Go Wild!

Six days backpacking the Kootenay backcountry. Learn to be a leader, connect to the landscape, and leave with a love of the mountains that will last a lifetime.

 

Apply Now!

About Go Wild!

Go Wild! challenges youth 14-18 on a six-day wilderness backpacking trip into the spectacular Kootenay backcountry. Go Wild! isn’t just a backpacking trip: it’s an education in backcountry camping and hiking that teaches the wilderness skills needed to safely plan and enjoy trips in our mountains. Starting a fire, reading a topographic map, planning a route without relying on trails, setting up camp, managing a heavy pack, cooking on a camp stove, planning and packing backcountry meals, staying safe around wildlife and more will be covered. We also teach mountain ecology, history, conservation and backcountry ethics. Go Wild! opens the door to a lifetime of wilderness adventure.

Read all about 2023’s Go Wild! summer trip.

We would like to thank the Province of BC for their generous funding of Go Wild!

Details:

Trip Dates: August 5-10, 2024

Destination: TBD in the Rocky Mountains

Cost: $800 for Basin residents; $1,000 for non-Basin residents. Financial support available if needed; reach out for more information.

For more information please contact Go Wild Co-ordinator Dave Quinn.

About the 2024 Guides:

Leah Evans is a professional skier who focuses on helping women reach their full potential on skis through Girls Do Ski camps. She’s also CSIA ski instructor with 14 years of freeskiing coaching experience, holds a Canadian Sports Institute performance coaching certificate and CAA operational level 1, certified tail guide, and ACMG hiking guide. Based in Revelstoke, Leah uses her experience in the mountains to inspire others and expand their sense of what’s possible in their lives.

Dave Quinn is a wildlife biologist, ACMG-certified wilderness guide, outdoor educator, and certified teacher based in Kimberley. Besides teaching several Wildsight Education programs, Dave was the former Program Coordinator of Know Your Watershed, a Columbia Basin Trust program administered by Wildsight. Dave is in charge of the Go Wild Youth Backpacking adventures. He has a passion for wilderness and wildlife, and works hard to connect the next generation to the world-class wild right here in the Kootenays.


Education news

We might be biased, but we're pretty keen about our EcoStewards program. And it seems we're not the only ones who feel that…Read more 
Boots squelch down the snowy path, a row of brightly-bundled faces scanning the surroundings as they tromp to today's wonder-filled outdoor classroom…Read more 

Stewards of the stream

January 11, 2024
A group of elementary school students is wiser about their local water thanks to an innovative program that connects kids, curiosity, and curriculum together to…Read more 

Winter family fun

December 21, 2023
Nature's beauty and depth is found in every season, from sun-soaked skin on a summer's day to mud-puddle splashes in springtime…Read more 
Education is the more important tool we have to turn the tide on climate change. Thank you for helping to give our youngest advocates the…Read more 
Along the banks of the Arrow Lakes Reservoir, on a lake that is not a lake, we gathered with a group of educators to explore…Read more 
Read more news

Join The Team

Want to protect wildlife, clean water and wild spaces? Volunteer with us! Wildsight volunteers are a very special group of people who give generously of their time to stuff envelopes, attend rallies, help run events, put up posters, keep tabs on forestry practices in their communities and participate in citizen science initiatives.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES