2008 Woodie Awards
Teaching outdoor survival
Students take a class to learn how to suvive in the winter
Chris Adams
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Campus Life
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You are a little bored of the same old trails and want to push it to the limit on some self-made trails and take advantage of the remaining daylight. You and your friends ski off the marked trail to do some backcountry exploration.
A few minutes after you complete the run you end up in a large basin surrounded by ridges in all directions and you realize that you have lost your sense of direction and do not have enough daylight to try and find your way out of the woods before dark.
You are cold, wet, and hungry and you have no cell phone service in this remote part of central Vermont.
What do you do?
Students who have taken courses within Castleton Sate College's Outdoor Education Program would know what to do and have the skills necessary to get themselves and friends out of such a situation safely.
With a large population of outdoor athletes like skiers, snowboarders, and hikers on campus, Castleton State College has made efforts to provide outdoor education for students.
Starting originally with a popular course in Backpacking and Orienteering, Castleton has made great strides in recent years to expand the unique program. The Outdoor Education program at Castleton currently features a wide variety of courses ranging from primitive survival skills to mountaineering to ice climbing and winter camping.
According to instructor Steve Lulek, the program is seeing increased popularity with each semester and the future looks incredibly bright for outdoor education at Castleton.
Lulek, who teaches courses including winter camping, ice climbing and mountaineering, has been a part of the rapid growth of the program and values the programs roots.
"The program started about nine or 10 years ago with backpacking and orienteering which was very popular and has just taken off ever since," he said.
Lulek, who has 22 years of military experience, is as skilled an instructor as you will find. He taught ice climbing, mountaineering, and orienteering to the military's special operations and other top divisions. He feels that his experiences have given him the ability to educate college students to the highest degree.
"Me and the other instructors in the program aren't just classroom taught. While we are educated, our real-world experience really sets us apart and makes this program pretty unique," he said.
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