Jason Marsteiner

Founder of The Survival University

Early Life in the Mountains

I am Jason Marsteiner, a Colorado native born on the Air Force Academy base in Colorado Springs and raised in the small mountain town of Cripple Creek. Survival was never a hobby for me, it was life. Growing up, camping, hunting, fishing, and what people now call prepping or bushcrafting was simply common sense in a mountain community. While other kids were playing video games, I was packing a survival kit and heading into the hills to see what kind of adventure I could find.

Those early years shaped everything I have become. Life in the Rockies meant learning how to adapt, solve problems with whatever was at hand, and respect the land that provided for us. It was a way of living that built resilience, and it laid the foundation for the skills and mindset I carry into everything I teach today.

Building The Survival University

In 2010 I began teaching under the name Colorado Mountain Man Survival. At first it was just me, sharing the skills I had grown up with. By 2015 I realized students wanted more than I could offer on my own. I knew the skills, but not well enough to teach them responsibly. Rather than doing what many schools do, taking a class and then turning around to half teach it, I chose a different path.

I sought out true experts in their fields and invited them to stand beside me. I wanted them to have autonomy, not simply work under my name. That is why I founded The Survival University, to give these instructors a home, a platform, and the resources they needed to teach at the highest level. What started as a solo effort grew into a team united under one banner, dedicated to passing on real skills with integrity.

Along the way my work has been featured on news outlets, foreign travel channels, and in books and magazines. I am also the author of Wilderness Survival Guide: Practical Skills for the Outdoor Adventurer, written to give people practical tools they can put to use both in the backcountry and in everyday life.

A Life of Experience

Before this path, I studied Wildlife Biology at the University of Northern Colorado, worked construction, ran a coal fired steam locomotive, and even worked in a gold mine. I know both sides of life, the rugged backcountry and the corporate grind of the city. I spent 18 years working in an office, learning how to communicate, build teams, and navigate the same world most people live in today. I’m not military, though many assume I am. The truth is, most of these skills don’t come from the military at all, only a small handful of elite units ever train this way. I’m just a regular guy who grew up differently, with a certain set of skills I’ve sharpened over a lifetime.

My training has taken me into forests of the Midwest, into the jungles of Costa Rica for more than a month, across the deserts of Arizona, and along coastal environments. My core, though, has always been mountain survival. I earned my first Basic Wilderness Life Support certification through the University of Utah School of Medicine and I keep my Wilderness First Responder certification current through Off Grid Medic. I’ve spent thousands of hours in the backcountry practicing both primitive and modern skills, but I’m not a TV-style mountain man or a hardcore prepper. I’m a woodsman, a jack of all trades, and a teacher. I’m a hunter, fisherman, camper, homesteader, father, and outdoorsman who believes these skills should be part of everyday life.

Purpose and Mission

The real reason I teach survival goes deeper. My father taught me everything about being an outdoorsman, but in 1993, when I was 17, he died in a tragic accident that could have been avoided. That loss shaped my purpose. If I can use what I know to bring one father, one mother, one son, or one daughter home safely, then I have done what I was meant to do.

At The Survival University my mission is to run family friendly courses for kids and beginners while also offering advanced training for those who want a true survival challenge. I want people to reconnect with nature, step away from technology, and gain the resilience to handle whatever life throws at them. Just as importantly, I want to inspire people to discover their boundaries, push past them, and grow stronger. To me, survival is not just about staying alive, it is about reclaiming your human edge and realizing the growth that comes from challenge.