Blackpackers, a Colorado nonprofit focused on diversity and equity in outdoor recreation, is launching a new wilderness training program this summer with help from a hefty grant.
The Blackpackers Outdoor Skills School, or BOSS, will provide wilderness first response and wilderness first aid training to people of color and individuals from other groups traditionally underrepresented in the outdoors free of charge.
The idea for an outdoor skills school came from Blackpackers founder and executive director Patricia Cameron’s own experience learning outdoor safety and emergency preparedness.
Cameron, who previously worked as an EMT for more than a decade, has spent years investing in her outdoor education, becoming a Certified Interpretive Guide, a Leave No Trace master educator, a wilderness first responder and instructor, a heart-saver CPR instructor, and a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School. Next month she will finish her wilderness EMT training so Blackpackers can be a provider of wilderness medicine education.
However, she knows the time and money it takes to invest in those certifications can be prohibitive to a lot of people. In February, the organization landed a $241,000 grant from the Colorado Health Foundation to help lower the barriers to entry for folks looking to learn those skills.
“I’m trying to provide those skills to people to empower people,” she said. “But also these are entry-level outdoor skills and Colorado has a huge outdoor economy, and so if I can give people Leave No Trace, if I can give people wilderness first response, they’re going have a better chance of breaking into the industry.”
In July, the organization will host multiple five-day wilderness first response workshops and two-day wilderness first aid workshops at YMCA Camp Shady Brook in Deckers, Colo. where trainees will stay overnight. Cameron expects the two-day trainings to continue on weekends through the end of the year.
The grant money will help pay for the experts who will provide training, and to provide free lodging and food for all attendees. This year is something of a pilot program, Cameron said, and BOSS will return in 2024.
The workshops are open to adults as well as high school-age kids across the country and they are, of course, free to attend. Those who are interested can email admin@coblackpackers.com for information about how to register.
BOSS is just one of the many programs Blackpackers offers throughout the year. Additionally, the organization coordinates camping, backpacking and hiking excursions, swimming lessons, and skiing and snowboarding trips. Blackpackers also provides all the necessary gear for every adventure it plans. For more information visit blackpackers.org.
