Wilderness Skills
2024 - 2025
Head Coach: Christine Armiger
The goal of Wilderness Skills is to empower the individual through outdoor living and wilderness skills. Nature is a real entity and engaging with it involves real consequences which test the ability of the individual to adapt. Through Gratitude, Reflection, and Play (our three pillars), students become aware of their power, learn to rely on it, and develop a self-confidence that fosters success in all aspects of their academic and personal lives.
The fall Wilderness Skills activity meets outside, six times a week and takes advantage of Vermont Academy’s vast outdoor playground. We spend time in the forest, in the fields, in the rivers, and on the mountains. We also take day trips and overnight trips to various destinations throughout New England, exploring both the Green and White Mountains. Throughout the fall, participants can expect to practice the following skills, journaling, fire building, sit spot, stove use, spoon carving, canoeing, knife use and safety, knots, shelter building, food foraging, hiking, orienteering, camping, and more!
To empower the individual, the following Ten Principles of Wilderness Skills are the backbone of its curriculum:
Self-Awareness |
Play |
Sense of Place |
Self-Confidence |
Leave No Trace |
Trust |
Self-Reliance |
Self-Expression |
Sense of Community |
Connection to Nature |