Wilderness Guide Training Desert

Do you want to be a wilderness guide that specializes in the desert ecoregion? If so, this is the course for you.

This is an official Level 2 backcountry training course of the Wilderness Guides Association (WGA), presented by Bigtime Aventura and Southwest Survival. It is the first WGA-certified Level 2 (advanced backcountry) desert course. It's also the first WGA-certified course in the USA. The successful candidate will earn a Level 2 certification in the Desert ecoregion.

The intention of the course is to teach participants how to be a wilderness guide in the desert ecoregion. This comprehensive course will guide you through the skills necessary to survive, thrive, and navigate desert landscapes and guide groups in various desert terrain.

This WGA Level 2 course requires advanced skills and experience. It's not an introductory course. You will learn new physical and mental skills but before entering this course you should already have a wide array of outdoor experience, knowledge, skills, and proficiency in several ecoregions.

A particular interest and moxie in the desert ecoregion is fundamental to becoming a desert guide. Consider this course a vital step in your path to professionalism in the field of wilderness guiding and your ticket to a rewarding career in arid regions.

Course Contents

The subject matter will focus on the hard skills. These are the hands on physical techniques that drive you through the course and real life situations in the wilderness. The hard skills are the lifeblood of wilderness guiding and spending extended time in remote, wild, and natural places. The skills taught in this desert course will improve your general outdoor skills while focusing on the application of desert-specific skills.

During the course, the softer skills will also be developed such as leadership styles, group dynamics, client behavior and psychology, how to effectively communicate with peers and participants while under physically and mentally challenging conditions, how to design, organize, and execute desert expeditions. You will have ample opportunities to mock guide your classmates during immersive backcountry expeditions in the course.

Topics will be introduced throughout the course and practiced, revisited, and repeated thoroughly. Basic skills can be tweaked and utilized in each of the three different geographical sub-areas that we will visit. Continual practice, steady improvement, and constant mock guiding will prepare you to be a desert guide.

Upon completion of this course, your self-confidence will be justifable high and you will be well-prepared to spend extended time guiding in the desert backcountry and providing a comfortable experience for your group.

Basics

Water: learn methods to locate, filter, and purify water.
Shelters and wilderness camping: learn to choose optimal locations and construct effective shelters, with natural materials and with tarps.
Fire construction and management: learn several ways to build a fire in the DXS ecoregion and safely manage it, including Fresnel lens, ferrocerium rod, bow drill, hand drill, and fire plow methods.
Trapping & Fishing: learn how to make and set basic traps for small animals and techniques for catching fish (conditions dependent).
Survival; physical and psychological approaches: learn to develop resilience in extreme and challenging conditions.

Environmental

Desert ecology and geology: learn about desert ecological systems and geological features and how to understand your surroundings based on natural indicators.
Flora and Fauna: learn about the plants and animals in the desert ecoregion, including useful properties of plants and making tools from foraged animal parts.
Plant identification: learn about basic medicinal, edible, and non-edible plants.
Animal safety: learn to appreciate animal behavior and how the presence of certain animals provides vital information for natural resource procurement.
Seasonality: train in the desert during changing seasons.

Orienteering

Orienteering: learn how to orienteer in the desert ecoregion with map, compass, map & compass, natural features, and celestial navigation.
Tracking: learn how to track mammals, birds, reptiles, and humans in the desert, including print identification, tracking, and trailing exercises.

Advanced Bushcraft

Bushcraft: learn advanced bushcraft methods for the desert.
Cordage: produce cordage from native plants and use it for bushcraft and survival purposes.
Self-rescue and signaling: learn strategies to effect self-rescue including different signaling methods for search parties.
Sustainability and leave no trace practices: learn and practice low-impact travel methods.
Personal hygiene: learn and implement healthy hygiene habits in desert areas.

Leadership

Leadership, group dynamics, client behavior and psychology: Learn how to evaluate client behavior to apply specific leadership methods to manage group dynamics.
How to be a guide: learn what it means to be a wilderness guide and how to become a responsible guide.
Plan, execute, and full immersion guiding: Complete immersion during backcountry expeditions in the desert. Learn the skills and develop the knowledge required to design, organize, execute, and guide in the desert ecoregion.
Business development, networking, client communication: Learn how to develop a business plan, network within the guiding profession, and reach out to potential clients.

Introduction to the Desert and Basic to Advanced Desert Skills

Learn desert bushcraft, survival, and psychological skills and approaches for sustained enjoyment in the lowland desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion.

Water procurement
Shelter selection and construction
Basic, intermediate, and advanced desert bushcraft
Cordage from desert plants
Animal safety and poisonous animals
Fire making: ferro rod, Fresnel lens, bow drill, hand drill, fire saw
Plant identification and usage
Food in the lowland desert
Backcountry First Aid and rescue scenarios
Navigation
Campfire cooking
Introduction to tracking
Indigenous skills and history
Mock guiding
24hr solo in lowland desert

Advanced Desert Skills

Learn advanced level bushcraft, survival, and psychological skills and approaches for sustained enjoyment in the high desert mountains.

Shelter selection and construction in the high mountain desert
Water procurement and disinfection
Advanced desert bushcraft
Food in desert mountains
Plant identification and usage in desert mountains
Native American indigenous primitive skills development
Tracking and trailing
Backcountry First Aid and rescue scenarios
24hr solo
Finish with a 4-5 day Capstone Experience following a creek through a canyon. Here, all your skills will be put to the test.

Wilderness Guide Training Desert