Lead Instructor: Jacks Genega
Duration: 5 Days / 4 Nights
Student Limit: 15 Participants

The Survival Training Expedition Program (STEP) is a 5-day immersive backcountry survival course designed for adventurers, backpackers, bushcrafters, and outdoor practitioners who want to take their skills to the next level. Held in the rugged wilderness of Colorado, this course combines survival training and physical challenge in a self-reliant expedition setting. You’ll hike through diverse terrain—dense pine forests, exposed ridgelines, rocky gulches, and stream crossings—learning to survive with minimal gear and maximum resilience.

This hands-on survival expedition is structured around building practical wilderness skills while carrying only what you need in a lightweight day pack. Participants will receive expert instruction in primitive survival techniques and then put them into practice during a multi-day hike, culminating in a solo overnight challenge that puts your training and mindset to the test.

This is not just a class—it’s a transformational wilderness experience.

Survival Training Highlights

• Friction fire techniques (bow drill, hand drill, and fire maintenance)

• Primitive fishing and survival trapping methods

• Wilderness navigation without GPS, using map, compass, and terrain association

• Edible and poisonous plant identification in field conditions

• Wildlife safety and behavioral awareness

• Creating primitive tools, containers, and natural cordage

• Shelter construction with natural materials

• Low-impact camping and bushcraft skills using Leave No Trace principles

Course Structure and Phases

Phase 1: Survival Skills Foundations
Orientation, gear check, safety briefing, and skills workshops on self-aid, fire craft, emergency shelters, and water procurement.

Phase 2: Guided Wilderness Expedition
Multi-day hiking expedition into off-grid valleys and gulches with hands-on training in foraging, navigation, natural shelter-building, and primitive food procurement.

Phase 3: Solo Overnight Challenge
Scout and select your own camp location. Apply all learned skills during a solo overnight experience. Rejoin the group for reflection, feedback, and post-expedition skills review.

Requirements to Attend

• Must be 18 years or older

• Physically fit enough to hike 5–10 miles per day with 20 lbs. of gear

• Basic familiarity with survival priorities is recommended

• Mental readiness for rugged conditions, variable weather, and self-reliance

Gear List

Participants are responsible for bringing specific personal gear including:

• Fixed-blade knife or cutting tool

• Fire-starting materials (ferro rod, lighter, etc.)

• Water bottles or containers

• Nylon poncho or tarp

• Emergency blanket or bivvy sack

• Headlamp with spare batteries

• Paracord (50 ft. minimum)

• Compact first aid kit

Additional optional items: sunscreen, bug repellent, trekking poles, gloves, and sunglasses. Food must be limited to 5000 calories for the expedition portion to simulate real survival situations.

What to Expect

• Expert instruction by a Wilderness First Responder and licensed HAM Radio operator

• Potable water will be available at basecamp

• Students may tent or hammock camp during the expedition

• Evenings will include group discussions and story sharing

• No meals provided—bring your own food, snacks, and energy sources

Important Participation Guidelines

• Firearms, alcohol, and drugs are strictly prohibited

• Students assume personal liability for injury or incident

• Participants must remain committed through the expedition—leaving early compromises group safety and will not be permitted

• Be prepared for an emotionally and physically challenging experience that will test your limits and grow your capacity for self-reliance

Why Join STEP?

This survival expedition offers more than just skill-building. It’s a powerful journey into the wild that strengthens your awareness, adaptability, and connection to nature. Whether you’re an outdoor enthusiast, backcountry traveler, aspiring survivalist, or bushcraft learner, STEP will give you the real-world skills, confidence, and mindset to venture deeper, push farther, and live more intentionally in the outdoors.

A Transformative Experience for Runners, Primitive Skills Enthusiasts, and Nature Seekers

Rediscover running in its most primal form. The Primitive Skills Run is a unique, immersive training experience that blends ancestral running techniques, primitive survival skills, and deep nature connection in the wild backcountry of Colorado.

Led by renowned wilderness expert, ultra-endurance athlete, and mindfulness practitioner Ryan Maguire, this multi-day experience invites you to challenge your physical and mental limits while learning to move through the landscape with the skill, awareness, and intuition of our ancient ancestors.

Who This Course is For

This course is designed for:

• Trail runners and ultra athletes seeking a deeper connection to their movement

• Primitive skills practitioners who want to train their bodies and minds in motion

• Ancestral living enthusiasts looking to explore natural human movement

• Wilderness lovers and backcountry explorers craving raw, authentic experiences

If you’re ready to strip away modern distractions, test your endurance, and learn how to run, survive, and connect like our ancestors, this is for you.

What You’ll Learn and Experience

Ancestral Running Techniques

Learn natural, minimalist running skills once used for persistence hunting and long-distance travel. Tap into body mechanics, barefoot or low-tech running, terrain harmony, and meditative movement practices to enhance both performance and awareness.

