CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
Trail Maintenance Skills Workshop
Join our workshop to help new and seasoned overseers learn or hone the skills needed to be effective trail maintainers. Trail safety, clipping, blazing, water bars, check dams, grade dips, tool use and maintenance, and more, will be covered. This is on the job training. We will walk a trail section with tools and practice the tasks necessary for routine trail maintenance.
Training and work trips are listed on the PATC meetup page. www.meetup.com/PATCVolunteerEvents/
More Info: Contact Robert Fina. Robert@Fina-co.com
Traditional Tools Workshop
This hands-on workshop familiarizes trail maintainers and PATC volunteers with the safe use of crosscut saws, axes, and other edged trail tools. Classroom instruction followed by field exercises focus on hazard analysis and mitigation, bucking and limbing techniques, and knowing when to walk away from a complex situation. This weekend workshop is offered every spring. It is not a certification class and no sawyer cards will be issued.
More Info: Contact TBD
Rigging Workshop
This workshop teaches the fundamentals of safe rigging as they apply to trailwork and is intended for trail maintainers and PATC volunteers. Classroom instruction on mechanical advantage, use of slings and shackles, Griphoist operation, and working load limits are followed by field exercises where students set up and apply proper rigging techniques to move boulders and other heavy heavy objects under instructor supervision. This workshop is offered every fall.
More Info: Contact TBD
Hike Leader Class
PATC offers a hike leader class for hikers who want to learn new skills as well as to become formal hike leaders for PATC. This course provides essential skills for leading a safe, environmentally responsible and enjoyable hike. It includes having two co-led hikes with an experienced PATC hike leader in order to receive your certificate.
We cover how to handle basic first aid, leadership development, trip planning, standard procedures, emergency procedures, gear and clothing (ten essentials), basic map reading and navigation, and Leave No Trace ethics. The training includes lectures with hands on applications and trail-based scenarios.
The course is open to PATC members only.
More Info: Visit our Hike Leader Training page.
Trail Patrol Training
Want to be a part of the Trail Patrol ?? Join an Orientation & Hike on the 1st Tuesday of each month. This course is required for all PATC members interested in joining the PATC Trail Patrol.
The course teaches the essential skills necessary to be a trail patrol member and to provide a reassuring presence on the trail while teaching safety and environmental responsibility. A Trail Patrol handbook is provided to all students. Please bring a pencil, your hiking daypack & lunch.
More Info: Contact TP Training.
Backpacking Classes
Educating people in safe and environmentally friendly practices for traveling into the backcountry is one of Trail Patrol’s core responsibilities. We offer backpacking classes for novices seeking to take up backpacking as well as for experienced backpackers.
Backpacking 101: An Introductory Course is for beginners & those who want to update rusty skills. It includes a weekend overnight backpacking trip. Instruction covers equipment selection and use, information and techniques to enhance safety and comfort, and Leave No Trace methods to protect our fragile backcountry environment.
More Info: Contact Backpacking Training Note BP101 is cancelled for 2020.
Backpacking 202: Planning and leading group trips is for Backpacking 101 graduates and others with comparable experience. This class provides the opportunity to take it to the next level by developing special skill needed to plan and lead group trips. Pre-trip planning sessions will cover equipment selection and use, route planning, food planning, improving safety and comfort, managing the unexpected, and Leave No Trace principles to protect our fragile backcountry environment.
Includes a weekend overnight backpacking trip.
More Info: Contact Backpacking Training or click here to register.
Lightweight Backpacking: Techniques for reducing pack weight without compromising safety - for both experienced and new backpackers. One-day workshop, no backpacking trip. This one-day workshop is designed to acquaint backpackers with the importance of weight considerations when choosing and using equipment, and to instill a weight-conscience mind set when packing for an overnight trip. It is not intended to advocate an ultra light philosophy. Each student attending the class will be encouraged to bring a pack fully loaded, less food and water, with everything they would normally carry on a 3-day, 2-night trip of 10
Pre-registration is required. Class is limited to 25 students.
More Info: Contact Backpacking Training or click here to register.
Wilderness First Aid
Basic Wilderness First Aid (BWFA) is a 2-day workshop. Day one covers Adult CPR and AED and American Heart Association First Aid. You will receive a textbook and a certification card good for two years. Day two is American Safety and Health Institute (ASHI) Basic Wilderness First Aid. You will learn how to do bleeding control, splinting and other basic first aid skills in the wilderness setting. There is plenty of hands-on time & paramedics with years of backcountry experience teach the classes.
More Info: Contact TP First Aid or click here to register.
Wilderness First Aid (WFA)
Join us for a 20-hour Wilderness First Aid Class! In this class, you will learn how to get help, move and transport patients, conduct patient assessments, documentation, how to handle medical and environmental emergencies, injury prevention and care, and much more. There is plenty of hands-on practice time as well as scenarios. This class is conducted inside and outside on the trail. Each student will receive a certification card good for two years through ECSI and a waterproof field guide. No experience required.
More Info: Contact TP First Aid or click here to register.
Leave No Trace Trainer Course
These courses are designed to enhance your understanding of Leave No Trace practices and ethics and to increase your level of expertise and confidence in teaching Leave No Trace skills. Through focused activities, hands‑on field experience and both formal and informal discussions, you will be introduced to concepts and methods that will advance your knowledge of Leave No Trace issues, expand your repertoire of low‑impact skills and increase your effectiveness in teaching these important skills to others.
On completion of this course, participants will be registered as Leave No Trace Trainers with the national Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and will receive a certificate of course completion as well as their Leave No Trace Trainer lapel pin.
More Info: Contact TP LNT or click here to register.
2020 Leave No Trace Master Educator Course (NOLS hosted by PATC)
August 30 - September 3 – Shenandoah National Park – 1 classroom day, 4 days backpacking
PATC Trail Patrol is hosting the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) to teach this course.
Pre-registration is required. Participants must be at least 16 years old. Class size is limited to eight students.
Tuition: $865, includes all course materials, meals, and use of NOLS group backpacking equipment.
This class has been cancelled due to the impacts of COVID-19.
For more information on any of the Leave No Trace courses contact Cindy Kelly