Registration Ends April 30th! Forms are available on the WEBSITE
Do you and your family enjoy the outdoors? Whether it’s hiking, camping or wilderness backpacking, boating, kayaking or river rafting, we live in a wonderful place to explore and interact with the natural world.
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Some people avoid getting away from civilization because they are worried about what can go wrong when they are so far from the services and safety nets of urban life.
When things go wrong and plans go awry, there are some basic principles, priorities and skills that will see you through. It doesn’t really matter if you are backpacking deep in the North Cascades wilderness, your car breaks down on a forest backroad after a family picnic on the Olympic Peninsula, or your canoe overturns while paddling the Columbia River – these principles always apply.
Learning about basic survival skills helps build the self-confidence to undertake adventures throughout your life, and this knowledge will benefit you in any situation where things go wrong.
Over two afternoons in the second week of the camp, we will learn the most important survival skills, with hands-on practice in the woods of the Hillside campus:
- Sheltercraft – how to protect yourself from weather and the environment
- Firecraft – how to reliably start a warming and signal fire, even in wet weather
- Water Procurement – how to find water and make it safe to drink
- Signaling – how to call for help and let rescuers know where you are
- First Aid – how to take care of basic injuries and illnesses
- Navigation – how to use a map, compass and GPS to find your way
We will also demonstrate the fundamentals of planning to avoid emergency situations in the first place, and show how to assemble survival and emergency kits.
Smart people are aware of what can go wrong in life. Wise people prepare for it, and this preparation gives them the confidence to try anything, and deal with whatever life throws at them.
Mark Anderson is a professional firefighter who teaches emergency preparedness and safety. He learned survival skills as a youth in Scouting, and developed them while serving in the Army, including as a survival instructor and a graduate of the Army’s most advanced survival schools.