Wilderness Survival While in Motion

Running and survival aren’t separate. You’ll train in navigation, situational awareness, terrain adaptation, and movement efficiency across diverse ecosystems—from cool pine forests at 10,000 feet to hot high desert scrub at 7,000 feet.

Primitive Camping & Skills Training

Beyond movement, you’ll develop foundational primitive living skills—including shelter building, fire by friction, water sourcing, and basic foraging—designed to support you on foot in the wild.

Community, Storytelling & Nature Connection

Gather around the fire with a tribe of like-minded runners, survivalists, and nature lovers. Share insights, reflect on challenges, and build lasting connections with others who seek the same reconnection with the land and themselves.

Course Location & Environment

Held in the stunning backcountry of Colorado, this course takes you from alpine forest to high desert over multiple days and elevations. Prepare for physical challenge, diverse terrain, unpredictable weather, and one of the most meaningful backcountry experiences you’ll ever have.

Minimalist running. Primitive survival. Deep connection.
This is more than a course—it’s a return to what it means to be human.

This course is designed to be fluid and adaptable, allowing participants to learn at their own pace and according to conditions. Each day will focus on core survival concepts, but the exact schedule will depend on factors like weather, terrain, and the pace of the group. The goal is not to rush through activities but to ensure everyone gains practical, hands-on experience with each skill. Expect a mix of demonstrations, hands-on practice, and time to reflect on the processes and lessons learned. Participants should come prepared for unpredictable conditions, both mentally and physically. The experience will challenge your ability to think critically, adapt, and sustain yourself in the wild with minimal resources.

Over the course of five days, you’ll step into the world of off-grid living—learning how to ethically dispatch and process a farm animal, cook it over fire, preserve the meat without refrigeration, and use every part of the animal to support life in the wilderness. This is a raw, immersive survival training focused on real-life application, not theory.

You’ll master field butchering, firecraft, primitive cooking, bone and sinew tool-making, and hide utilization. Each lesson is grounded in ancient techniques adapted for modern-day backcountry use. This isn’t a sanitized version of survival—this is hands-on, full-contact, dirt-under-your-nails learning that will connect you to what it really means to live off the land.

Whether you’re a hunter, homesteader, prepper, or just curious about primitive living skills, this course will leave you with a new respect for the natural world and a toolkit of skills to keep you fed, warm, and prepared—no matter where you are.

Key Learning Objectives

• Ethical Dispatching: Learn the humane methods of dispatching a live animal for survival purposes.
• Complete Animal Processing: Master butchering techniques and learn to preserve meat without modern tools.
• Maximizing Resources: Use bones, sinew, and hide to create essential survival tools, clothing, and gear.
• Primitive Survival Skills: Develop core skills such as fire-making, shelter-building, and natural cordage crafting.
• Sustainability in Survival: Learn to respect and fully utilize nature’s offerings to thrive in austere environments.
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Core Skills Covered

Animal Dispatch and Butchery
• Learn humane and respectful dispatching techniques for goats or sheep.
• Process the entire animal, focusing on sustainable practices to maximize food and resources.
Primitive Cooking and Meat Preservation
• Use open-fire cooking methods and primitive preservation techniques like drying or smoking to prepare and store meat.
• Gain the skills to create nourishing meals in survival situations.
Bone and Sinew Tool Crafting
• Craft practical survival tools such as knives, fish hooks, or needles from animal bones.
• Use sinew to make durable cordage for use in trapping, shelter-building, and tool repair.
Hide Tanning and Utilization
• Learn basic hide preparation and tanning techniques.
• Use the animal hide for creating clothing, shelter coverings, or other survival gear.
Shelter and Fire-Making
• Build functional survival shelters using natural materials and animal hide.
• Master primitive fire-starting methods using friction fire and animal parts as fuel or tools.
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Course Takeaways

By the end of the course, participants will:
• Have a deep understanding of how to ethically harvest and process an animal in a survival situation.
• Know how to use every part of the animal to make tools, food, and shelter.
• Gain practical experience in core survival skills like fire-making and shelter-building.
• Develop a stronger connection to nature and a respect for sustainable living practices in the wild.
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Who Should Attend?

This course is ideal for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of primitive survival skills. Whether you’re a survival enthusiast, hunter, homesteader, or simply someone wanting to push your limits in the wilderness, this immersive experience will equip you with the tools and knowledge to thrive in nature.
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Instructor: Ryan Maguire

Ryan Maguire is a skilled wilderness survival instructor with years of experience teaching primitive survival techniques. His approach blends ancient practices with modern survival needs, empowering participants to respect and use nature’s resources responsibly.
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This course offers a unique opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the natural world, learning to not just survive but thrive with limited resources. Come prepared to challenge your limits, learn new skills, and walk away with a profound understanding of the natural world around you.

