program info | courses | field conditions | instructor | costs
Course Description
This course teaches basic backpacking and leadership skills by actively practicing them in the context of an extended field program. Students will learn safety procedures and first aid treatments, a full gamut of backpacking skills including minimum impact camping, the range of leadership styles, and the fundamentals of group process. Theories and practices for cultivating nature awareness will also be emphasized.
Course Outline
I. Risk Management
A. Safety protocols
B. Environmental
dangers and their handling
C. Physical injuries
and first aid treatments
D. Emergency
procedures
E. Backcountry
hygiene
II. Equipment and food
A. Essential
gear and their purposes
B. Backcountry
cuisine for nutrition, flavor, and portability
III. Backpacking skills
A. Route selection
B. Campsite:
selection, set-up, breaking
C. Map and compass
D. Fires, stoves,
cooking
E. Minimum impact
camping
V. Leadership and group process
A. Different
styles of leadership from authoritarian to laissez-faire
B. Facilitating
group process
1. communication skills
2. consensus
VI. Nature Awareness
A. Cultivating
observational skills
B. Nature as
teacher
C. Ecological
literacy and the ecological self
D. Solo retreats
E. "Old
Way" skills
1. fire, shelter, tools
2. food (edible plants)
Required Text
Course reader: instructor-compiled selection of readings from a variety of books and journals (available at cost)
Evaluation
Demonstration of backcountry competence. Presentation on design of a trip.
program info | courses | field conditions | instructor | costs