Backpacking Light Wilderness Trekking III

Catalog No.

2008 Course Calendar

Wilderness Trekking III - Rocky Mountains

• Dates: October 6-12, 2008
• Instructors: Ryan Jordan and Ryan Connelly
• Destination City: Bozeman, MT
• Trekking Areas: Not Disclosed Until After Trek ;)

Course Overview

Imagine trekking across a vast mountain wilderness, ultralight style...in the northern Rocky Mountains...during a season that tells you fall has come and gone, but leaves you a bit unsure about when deep winter will arrive. You see nothing but mountains and tundra. No roads, no trails, no lights indicating habitations. And a rudimentary map with an unknown scale, unmapped areas, and no landmarks. Just an indication that, somewhere in the distance, is your destination. You only hope that you'll recognize it when you get there...

Welcome to Wilderness Trekking III, the summa cum laude of Backpacking Light's Wilderness Trekking School!

Curriculum

No-resupply expedition planning; food & physiology; off-trail navigation; terrain-reading, mapping and routefinding; expedition documentation and journalism; inclement weather clothing, sleep, shelter, and footwear systems; firebuilding; expedition dynamics and team trekking.

Immersion Education

All of Backpacking Light's Wilderness Trekking courses are "immersion experiences" - you will live, eat, sleep, share, and learn with your course mates. Your knowledge and passion for lightweight backpacking will increase dramatically as a result of intense classroom education and the opportunity for course participants to cross-pollinate each other with their own knowledge and experiences.

Course Format

Wilderness Trekking III is comprised of a 24-hour classroom immersion experience followed by a required trek (three+ nights*, approximately ten to twelve+ hours of trekking per day).

* This is an open-ended trek. Although we're scheduled to complete the trek in four days, you won't have the option to "exit" at the scheduled time if we have not arrived at our destination - the trek ends when you reach your destination.

Course Schedule

• Day 1 – Check-in, lunch, instruction, dinner, instruction
• Day 2 – Breakfast, instruction, lunch, packing, transportation to remote base camp, dinner, instruction
• Days 3 - 5 - Trekking
• Day 6 - Trekking, transportation back to main base camp, dinner, debrief
• Day 6 - Breakfast, debrief, dismissal before lunch

Tuition

$1099.99 (Non-Members) or $999.99 (Premium Members).

Your course fee includes all expenses for both the classroom and trekking portions of your course. This includes:

• Catered meals
• Overnight accommodations
• Instruction and course materials
• Transportation to and from the Bozeman airport (BZN) and the retreat center (basecamp)
• Transportation between the retreat center and the trailhead
• Breakfast and lunch trekking meals
• Group gear rentals
• A few pieces of complimentary gear
• Discount coupons for BackpackingLight.com
• Free one-year subscriptions to Backpacking Light Magazine and BackpackingLight.com (or an extension of your existing subscriptions)
• Participation in a closed, pre-trip online planning forum with other course participants and your instructors for the 60 day period prior to the start of your course.

   

Your course fee does not include:

• Costs of lunch meals for the trek, which you must bring yourself
• Transportation to and from Bozeman, MT.

   

PAYMENT INFORMATION, REFUNDS, AND CANCELLATION POLICY: ADVANCE PAYMENT FOR FULL AMOUNT OF TUITION IS REQUIRED TO RESERVE YOUR SLOT. IF CANCELLATION OCCURS MORE THAN 90 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR COURSE, 90% OF YOUR TUITION IS REFUNDABLE. IF CANCELLATION OCCURS LESS THAN 90 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR COURSE, 50% OF YOUR TUITION IS REFUNDABLE.

Waiting List. If you see an "OUT OF STOCK" message, then the course you have selected is full. Please sign up for a STOCK ALERT to automatically be placed on the waiting list. We will contact you in the order in which stock alerts are received if there is a cancellation.

Requirements/Prerequisites/Qualifications

This is an advanced course that involves off-trail mountain travel with ultralight gear in inclement conditions. It is physically demanding, involves long days, snow travel, and exceptional navigation skills.

You must be in excellent physical condition, capable of walking significant distances and long days, experienced in three-season wilderness travel, and have solid navigation skills - map and compass use should be second nature to you.