Experience the ultimate jungle survival adventure in the heart of Costa Rica with The Survival University! This unforgettable expedition combines hands-on survival training with immersive exploration through one of the world’s most biodiverse environments—where the rainforest meets the ocean.

Designed for adventure seekers, outdoor enthusiasts, and wilderness survival learners, this course takes you deep into the Costa Rican jungle and along its stunning coastlines. You’ll learn practical jungle survival skills like fire-making, shelter building, sourcing wild foods, water purification, and fishing in tropical environments. Along the way, you’ll hike to hidden waterfalls, explore lush rainforests, observe exotic wildlife, and relax on pristine beaches.

Led by expert instructors, this immersive experience focuses on both beginner and advanced jungle survival techniques. You’ll gain real-world skills while enjoying a deeper connection with nature and a renewed sense of self-reliance. This isn’t just survival training—it’s a transformational adventure that challenges your limits and reawakens your wild spirit.

Bring your essential gear and clothing in your luggage—we’ll safely store it before we trek into the bush. Brushing up on your Spanish is encouraged for a richer cultural experience.

A VALID PASSPORT IS REQUIRED!
AIRFARE TO AND FROM COSTA RICA IS NOT INCLUDED

Enroll in the ultimate summer outdoor wilderness immersion and become confident as an advanced outdoorsman/outdoorswoman. There is no prerequisite to attend other than an innate passion to learn and an internal drive to take on this life changing challenge. Participants will live in a primitive shelter that they will build and attend our full summer program of courses. Increase mental strength and fortitude while developing resiliency. Whether you are currently an outdoor professional wanting to increase your skill set or a novice who wants an immersion program to fast track their competency, the 50-Day Wilderness Immersion has been created for the diversity of our students and their unique goals. The program will include a solo experience that will allow each student the opportunity to apply the skills they have learned to safely and confidently navigate the basics of wilderness survival to complete their learning journey.

OBJECTIVES:

• Psychology of Survival
• The Priorities of Survival
• Survival Kit Preparation
• Primitive Hygiene/Sanitation
• Enhance creativity and critical thinking skills
• Choosing and using tools for Survival (both primitive and modern)
• Fire Craft (both primitive and modern)
• Survival Shelters (both primitive and modern)
• Finding, Filtering, and Purifying Water
• Passive techniques for Food (Land and Water Based)
• Edible, Useful, and Medicinal Plants (seasonal)
• Knot Tying
• Primitive Navigation Methods
• Primitive Tool Making
• Wild Edible and Medicinal Plant Uses (seasonal)
• Camp Craft & Bushcraft Cooking
• Making rawhide from the hide and processing it into useful cordage.
• Primitive container making with natural materials
• How to build an entire bush kitchen from nothing.
• Primitive Hand drill and Totally Primitive Bow Drill; Bark cordage
• Survival Trapping.
• Basket Fish Traps & other useful survival fishing tactics
• Wilderness Medicine

ENHANCING VALUES THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO:

• Mental StrengthSituational Awareness
• Physical Performance
• Physical Exertion Stress
• Metabolic Recovery
• Adaptability
• Crisis Management
• Emergency Preparedness

COURSE OUTCOMES AND DEMONSTRATED SKILLS:

• Basic plant identification and utilization
• Fire starting techniques and maintaining fires | importance of fire as a tool
• Building expedient and long term survival shelters
• Water procurement
• Food procurement (primitive trapping/primitive fishing/insects as food)
• Water filtration vs purification
• Stone tool creation and utilization
• Plants as tools
• Knife skills
• Crisis action planning
• Signaling

Other than gaining a solid foundation into becoming a survival instructor in an ever growing industry or becoming a proficient outdoorsman, this class will prepare you for other careers in outfitting, guiding, outdoor leadership and many other outdoor professions. You will be able to put 500+ hours of training on your resume, as well as, the receipt of a nationally recognized Wilderness First Responder Certification from Offgrid Medic LLC. A WFR Cert is the gold standard and required for many outdoor industry jobs and no other survival school can offer you that certificate in addition to 500 hours of training on your resume.

You will not be trained by a single instructor, but rather a team of experts in their field to include tracking, counter tracking, modern navigation, camouflage and concealment, wilderness medicine, flint knapping and more. Of course we will teach you all of the necessary core survival skills such as fire making, knot tying, shelter building, water procurement and purification, hunting, trapping and many more skills. We won’t just show them to you once, but these core skills will be revisited, reproduced and driven into your mind until you have them mastered. Every day you will be tasked and tested with the skills until you know them like the back of your own hand.

At the end of this course you will receive a written and physical test. Should you want to become an instructor candidate for TSU you must pass this test. Though we will do everything in our power to help you make this happen, some may not pass, but all will join our brotherhood of Colorado Woodsmen. Either way, you will become part of the TSU family.

