Backcountry Emergency Skills Overnight Trip
Shining Rock Wilderness • Nov. 5-6
COLD WEATHER GEAR REQUIRED
Level up your backcountry emergency skills with Lead Instructor, Sara Basse, as she leads an emergency-focused skill building backpacking trip in Shining Rock Wilderness. This trip will be focused on introducing you to how to think when you find yourself in an emergency situation. This includes introduction and real-time uses of navigation, survival, & first aid skills. The biggest takeaway from this trip is to learn how to start thinking quickly, preventively, and resourcefully.
While this trip is open to beginners, we cannot stress enough that you need to be adequately prepared for cold temperatures. We will also be taking on some moderate trails with plenty of breaks so we do need you to be comfortable hiking 8-10 miles a day.
The Trip & Campsite:
While we will be taking in all of the views that this area has to offer, we will not be camping on a summit but will be setting up on an off-trail campsite where we will do most of our learning. This site is only about a half mile hike in, so we will set up camp first as a basecamp. “Basecamp” is tent and hammock friendly. We will use basecamp to branch out and hike to a few areas to get you familiar with reading maps and creating survival strategies. While we hike, we’ll be working on some skills like knots, shelter building, map & compass, this trip will require some bushwacking, so dress accordingly. Pants, long sleeves or a jacket to protect your arms. Trekking poles may be helpful.
Skills we will cover:
Creating a plan for a backcountry emergency
Navigation & Topography
Learning to read a map and look for key features
Learning things to pay attention to when researching your trails prior to hiking them
Understanding topography to plan the quickest and safest route to help
Learning ways to use your phone to enhance your hiking and planning
Knife Safety & Strokes
Knots
Shelter building
Bushcraft structure building
Backcountry First Aid - Severe Injuries
This trip is for:
Women who are adequately prepared for cold weather camping
Women who are in decent physical shape that can handle a few short inclines and 8-10 miles in a day
Women who want to learn introduction into backcountry emergency stabilization and actions
Women who are prepared to fail a couple times at learning some skills but are ready to keep trying
You need to bring:
Overnight backpacking gear- gear list found here
We are at 6000’, temperatures can get into the 30s at night
Headlamp
Gloves - leather or working gloves. No gloves= no knife skills
Water - 2-3L
Food & Snacks
Notebook
If you have it, bring:
Fixed blade knife
Compass
Paracord
Tools & gear provided for class but if you happen to have those, bring them along!
Your Instructor: Sara Basse
Certifications & Affiliations: WFR, SOLO Survival Instructor, NOLS Administrative Risk Management, Henderson County Rescue Squad
After Sara attended her first Wilderness First Aid Class, she fell in love with wilderness medicine and immediately saw the value in teaching those skills to outdoor enthusiasts. She organized outdoor events for women for 3 years but it was very early on that she realized how eager women were to learn the skills they needed to feel safe and confident on the trail. Sara is now a wilderness guide, certified Wilderness First Responder, Survival Instructor, & Risk Management. She is also a volunteer member of Henderson County Rescue Squad, and currently working on her EMT & Technical Rescue certifications. In 2020, Sara founded Wild Forces, a non-profit dedicated to creating more opportunities for outdoor education and leadership roles for women. She believes knowledge is power in the wilderness and sees education as a way to spark new passions and feel more confident in the outdoors.
Liability
All participants are required to sign a liability waiver and emergency contact form prior to this event. Backcountry trips will have these formed emailed to you prior to the trip. Classroom-style events will have these forms in-person the day of.
Transparency
The money collected from this course goes to the cost of our permits to continue to operate these classes, reserved space, and supplies used for this class. Wild Forces Instructors are volunteers. Third-party events and guides are at cost, Wild Forces does not take any percentage of funds collected.
Cancellation
We can issue a refund up to 24 hours prior to the class, Nov. 5- 9 am. We cannot issue a refund for day of cancellations and no show participants. We will leave the trail no later than 9:20am. We will try to wait if you are running late but due to the nature of this hike, we have to leave asap to make it back in time. Please allow 3-5 days for the refund to process.
Transaction & Privacy
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