Wilderness Survival Trek on the Freeman River January 27 - Feb 1, 2025 $1100

Dates:  January 27 to February 1, 2025 - 6 Days of Winter Awesomeness!  With an option to combine Three Courses/Trips into one fantastic experience - see below for details.

Instructors:  Dale and Colleen Kiselyk, Bruce Zawalsky

Partners:  Richard Ellens Senior Trapper.  And collaboration with Bruce Zawalski of the Boreal Wilderness Institute.

Location:   Nature Alive Adventure Centre and nearby Freeman River Watershed.  Property is 2 hours Northwest of Edmonton, near Goose Lake

New for January 2025:  We are super excited to announce a partnership with The Boreal Wilderness Institute to offer an unprecedented and incredible opportunity for you to link three amazing weeks of training and adventure together to create an unforgettable and varied experience.   

You can register for one week, two weeks, or all three weeks for the best value and maximum experience.

Week One - Winter Boreal Survival Course Jan 13 - 17, 2025  $950 CAD (register through Boreal Forest Institute - click here)   

• Join Bruce Zawalski - celebrated author of Canadian Wilderness Survival for this One-of-a-Kind World Class and Professionally Taught Modern Winter Survival training course.
• If you are a Winter Traveler, Guide, Instructor, Outdoor Educator or GSAR Volunteer in Canada, then this is the Professional Wilderness Survival Training you need to take. If you are a bushcrafter, but have never spent time in the Canadian Winter, then this course will provide the right mix of knowledge and hands-on practice you need. It will provide you the skills and ability to survive comfortably when stranded in the Boreal or Montane Forests of Canada or the Taiga Forests of Europe or Asia.
• Find full course information here:  Winter Boreal Survival Course

Week Two - Bushcraft Trapline Course - An Interactive Trap Line Experience, Jan 19-25, 2025  $1500 - Bonus - You will take part in the Alberta Trappers Association Standard Trapping Course (a $450 value)  This course allows you to obtain a trappers license for Alberta and is recognized across Canada.  Register for week two on this website - click here.

• Join Ross Hinter, and Dale & Colleen Kiselyk for an incredible immersion into the inner working of an active trapline in the Boreal Forest of Canada.
• This is Bushcraft Skills at its best!  Axe craft, saw craft, rope craft, fire craft, shelter craft, winter clothing, snowshoes, winter ice travel, navigation, animal tracking, animal processing, hide preparation, cooking meals, gathering firewood, camp selection, freight toboggans, snow machines, forest travel, deep snow, and so much more.  It requires so much knowledge and experience to be able to be proficient at operating a trap line through the rigors of the Canadian Wilderness Winter.

Week Three - Winter Survival Trek  January 27 to Feb 1, 2025  $1100  Register below for this week.

• Experience the best that our professional instructors have to offer by going on a winter survival trek up the Freeman River with expert guides from Nature Alive Adventures and the Boreal Wilderness Institute.  Travel up the frozen river on snowshoes, pulling custom freight toboggans, canvas tents, wood stoves, and all the gear required to move a group along the river.  Expect a terrific opportunity to  practice your newly acquired survival and trapping skills to locate and set up your own survival overnight experience in the Boreal Forest, using super shelters and all the skills you need to interact with the forest in this unique and fantastic trip.

More information for the Winter Survival Trek: 

This course/trip is requires the pre-requisites below or similar:

• Graduates of the Winter Boreal Survival Couse (week #1 indicated above) from the Boreal Wilderness Institute
• Completed the Karamat Winter Wilderness Skills Course
• Can demonstrate the skills and experience to handle the rigors of winter camping - to be determined in communication with our instructors prior to the course date.

Overview:   Six days, travelling along our registered trapline, walking with snowshoes and pulling our gear on pulks and custom toboggans, selecting and setting up camp using plastic super shelters and heating the shelters with long fires, cooking meals and harvesting animals (when appropriate) along the way.

Prior experience for participants to have for this course would include some or all of the following suggestions:  

• Snowshoeing and/or travel in snowy and cold environments.
• Solid fire lighting skill and knowledge of various winter fire-lays for warmth, light, or cooking
• Some experience building and sleeping in winter shelters such as lean-to, quinzhee, super shelter,  hot tents, bush beds, or cold camping.
• Experience using bow saws, axes, and knives for camp chores and tasks
• Knowledge of good winter clothing systems
• Excitement and Enthusiasm for a super cool advanced bushcraft experience.

What Is Provided:

• Instructor(s) to guide and teach the group along the way
• Simple but nourishing campfire meals (Breakfast, Lunch, Supper)
• Trapping supplies, and instruction on trapping for survival
• Add on topics - tracking, reading the landscape, camp selection, group movement and packing gear on toboggans
• Safety gear:  Inreach device, First Aid Kit, nearby vehicle and shelter
• Canvas wall tents as a home base on the river.
• Cooking equipment
• Snowshoes, pulks, and toboggans (or bring your own)
• Plastic for shelters
• Registered Trapline Trails and permissions to utilize public lands
• A complete gear list before the start of the course
• Unlimited forest resources for our journey - respectfully utilized

Not Provided:

• Clothing, footwear, and sleep systems for participants
  
• Personal First Aid kit, knife, saw, axe, bushcraft gear
• Bring your own snacks and special dietary needs
• Your own mess kit - bowl, spoon, fork, mug
• Bring your own cots and air mattresses if you like.  Or rent/purchase our cots

Level of Fitness Requirements: 

• The nature of this course will demand that participants have a good level of fitness.
• Expect to walk in snowshoes and forest environments for 0.5 - 2 km on some days, and be on your feet collecting firewood, pulling toboggans, maintaining fires, cooking, and assisting in helping the group to stay warm and comfortable for the duration of the trip.
• Participants will be expected to help contribute to camp chores and assist whenever possible.

Please Note:

• This trip will go ahead in cold temperatures and rugged weather
  
• This is not a hard core survival course/trip, rather, it is a group effort to experience advanced wilderness skills with minimal comfort gear.  With nearby facilities if needed.
• There will be much experiential learning and also a lot of information exchanged between instructors and participants.  The more we share together, the stronger the experience.

Min 4 participants   -   Max 8 participants

Accommodations:  All participants and Instructors will be combining Hot Tent Camping in a variety of Canvas Wall Tents, and trying to set up satellite camps with super shelters or primitive shelters.

Meals:  All meals are supplied.  Please contact us with special diet needs

Other Required Gear:  It is recommended that participants bring along the following:  saw, axe, knives, rope, first aid kit, warm clothing, extra warm footwear, snowshoes, toboggans, chairs, snacks, drinks, masks, and hand sanitizer.  You are welcome to bring your own hot tent, stove, sled, snowshoes, or other winter camping gear you have.  Complete gear list sent out upon registration.

Minimum Participants for workshop to run:  6

Maximum Participants for workshop is 8

Fees:  $1100 + GST per person – includes instructor sessions, canvas hot tents, wood stoves, toboggans, meals and drinks, plastic for shelters, and safety equipment.  

See the VIDEO of a past wilderness trek on the Freeman River.

For more information on the finer details, ethics, and content of this exceptional course, please contact us