Six days exploring 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.
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 students the wilderness skills needed to safely plan and undertake mountain explorations.
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 a past about Go Wild! trip.
DETAILS
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Trip dates: August 2–7, 2026.
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Destination: TBD in the Rocky Mountains
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Cost: $800 for Basin residents; $1,000 for non-Basin residents. Financial support available if needed; reach out for more information.
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Application deadline: April 10
- For more information please contact Go Wild Co-ordinator Dave Quinn.
About the 2026 guides
Leah Evans is a professional skier who focuses on helping women reach their full potential on skis through Girls Do Ski camps. Based in Revelstoke, Leah uses her experience in the mountains to inspire others and expand their sense of what’s possible in their lives.
She’s also a 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.
Dave Quinn 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. Dave 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.
