Description

Colorado Winter Field Training

Late March at 9,500 Feet

Late March in the Colorado mountains is a strange season. The calendar says spring, but at 9,500 feet winter is still very much in charge. Snow lingers in the shade of the trees. The ground holds cold. The wind has a way of showing up just when you thought things were settling down.

That is the environment this course lives in.

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Who This Course Is For

This winter field course is designed for people who already have some time outdoors and want to understand what those skills look like when cold becomes the constant. If you are newer, you can still attend, but it is important to understand that winter changes everything.

Simple tasks take longer. Small mistakes matter more. Comfort is temporary and has to be earned.

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Day 1

Understanding Cold and Getting Grounded

We begin by slowing things down and getting grounded. Day one focuses on preparedness and mindset, not in a gear checklist sense, but in understanding how cold actually works.

We look at how the body loses heat, how exposure affects thinking and movement, what happens when dexterity starts to fade, and how clothing choices influence outcomes in winter environments.

From there we move directly into fire. Cold weather fire is not about style points. It is about doing the basics well when your hands are stiff and the conditions are working against you.

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Day 2

Shelter, Water, and Being Seen

Day two shifts toward shelter and sustainability. Winter shelter is not about building something impressive. It is about building something that works with the terrain, the snow, and the time you have.

We explore fast options, improved options, and shelters that can carry you through longer periods. Along the way we work with water processing in freezing conditions, because dehydration is easy to miss in cold environments and hard to recover from once it catches up to you.

We also cover signaling. Knowing how to stay warm matters, but knowing how to be found matters just as much.

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Day 3 & 4 Field Training Exercise

Learning by Doing

From there, the course moves into a field training exercise where the learning becomes personal.

You will apply what you have been working on by building shelter, producing fire, and making drinkable water in real winter conditions. There is no script. The environment sets the tone, and the lessons come from doing the work.

The second day in the field expands the problem set. We look at practical food related skills as training demonstrations and focus on signaling and decision making. The emphasis is not on pretending to be stranded. It is on learning how to think ahead, manage energy, and make choices that keep options open when conditions are cold and resources are limited.

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What This Course Is Really About

This course is not about proving toughness or collecting stories. It is about understanding winter on its terms and learning how to function calmly and deliberately when the margin is thin.

You will leave with a clearer sense of what matters, what does not, and how to take care of yourself and the people around you when cold becomes the defining factor.

If you are ready to spend a few days learning what winter really asks of you, this course will meet you there.

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Skills Covered

• Cold weather preparedness and mindset

• Heat loss and exposure awareness

• Dexterity loss and performance in cold

• Clothing systems for winter environments

• Cold weather fire starting

• Winter shelter building

• Hasty, improved, and longer term shelters

• Water processing in freezing conditions

• Hydration management in cold weather

• Signaling for rescue in winter terrain

• Field decision making under pressure

• Energy management and problem solving in snow