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Our teaching style is about quality over quantity.  We will start out by teaching you core survival skills to include wilderness medicine and build up to touch on more advanced techniques.  Not only will you learn what it takes to get back home but we will also teach you what it takes to stay in the wilderness for as long as you want.  We will teach you about fires, shelters, water purification, food procurement, wild edibles, tools, knots, signaling, self-rescue, and real navigation with a map and compass,  until it is burned into your head.  Later in the course we will move on to advance tactics like flint knapping, primitive hunting tools, field butchering, skinning, hide tanning, tracking, counter-tracking, camouflage and concealment  and other pertinent “military” style tactics. The final days of the course are scenario based where we will test your skills in a controlled, but difficult environment where you can put most of the learned techniques into play.

You will be training with us in the woods for 50 days straight.  We will allow you breaks to rest and resupply, but will encourage you to not enjoy the comforts of modern society while you are with us.  By  avoiding this temptation, you will challenge yourself in this totally engrossing experience and bring your skills, knowledge and survival psychology to its maximum potential. 

Instructors:

Lead Instructor - Jason Marsteiner

Navigation Instructor - Matt Boger (22 Year Army Ranger - Retired)

Guest Wilderness First Responder Instructor – Mark DeJong (Offgrid Medic LLC)

Guest Mushroom Expert - Mushroom Mike Essam (State Certified)

Guest Wild Edible Instructor - Cattail Bob

More Instructors to be announced for 2021

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(Note that Guest instructors may change throughout the years, but will be substituted with equivalent experts in the field and this list will be updated accordingly.  Like these guest instructors? Book a class now so you don't miss out!)  

Location:  This class will be held at our location in the mountains west of Colorado Springs.  We are at an elevation of about 9400 feet and have over 3000 acres of private land to play on, making us one of the largest survival schools in the world.  You will stay in our camp for the duration of the class and live in primitive shelters.  To pass this class, it is required that you do not use modern shelters during your stay and be able to demonstrate the ability to proficiently perform the most common tasks.  Leave your tent and hammock at home!  A large wall tent will be provided for storing gear, a bear box for food, fire pits for cooking, wood for burning and port-a-potty is located on site.   

Itinerary:  This schedule will be followed loosely, but every topic will be covered.  Variables that change this schedule will be the availability of instructors for each topic, and of the reasonable pace of the class.  The Survival University takes pride in bringing in guest instructors that are experts in a specific field.  While we are experts in survival and love what we do, we know there is always an opportunity to learn from someone who specializes in fields we do not.  We strive to bring in the best in the area to assure you get the absolute best training possible.  Furthermore, if you do not complete or show proficiency in a previously taught core task, we will revisit it on several occasions along the way. 

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Week 1: Modern Outdoor Skills / Wild Plant Walk / Wilderness First Responder

Week 2: Wilderness First Responder / Core Survival Skills

Week 3: Core Survival Skills 

Week 4: Advanced Primitive Living Skills / Navigation

Week 5: Using Wild Plants / Advanced Primitive Bushcrafting 

Week 6: Wild Mushroom Walk/ Tracking

Week 7: Bow Making and Challenges

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Concurrent Class Scheduling: During much of this course you will be mixed with “non-instructor” students, as your classes will run concurrently with other scheduled classes.  Students will come and go during your 50 day stay with us.  This is part of your instructor training, as we will closely monitor your professionalism with other outside students and we expect you to maintain a positive attitude towards other clients.  This will also give you the opportunity to shine and help out beginners, should you already know a skill that we are teaching. Be aware that any unprofessionalism could be used to determine if you pass or fail the class and any harassment or discrimination of other students will not be tolerated.  You are not only here to learn survival skills, but your people skills will also be put to the test as the goal is also to ready you in a teaching field. 

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Graduation Requirements:  In addition to having to pass the WFR Certification test during the first few weeks of class, you will be given both a physical and written test at the end of the training class.  The written test will be the easiest of the two, as the physical test will be you against Mother Nature in a day scenario based test.  You must show proficiency and understanding of all course curriculum and ability to perform physical tasks required to be able to survive in the wilderness under unsavory conditions.  Our standards and expectations are high, but it is our goal to see you succeed.  Your failure is just as much ours and we do not intend to fail.

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Liability Disclaimer: Due to the inherent dangers of survival training, we make no guarantees of safety and all students should seek medical advice and clearance from their personal Physician prior to attending any event with Colorado Mountain Man Survival LLC.  Registration for any of our events constitutes acceptance of the Colorado Mountain Man Survival LLC Waiver and you will be required to sign and return a copy of the Waiver.

Hunting/Trapping Disclaimer:  Colorado Mountain Man Survival LLC is bound by Local, State and Federal Laws and is not a licensed outfitter.  We will not perform any trapping, hunting or fishing during class hours and it is forbidden to do so by students during class time.  We will teach you techniques, but not physically perform these tasks.  Students may perform these activities on their own accord and without direction from instructors, after class, with proper licensing.  Colorado Mountain Man Survival, LLC., accepts no responsibility for any student that chooses to partake in these practices during or after class.