniquely challenging events which continue to see great success to this day; The Great Lakeland 3 Day Mountain Trial, Haweswater Half Marathon and the Tour de Helvellyn to name a few… He is a very experienced mountaineer, fell runner and adventure race competitor. He clocked up dozens of ‘ultras’ before the term was invented and is highly respected for finishing strongly in some epic races most notably the infamous SPINE race and for completing all four Dragons Back Races over a 25 year period.

Joe is a qualified Mountain Leader and Instructor (MIA, Winter ML, and AMI member), an experienced kayak / canoe tutor, Rope Access Technician and Trainer and Safety Manager. Beside these impressive formal qualifications Joe's ‘school of life’ experience and aptitude is hugely respected in outdoor circles.

Stuart Smith – NAV4 Adventure Lead Trainer and Safety Advisor.

Stuart has been involved with NAV4 Adventure for nearly as many years as Joe and is the lead member of the NAV4 Adventure training team. He is a very skilful tutor and is a leading practitioner with the Institute for Outdoor Learning. Stuart has over 35 years experience in outdoor pursuits including solo trips across Iceland, numerous multi day expeditions and global commercial event support throughout Europe as well as in Canada, Japan, Nepal, Morocco and Thailand to name a few places! He holds numerous outdoor qualifications and is currently the Northern Representative for the British Association of International Mountain Leaders.

Of course we would not be where we are without the support of our many NAV4 Adventure advocates.

Those who know the outdoor world well know that it is a tough and competitive environment in which to make a living. The NAV4 Adventure team frequently supports a number of accomplished and trusted freelance Mountain Leaders and International Mountain Leaders who are employed to deliver the NAV4 quality experience on a larger scale when required. NAV4 Adventure are also proud to have a fabulous network of team members with varying skills who support in highly valued ‘behind the scenes’ roles; check point support, bag check, kitchen support and admin to name just a few cogs in the well oiled NAV4 Adventure machine. That many members of these teams have been on the call list for years, speaks volumes of the passion for quality events exhibited by Joe and Stuart and further emphasises the commitment and loyalty that their fun yet professional approach inspires.