Demonstrated ability, skill, and experience multi-day backpacking using lightweight gear and techniques; knowledge of how to use a topographic map and compass to locate your position and reconcile landmarks between map and field; adequate physical condition such that you can carry a backpack weighing up to twenty-five pounds for twelve to fifteen miles per day on rugged trails, or off-trail for up to twelve hours per day; ability to negotiate Class 2 terrain (e.g., scrambling on talus with some use of hands for balance), clean bill of health for vigorous exercise in remote areas.

Certification

Successful completion of this course is required for all lead instructors in Backpacking Light's Wilderness Trekking School.

Other Information

• Welcome Packet / Gear List: Will be provided by June 1.
• Waiting list available.
• Maximum Enrollment: Twelve participants
• Banned Items: No illegal substances, firearms, alcohol, tobacco, GPS units, electronic compasses, altimeters, pedometers, watches, radios, satellite or cellular phones, electronic music players, electronic gaming devices, or any other electronic device other than a flashlight.

Wilderness Trekking III Staff

• School Director: Ryan Jordan
• Lead Instructors: Ryan Jordan, Ryan Connelly
• Curriculum Manager: Bill Stadwiser

More Information About Wilderness Trekking III

Welcome to Backpacking Light's Wilderness Trekking III, a trekking camp that will tax the entirety of your ultralight knowledge and experience in the context of a group expedition format. You will join like-minded industry professionals and enthusiasts who want to take their ultralight trekking skills into a new proving ground.

After flying into Bozeman, Montana, you'll travel to a remote mountain lodge that lies, shall we say, "off the grid." At the lodge, you will spend the next twenty-four hours living, eating, and learning with your fellow expedition members. Curriculum components will include expedition dynamics, the planning and execution of long treks made without resupply to remote locations, caloric physiology and energy balance, expedition documentation and journalism, managing ultralight clothing and sleep systems in inclement weather, and expedition leadership. We'll then issue group gear (shelter systems, cooking systems, bear spray and odor-proof food storage bags, foot care kits, water treatment supplies), food rations, and pack for the trek.

Then, you'll board a bus and be transported to a remote habitation to spend the final night before your trek. At this outpost, you'll receive the most advanced instruction in expedition navigation found anywhere. You'll learn how to plan expedition trekking routes through complex terrain that focus on efficiency and elegance. As a group, we'll conduct exercises in route analysis, mapping, and terrain reading that will dramatically improve your knowledge of planning, executing, and mapping expedition routes. The navigation seminar will provide the foundation required for the next four days of the course: real-time navigation using only a topographic map and compass.

After the navigation seminar, you'll be issued your maps, and you'll split into small groups to plan possible routes between your drop-off and pick-up locations.

The maps will be...unique. Like nothing you've ever seen. We won't spoil the surprise...

Early the next morning, you'll be dropped off right next to a sign that warns you about entering grizzly bear habitat. The bus will be waiting for you somewhere distant, on the opposite edge of your map, in eighty-four hours. Not a terribly big deal, right? Now go, trek. Make stellar routefinding decisions and you'll arrive at the bus on time without breaking your body - or spirit. Make a wrong turn, or choose a bad route, and you could spend a fair bit of time trekking in the dark. Or in a snowy blizzard. Or both. Maybe you'll miss your flight home (don't worry, we'll still pick you up wherever the wilderness decides to spit you out). Regardless, every single person will be required to pay attention, stay on guard, and apply what they've learned. The success - and safety - of your expedition party absolutely depends on it. After all, you don't want to run out of food, and you'll want to make it back to the lodge in time for that steak dinner.

During the course of the trek, the course will be split into two smaller groups (four to five participants in each group). Each group will trek together, camp together, cook together, and make routefinding decisions together. More likely than not, the two groups will choose different routes, and you won't see each other for the next four days. You'll be sleeping in ultralight shelters, cooking (and quite possibly, staying warm!) over fires, and enjoying the majesty of some of the most incredible mountain terrain and scenery in the world. Through the chaos of this unspoiled wilderness, potential for inclement weather, and distress of not really ever knowing where you are, you'll remain inspired by these mountains.

After your pick-up, you'll be transported back to the lodge, where we'll enjoy a steak dinner and a well-earned night's rest. The next morning, we'll have a debriefing session, where we'll conduct a comprehensive analysis of our routes, gear, and practices. Then, you'll be on your way back to wherever you came from, but stronger, more confident, an expert in ultralight wilderness travel, and with a host of new mates to which you've entrusted your life. This course will change you forever.

Learn More About Wilderness Trekking III

• See the RELATED LINKS section to learn more about Wilderness Trekking III at Backpacking Light's Wilderness Trekking School