This is a physically and mentally demanding course that requires both focus and endurance. Some days will be mostly stationary, others you will hike long distances—sometimes 10 or more miles in a single day—while navigating through canyons, mesas, and mountains. As you gain confidence with your navigation skills, you’ll be responsible for guiding your group through increasingly difficult terrain. The course culminates with a three-day solo navigation challenge, where you’ll travel alone using only your map, compass, and the skills you’ve acquired. Because of the mental demands of this course, the Wilderness Navigator is one of the few courses at BOSS where you’re allowed to take a modern pack.
Course Phases
Orientation — Welcome to BOSS, introduction to your guides and the course, lunch, gear check, and last-minute gear purchases/swaps. Pack your gear to prepare for departure.
Basecamp — A basecamp where our staff can have a chance to evaluate each student’s skills and move on to the next challenge of the course when appropriate.
Group Expedition — Instruction and acclimatization to the landscape, eventually arriving at a camp/cache. Wilderness travel skills, fire construction, shelter, observation skills, navigation, orienteering, and water location are taught.
Student Expedition — Instructor-free group travel so students can put their newly-learned skills to use. Each group is responsible for arriving at the final destination using a predetermined route.
Skills Evaluation — Students are given a chance prior to their Solo to review skills with the staff.
Solo Expedition — Having successfully completed the student expedition and review/evaluation, each student will face the challenge alone on a specific route through the wilderness.
Celebration/Graduation — A celebratory graduation ceremony.
Skills covered
What you'll learn
- Survival Attitude & Behavior — Develop the resilience needed to handle extreme conditions and circumstances with minimal gear.
- Campsite Selection & Shelter Building — Learn to choose optimal locations and construct effective shelters.
- Fire Construction — Learn to build and manage a fire in the wilderness safely and effectively.
- Water Location & Purification — Learn methods for finding and purifying water.
- Wilderness Hygiene — Establish healthy hygiene habits in remote settings, and learn to use natural materials instead of toilet paper.
- Knife Use & Safety — Safely use knives for multiple survival tasks.
- Backcountry Navigation — Learn to navigate with a map and compass, including concepts like declinations and bearings where appropriate.
- Problem-Solving When Lost — Develop the mindset and strategies to manage stress and safely navigate when you’re uncertain of your location.
- Low-Impact Wilderness Travel — Practice BOSS’s low-impact travel techniques to navigate through the landscape while minimizing your environmental footprint.
- Coordinate Systems — Become proficient in using UTM, Latitude/Longitude, and familiarize yourself with Township & Range coordinate systems.
- Declination & Magnetic Fields — Learn how to adjust for magnetic declination and apply it to real-world navigation.
- Route Planning & Travel — Understand how to plan your route, select trails, and adjust travel based on terrain.
- Compass Use — Achieve competency in compass techniques for setting declination, taking bearings, triangulating your location, and maintaining your direction of travel.
- • #shopify-section-template--17719027728523__image_banner_em9c89 { padding-top: 3.2rem; padding-bottom: 3.2rem; } @media screen and (min-width: 576px) { #shopify-section-template--17719027728523__image_banner_em9c89 { padding-top: 3.2rem; padding-bottom: 3.2rem; } } @media screen and (min-width: 990px) { #shopify-section-template--17719027728523__image_banner_em9c89 { padding-top: 3.2rem; padding-bottom: 3.2rem; } } @media screen and (min-width: 1200px) { #shopify-section-template--17719027728523__image_banner_em9c89 { padding-top: 3.2rem; padding-bottom: 3.2rem; } } @media screen and (min-width: 1440px) { #shopify-section-template--17719027728523__image_banner_em9c89 { padding-top: 6.4rem; padding-bottom: 6.4rem; } }.banner__overlay { background-color: rgba(var(--color-overlay), 0.4); }
Prerequisites
• Open to anyone with a desire to learn wilderness navigation. No previous BOSS course is required, but students should come prepared for the physical and mental demands of extended wilderness travel. • All applicants must complete a Health and Physical Exam packet with a physician, physician’s assistant, or nurse practitioner and obtain their signed approval before enrollment. • A high level of fitness preparation is required, including a 1.5-mile run (or equivalent endurance test) to determine your baseline fitness. • Participants must be 18 years or older.
Newsletter
A short Friday email with classes near you. Free.