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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
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Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?)
#7604902 - 11/06/07 09:46 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Being young and done school, + after taking a few years off school doing what-not, im left with one choice; choosing a direction for the future.
So.. getting desperate, and feeling ill equipped to accept a "typical life"..
Im leaning towards taking a Mountain Skills Program
Which will be a precurser towards bigger and better things down the road, such as: An adventure based tourism degree.. leading to a career in anything as open as Tourism eco adventure business, Guiding and international travel. It could also be a building block to many other avenues..
Anyways, im just wondering if anyone has any experience with acquiring "outdoor skills" through a school like this.. and am wondering what ya'll think of this school?
Also wondering if anyone here is a guide or adventure instructor of some sort?
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
Loc: beautiful BC
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: PDU]
#7605216 - 11/06/07 11:05 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Here is a similar program... from a similar location, with a much cheaper price.
However, i think i like the idea of staying at the resort with a hottub and red seal cook more than living a tent with my classmates.
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Grok
Has Been a Bad Boy



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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: PDU]
#7611591 - 11/08/07 03:06 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I don't have any advice to give, but I've also considered going in such a direction. Seems like it could be pretty fulfilling.
-------------------- Entropy is increasing. To send me a PM, go to my journal
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
Loc: beautiful BC
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: Grok]
#7619059 - 11/10/07 02:21 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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im gonna move this into the Pub, maybe get some more insight. Hope thats ok?
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kadakuda
The Great"Green".......East


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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: PDU]
#7628980 - 11/13/07 05:53 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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i was planning on doing as such, but my goal was park ranger. now all the prov. parks are "run" by private companies and they pay people to go around doing various things...but the pay stinks. to be a real ranger it is pretty difficult to actually get a job. but all those things especially first aid, mountaineering, orientation etc are all essential.
-------------------- The seeds you won't sow are the plants you dont grow.
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: kadakuda]
#7632986 - 11/13/07 10:09 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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My dad was a park ranger, as a fill in gov. job whilst waiting for a gov. biologist job to pop up.
He said it sucked and was crappy pay. However, his years of school to get a bachelors of science is MUCH more than this program..
Im starting to wonder if i can justify spending my life savings on a 4 month course...
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Maverick
Lover of Earwigs!




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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: PDU]
#7634943 - 11/14/07 12:44 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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PDU, that's a cool idea, but also very expensive. The cheapest way would be just going to like a rock climbing gym, taking the 50 dollar lessons on rock climbing and belaying etc. then practicing with a membership or something and a friend who wants to do the same. Do the same with kayaking, and such.
Mountain survival training can be done very cheaply by setting up your own backpacking trips and doing them with a couple of people, and bringing a list of things to do and complete as well as learning beforehand about how to do it, via library, tv, internet, etc. You do that and just have fun, but research beforehand and you can do things for cheaper, or up to that cost (if you plan on owning everything).
Edited by DRTMaverick (11/14/07 12:46 PM)
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kadakuda
The Great"Green".......East


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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: Maverick]
#7657884 - 11/20/07 05:43 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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i think most of us here have lots of experience with hiking and various outdoor skills, but not many of us have official paperwork to get us a job. the paper is all that matters basically you are buying the paper so you can make money with it. and hopefully you learn lots and have fun along the way.
-------------------- The seeds you won't sow are the plants you dont grow.
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kindkesey
take it further



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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: kadakuda]
#7694957 - 11/29/07 02:05 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I have taken four courses and highly recomend NOLS http://www.nols.edu/courses/find/byskill/mtneeringskill.shtml they have changed my life forever!
-------------------- Stay Kool, and enjoy the bus ride.....
"Intrepid Search For Innerspace" DAVID JONES where are you?
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: kindkesey]
#7707155 - 12/02/07 03:43 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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kindkesey - looks interesting, totally the kind of response i was looking for.
I was wondering if you work in the industry at all? - 4 courses mean you have spent a pretty penny on your education...
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kindkesey
take it further



