Boulder Outdoor Survival School
Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) is an outdoor school that teaches primitive survival skills and desert camping techniques in Utah’s high desert. BOSS is renowned for its methods in teaching people to do more with less and to appreciate the wilderness.
When I heard about the course I thought that it would be a unique challenge and a perfect graduation gift for my brother. So, I called my brother, Will, in the middle of the day before the registration period closed and asked him if he would be interested. Enthusiastically, Will agreed to go on the adventure. So, I booked the trip for us and sent Will the confirmation via e-mail. The next day, he called me and asked what this e-mail was all about. I was confused considering that it was just the day prior that he agreed to go the course. As the conversation continued, I figured out that Will had been on the bar stool all afternoon partaking in libations while having his own graduation celebration. Will’s "enthusiasm" bought himself a week survival course in the Utah high desert!
We went on a seven day course in late May when the daytime temperature averaged in the high eighties and plummeted to the low forties at night. We spent the first two days hiking through sage and slick rock, carrying very little on our back and foraging for food and water. Mid way through the course we developed several skills like fire making, chord making, trapping and orienteering. When it came time to go on our solo hikes at the end of the course we felt confident in applying our new skills. Solo was a life changing experience because I was on my own with just my thoughts and new primitive skill set. Something resonates in a person when you use Earth’s natural resources to survive; to live. I realized how dependent I was on material goods and how I had succumbed to society’s pressures. Of course, I went back to my life before BOSS but as a changed man. I still buy things and aspire to live out the American Dream but to a lesser degree. The best takeaway for me was that I know how it feels to be liberated from society and carry on in a simpler life.
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Read more at The Boulder Outdoor Survival School's official site.