Winter Survival Weekend CourseLearn Core Winter Skills That Will Keep You Alive For
Seven Days Without a Sleeping Bag in the Northwoods |
At A Glance
• 2007 Dates: 12/1-12/2
• 2008 Dates: 2/16-2/17
• Tuition: $250
• Registration Information
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A warm bed in a winter survival shelter
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Winter is an unforgiving time in the north woods. Gone are the warm temperatures of summer that provide a safety-buffer for all you do. The result is to magnify mistakes and poor choices, turning what would be a minor inconvenience in warm weather into a life-threatening situation in the cold.
The principles of cold weather survival should be learned before any trip into the cold, as should the related skills. But despite a vast swath of literature devoted to "survival", there is very little knowledge commonly held on the topic, and much that does pass for common sense is incorrect.
For example, many people have heard that when lost in the winter woods they should dig a snow cave in which to spend the night. In certain conditions this is a useful thing to know, but most of the time it is a recipe for disaster; the result of incomplete knowledge being glossed over and passed on without understanding the principles at work. Such well-meaning advice is often given from those who haven't spent any nights out in the winter woods without a tent or sleeping bag, making their untested theories questionable at best.
We won't regurgitate the inaccurate, untested information found in most of the survival books. Instead you'll experience winter firsthand and learn to stay alive and comfortable in the northern forest using practical skills and techniques we've been using and teaching for a decade. Topics of instruction include dressing for the elements, making, using, and living with fire, shelters applicable to the northern winter environment, safety, traveling with improvised winter gear, making snowshoes, frostbite and hypothermia awareness and treatment, useful plants available in winter, and more.
Primitive, traditional, and modern techniques will be covered, with the goal being to increase confidence and ability in the frozen environment of the winter wilderness.
Topics of study include:
- Physiologic needs of the body
- Survival Kits
- Clothing
- Knife selection, use, sharpening, and safety
- Use of the axe and saw
- Shelter theory, design, and construction
- Fire theory and application
- Twig bundle method of firelighting
- Fire by friction and percussion
- Commercial fire starters
- Useful wild plants available in winter
The course starts Saturday at 9:00 and runs until Sunday at 3:00.
Check out our Photo Gallery for winter wilderness skills photos.
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