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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: PDU]
#7715706 - 12/04/07 02:27 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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PDU.... My primary job is working with Fanuc robots in the manufacturing industry. I looked at getting into guiding(RMI guides) after collage but pursued the manufacturing thing... thinking that's where the $$ was. But on a side note.... i belong to a local Rapid Response Team... having no mountains or huge cliffs here in Michigan the emergency's are rather lame. Mostly water rescues that use very little skill i learned at NOLS. But.... one rescue was window washers on the 25th floor of a sky rise here in town, that was kool! In the winters i help with guiding weekend trips in Canada ice climbing, this bring in a little exra loot and fun in the winter!
-------------------- Stay Kool, and enjoy the bus ride.....
"Intrepid Search For Innerspace" DAVID JONES where are you?
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BoulderBoomer
Super Tramp



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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: kindkesey]
#7895890 - 01/18/08 01:43 AM (16 years, 14 days ago) |
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I have a friend who recently finished a Washington NOLS program this past summer. He loved it, and you get certified in all sorts of things.
-------------------- "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." -Willy Wonka
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Maverick
Lover of Earwigs!




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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: BoulderBoomer]
#7901126 - 01/19/08 11:01 AM (16 years, 13 days ago) |
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Are there similar programs to this based more on all around wilderness survival skills?
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BoulderBoomer
Super Tramp



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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: Maverick]
#7903689 - 01/19/08 09:28 PM (16 years, 12 days ago) |
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NOLS has several different programs, not just mountaineering, many of which include some sort of survival skill set and certification. If you really want some badass survival skill training, google Tom Brown's Survival School. He's a guru of everything survival related, tracking, etc.
-------------------- "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." -Willy Wonka
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: BoulderBoomer]
#8009144 - 02/11/08 02:54 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I second the Tom Brown suggestion. One of my friends went through that and said it was extremely badass and hardcore, a great use of time.
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bryguy27007
Cosmonaut



Registered: 01/26/08
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: BoulderBoomer]
#14730663 - 07/07/11 11:07 AM (12 years, 6 months ago) |
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This NOLS thing sounds really cool. I want to do the Wind River one but $4,000 dollars is a lot of money. Maybe in 2 years I'll be able to do it.
Has anybody here done one of these or something similar and would like to comment on it?
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
Loc: beautiful BC
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: bryguy27007]
#14733394 - 07/07/11 08:48 PM (12 years, 6 months ago) |
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Wow old post resurrection!
I was OP and have had a change of opinion since i last posted here.
At current, i still would like to do a NOLS program but am not interested in being a fulltime guide. I would rather pursue money in the trades and outdoor adventures on my own time.
I could see doing a NOLS skills program in the next 2-3 years.
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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bryguy27007
Cosmonaut



Registered: 01/26/08
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: PDU]
#14734000 - 07/07/11 11:14 PM (12 years, 6 months ago) |
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 Yeah, 3 years ain't too bad.
That's pretty interesting. What made you decide that? At some point I decided that I was going to keep astronomy as a hobby rather than a career. I wonder what makes us do that.
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
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Re: Mountain Skills Program.. (anyone a Guide?) [Re: bryguy27007]
#14735178 - 07/08/11 07:53 AM (12 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
bryguy27007 said: I wonder what makes us do that.
Being forced into Reality?
At the time of the OP, i had next to no work experience and was small, weak and drug addicted and living a really shitty lifestyle.
These days I am kicking ass at a job I love and learning to be a Jack of All Trades. I've found i like the benefits of working in this (these) hands on industries, and would like to get ticketed in carpentry and move up to a legitimate wage. Perhaps I'll even run my own business in the future.
I am not going to lie, the wage offered by trades is immensely appealing, as is the realization that "trades are always in demand."
I cannot truly see myself purchasing land, or a home, or having the freedom to travel around the world with the wage of a guide.. Honestly, the couple guides i've met often say the people sap the fun out of their recreation activities...It doesn't seem worth it at all.
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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