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.

 

 

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 2022’s Go Wild! summer trip.

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

Details:

Trip Dates: July 2–7, 2023

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 2023 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 also is the Program Director for Columbia Basin Trust’s Know Your Watershed 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

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With thousands of lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater sources, the majority of Canadians don't give water a second thought.  Recently, I was reminded…Read More 

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November 22, 2022
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Teaching the Columbia

September 29, 2022
It was the last evening of our four-day, three-night adventure. Peaceful calm was in camp as chores were wrapping up, bellies full from…Read More 
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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