Wilderness Survival
How will you or your hiking partners deal with an unexpected night out? This course covers essential skills for anyone traveling in the backcountry on day trips.

You will spend one evening learning about pre-trip planning, hazard recognition and avoidance, emergency kits, survival psychology and navigation skills. An overnight field session will allow you to truly experience a night out in the local mountains with minimum survival gear.

Dates:
May *9, 12-13, 2012
June *13, 16-17, 2012
July *4, 7-8, 2012
Aug *1, 4-5, 2012

Dates marked with an asterisk (*) are evening seminars held in Vancouver at 47 W. Broadway. These are held from 7-10 pm and are an essential aspect of the Wilderness Survival course.

Location
The first theory session is held in the Canada West Mountain School classroom at 47 W Broadway in Vancouver, BC.

The field-day session is held at one of a variety of different locations, depending on the conditions in the local mountains, and on the current weather. Typical locations include Mount Seymour, Buntzen Lake park, and near trail systems in the Squamish and Whistler areas.

Guides and Instructors
The Instructors on our Wilderness Survival courses are all experienced backpacking and mountain leaders with many years of experience leading groups in a mountain environment and teaching outdoor survival skills.

For more details on the specific Instructors for your Wilderness Survival program, contact our office. More details about our guiding staff can be found on our about us page.

Itinerary
The first evening classroom session will run from 7 pm till approx. 10 pm. This session will thoroughly cover all aspects of wilderness Survival, emrgency kits, incident response and will also serve as preparation for the field session.

The field session will be a 2-day overnight trip into a forested wilderness area. On the first day you will meet with your group at the pre-arranged trailhead at 0900. The hike into the training site is usually short (about 2 hours). You will spend the day working on skills such as shelter building, fire construction, emergency repsonse and incident management. That evening you will spend the night in your newly constructed emergency shelter (tents will be available for back-up in case of poor weather conditions).

On day-2 you will head out for a day hike in the surrounding area to practice navigation skills, route finding and other emergency skills such as using signalling devices, etc.

You will return to the trailhead at around 3:00 pm. After a short wrap-up and question session, the course will finish at around 4:00 pm.

Equipment list for Wilderness Survival course
The following personal equipment is required - this is considered a basic list, please consult our office for more details or if you have any questions
(To download a printer friendly .PDF file of the equipment list, click here. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required)

• Boots: sturdy hiking boots or hiking shoes, broken-in and waterproofed.
• Backpack: 30-40 liter capacity daypack will allow you to carry all your gear. Preferably top loading
• Outer Jacket: An outer layer waterproof-breathable shell jacket with hood - Gore-Tex style
• Outer shell pants: Lightweight waterproof pants, full leg zippers are ideal to allow ease of on/off  - Gore-Tex style
• Hiking Pants: A light-weight hiking style pant (synthetic fabric, preferably not cotton)
• Gaiters: Ensure they fit over your hiking boots (optional - good for keeping snow, water and debris out of boots).
• Gloves: Medium weight gloves - wool, synthetic or fleece gloves
• Personal clothing layers: Shirt, sweater, vest, socks, etc – make sure they are synthetic or wool blend – preferably no cotton.
• Warm jacket: Medium weight fleece or pile
• Toque/warm hat: Wool or fleece style insulating hat
• Hat: With sun visor or full brim e.g. baseball cap, etc. (1)
• Sunglasses: Ensure they block 100% UV (if traveling on snow, they should be full wrap or have side-shields)
• Headlamp: Small size with fresh batteries
• Sunscreen: Minimum 30 spf
• Insect repellant: optional depending on season
• Water bottles/Hydration system: minimum 2 liters (2+ liters for extended treks)
• Water purification system or filter: The campsite may not have access to a clean water source, so a filter or water purification (Pristine, etc) is needed.
• Food: Bring 2 lunches and enough snacks for both days. Lunches should be easy to eat with minimal preparation. Dinner and breakfast should be simple food that does not require heating or cooking.
• Walking poles: Ski poles or collapsible walking poles (optional, helpful for building shelters)
• Compass: Supplied by CWMS if required
• Tarp: A small lightweight tarp is usefull (approx 3m x 3m)
• Extra accessory cord: used for tying down tarps and building shelters (approx. 6-8 meters of 3-4 mm cord)
• Candle: a small emergency candle
• Matches and lighter: Matches should be packed in a waterproof case as a back-up if the lighter fails
• Folding saw or wire-saw: Optional but very useful, your instructor will also have one.
• Pocket knife: Swiss army style knife
• Extra warm clothing: You will spend the night in the clothes you would expect to be wearing while on a day hike, but bring extra warm clothes as a back-up to ensure you have enough to stay warm and healthy.

All other safety equipment and First Aid supplies will be supplied by your Canada West Mountain School trip leader.

Here are a few stores in the lower mainland region that supply good service and quality outdoor equipment. If you need to purchase or rent equipment, please contact the store well in advance of the course to ensure that what you require is available!      

Please go over this list before the trip to ensure that you are properly prepared. Contact our office if you have any questions, and we can suggest places for you to purchase or rent equipment if needed.

It is recommended that you also have a set of spare street clothes for the end of the trip after you have left the mountains.

Logistics and transportation
The evening class sessions are held at 47 West Broadway in Vancouver, BC (unless otherwise noted in your information package). These sessions start promptly at 7 pm, please arrive on time.

The field sessions will be held at a location within a 1-hour drive of Vancouver. All participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the trailhead. Car-pooling is encouraged and may be arranged at the classroom session, though CWMS cannot guarantee a ride will be available.