UPON COMPLETION OF THIS CLASS YOU WILL GAIN:

• A nationally recognized Wilderness First Responder Certification from Offgrid Medic LLC.
• Skills that will make you more prepared and more valuable than most, in difficult situations.
• Have the confidence and the skills to venture into the backcountry with little gear.

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 advanced training like flint knapping, primitive hunting tools, field butchering, skinning, hide tanning, tracking, and navigation. 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

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to expand your medical knowledge and enhance your ability to provide improvised medical care? If so, then becoming a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) is a perfect fit for you! Our intensive seven-day WFR program is recognized as the “Gold Standard” in wilderness medical care and is designed to equip non-medical professionals with the skills necessary to handle medical issues in backcountry environments.

Whether you are a wilderness guide, outdoor instructor, outdoor educator, Search and Rescue (SAR) team member, ski patrol, medical personnel for adventure races/events, missionary, or expedition medical team member, this program is a must-have for anyone working in the outdoors. As a WFR, you will learn to prevent and identify medical problems, manage medical issues effectively in the field, and recognize when to safely evacuate patients with life-threatening problems. With this training, you will have the confidence to handle any medical emergency that arises in the wilderness.

OUR CURRICULUM INCLUDES

• Human Anatomy and Physiology
• Patient Assessment Skills
• Vital Signs and Homeostasis
• Airway Adjunct Indication and Use
• Indications and Use of Medical Oxygen
• Recognizing and Treating Soft Tissue Injuries
• Bleeding Control and Shock Management Techniques
• Tourniquets and Hemostatic Agents
• Alternative Wound Closure Techniques
• Bone Injuries and Splinting
• Improvised Traction Splints
• Strains and Sprains
• Dislocation Reduction Techniques
• Head and Spinal Injuries
• Abdominal and Thoracic Issues
• Burns and Thermal Injuries
• Bites, Stings and Envenomation
• Altitude Illness
• Drowning, Lightning and Avalanche Concerns
• Heat and Cold Related Issues
• Medical Emergencies in the Backcountry
• Introduction to Rotary Aircraft Ground Operations
• Emergency Carries and Improvised Litters
• Lost Person Mentality and Behavior
• Medical Kit Mentality
• Medical Leadership
• Medical Considerations in Remote Expedition Planning
• Incident Command Options for Wilderness Operations
• Day and night practical exercises are a critical learning tool for this material. This program is physical in nature, and a reasonable level of fitness is expected of all participants. Certification is valid for two years. Adult, child and infant CPR and AED use is included as part of this program.

A Wilderness First Responder (WFR) class is an intensive training program designed to equip students with the skills necessary to provide emergency medical care in remote wilderness environments. This challenging course spans over seven days, during which students are exposed to a wide range of topics and techniques that they will need to master to become effective WFRs. Below are some of the key areas that students can expect to learn about in a WFR class.

Assessment and Prioritization One of the most critical skills that WFRs must master is the ability to assess a patient’s condition and prioritize treatment. In a wilderness setting, medical resources are often limited, and evacuations can take a long time to arrange. Therefore, WFRs must be able to quickly and accurately assess a patient’s injuries or illness and prioritize the most critical issues for treatment.

Trauma and Injury Management WFRs are trained to manage various types of trauma and injuries, such as fractures, dislocations, sprains, and lacerations. They learn how to stabilize injuries, control bleeding, and manage pain. Students also learn how to perform basic medical procedures, such as wound cleaning and dressing, splinting, and use of traction devices.

Environmental Emergencies Students in a WFR class will learn how to identify and manage environmental emergencies, such as hypothermia, hyperthermia, dehydration, and altitude sickness. They learn how to prevent these conditions and how to manage them when they occur. This training includes topics such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke, frostbite, and immersion injuries.

Medical Emergencies WFRs must also be equipped to handle medical emergencies such as anaphylaxis, asthma, heart attacks, and seizures. Students learn how to manage these emergencies, provide basic life support, and use medical equipment such as automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

Legal Considerations and Medications WFRs must understand the legal and ethical considerations surrounding medication administration in a wilderness setting. They must also know which medications are appropriate for certain conditions and how to safely administer them. WFRs also learn about the legal implications of administering medications without a prescription.

Evacuation and Rescue WFRs are trained to evacuate patients safely and efficiently from remote areas in a variety of settings, including on foot, by vehicle, or by air. They learn how to assess the need for evacuation, make a plan, and execute it.

This Wilderness First Responder class provides students with comprehensive training in emergency medical care in remote and challenging environments. Students will learn how to assess and prioritize injuries, manage trauma, deal with environmental and medical emergencies, administer medication appropriately, and safely evacuate patients. These skills are essential for anyone working or traveling in wilderness areas and make WFR training a must-have for outdoor enthusiasts, adventurers, guides, and anyone else who spends time in remote wilderness settings.​