Outdoor Survival Skills

Learn the essential skills to stay safe in the backcountry with our Wilderness Survival Training. In the event of a serious situation, it’s important to find warmth, shelter, food, and water. It’s also essential to learn basic navigation, including how to use a compass, read a topography map, and figure out how to find the best path out without reliance on technology.

In this course, we’ll learn from guides who have multitudes of combined experience in some of the world’s harshest conditions. No matter if you’re planning a multi-day expedition or a one-day hike, Colorado Wilderness Rides and Guides will teach you the most essential skills to maximize your success in difficult situations. We’ll learn how to build a rudimentary shelter, how to build a fire, and how to use unconventional water sources. We’ll also learn basic first aid (Colorado Wilderness Rides and Guides also teaches Wilderness First Aid certification) and how to keep your team members in the event of an emergency.

We’ll cover the basics of all the first aid kit contents you might need to know about and if you’d like to brush up a bit beforehand. We’ll cover effective expedition management and how to maintain communication out in the wild. We’ll prepare to know how to get in reach with local authorities and how to use the natural landscape to aid you. From backpacking to climbing, whitewater rafting, or ski touring, we’ll learn how to survive in each particular environment. We’ll learn how to stay safe in extreme heat or extreme cold and how to stay comfortable in either environment. Our guides come from a variety of backgrounds, including military and mountain search & rescue, and have intimate knowledge of how to stay safe while in the backcountry.