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Not all Maine Guides are members of MWGO. However, MWGO guide members are strongly encouraged to keep their first aid and CPR certification current and to periodically work to upgrade their skills as guides. To that end MWGO sponsors ongoing Maine Guide Training Workshops offered throughout the year.
We recognize the need for guides to have access to professional development opportunities. Within the recreational guide classification the skills required are so diverse (at least 9 different outdoor activities are in this category) that it is unlikely any type of test could adequately assess a guides abilities. Additionally, some guides may start guiding primarily one type of activity, but then diversify into another activity or season of guiding. Guide Training Workshops are an important resource for professional guides to use in order to maintain (first aid) or improve (i.e. diversify into winter camping) their skills. Workshops are taught by experienced Master Guides (except for first aid) and are offered at very reasonable rates. Guides with special expertise are encouraged to offer workshops. For more information on how to offer a Guide Training Workshop contact Kevin Slater or Greg Shute.
Event Calendar for other training oppertunities
Winter Guide Training
12/16/2008-12/20/2008
River Guide Training
5/10/2009-5/13/2009
Details
Poling clinic
April 25-26, 2009
Monroe, ME
Cost $225.00
This would be a great opportunity for guides and paddlers to broaden their skills. Instruction in the art of canoe poling for beginners & advanced. Includes equipment, camping & meals.
WFA (Wilderness First Aid)
April 25-26, 2009
Newry, ME
Cost $215 or $205 for Registered Maine Guides, CPR is $35
The WFA is the perfect course for the outdoor enthusiast or trip leader who wants a basic level of first aid training for short trips with family, friends and outdoor groups. It also meets the ACA guidelines. The WFA is 16 hours long (two days), and focuses on the basic skills of: Response and Assessment, Musculoskeletal injuries, environmental emergencies, survival skills, soft tissue injuries, and medical emergencies. Course starts at 8 a.m. on April 25th and ends at 4 p.m. on April 26th. CPR available Sat. evening. Cost includes accommodations and meals. Contact Polly or Kevin to register at: (207) 824-2073 or info@mahoosuc.com
Whitewater week
May 4-8, 2009
Monroe, ME
Cost $875
Will be held on a variety of local rivers, operating out of our cabin in Monroe. Experience the finest spring canoeing that Maine has to offer for 5 days. We'll operate from our remote base camp & do a different river every day
WFA (Wilderness First Aid)
May 6-20, 2009, Mondays and Wednesdays, from 6:00-10:00 pm
Lewiston, ME
$117 registration fee.
American Red Cross of Southern Maine - Wilderness First Aid, includes Adult CPR certification. Total time of 20 hours. Delivers 1 year CPR, Asthma Inhaler and Epinephrine Auto Injector certifications (Asthma & Epi are intended to assist person for which they are prescribed) and 3 year Wilderness First Aid certification. Emphasis on patient assessment and improvisation.
Yearlong Wilderness Bushcraft Immersion Program
April 19- May 31, August 23-October 28, 2009
Wolfeboro, NH | Masardis, ME
Tuition: $10,500
Combine the spring and fall semester programs into a more complete learning experience. Live the bush life and learn all the lessons it has to teach.
Spring Bushcraft Canoe Expedition Semster
April 19- May 31, 2009
Wolfeboro, NH | Masardis, ME
Tuition: $4500
Learn the arts of field-based bushcraft and traditional wilderness skills, along with a thorough grounding in outdoor leadership and the traditional skills of the Registered Maine Guide. Not just wilderness living skills, this is wilderness living.
Bushcraft & Sustainability Summer Program
July 6-July 24, 2009
Wolfeboro, NH | Masardis, ME
Tuition: $2150
Live bushcraft, sustainability, homestading and wilderness survival for three weeks. Learn to live and travel in the bush and homestead off the grid.
Fall Earth Skills Semester Program
August 23-October 28, 2009
Wolfeboro, NH | Masardis, ME
Tuition: $6850
Field-based wilderness bushcraft semester course focusing on practical, hard skills. Intense instruction and experience. Our original semester course.
We've also broken these up into weeklong, individual courses, all of which can be seen on our calendar at:
Wilderness guide training course
May 3-May 9, 2009
Wolfeboro, NH | Masardis, ME
Tuition: $850
This weeklong course prepares you for working as a professional guide and is crash course in canoeing and traditional camping. It includes extensive instruction in paddling and poling canoes, a whitewater clinic, outdoor cooking, trip planning, trip equipment, and living outdoors. A short trip at the end of the week serves as a trial run for our extended trips to follow. Traditional paddling, poling, lining, portaging, bushcraft and camping skills, and the craft of guiding are covered in this unique learning opportunity on the waterways of northern Maine. Learn to stand in a canoe, pole up and down rapids, cook over an open fire, read the river to determine safe passages and gain the most useful asset a guide can have; experience. Daily lessons on the use of tools such as the axe, knife and saw, setting up a dry and safe camp, cooking over an open fire and building pot suspension rigs with which to do so, baking in the reflector oven and learning to safely and efficiently manage a group will take place after we make camp. In addition to the skills of canoeing and bushcraft, we'll spend a significant amount of time learning the wild plants of the waterway and their uses as we explore backwaters and the bush surrounding the river. Studies of mammals, tracks, birds, and the weather will round out the curriculum.
Sea Kayaking in a Dynamic Environment
April 11, 2009
Mid Coast, Maine
Experience wind, current and waves in your sea kayak! Learn techniques for handling these elements and what to do if a capsize occurs! (Call for Pre-requisites)
ACA Instructor Development Workshop for Coastal Kayaking
April 16-19
Topsham, ME
This 4 day course will help you prepare for ACA instructor certification. Skills covered include: Teaching methods for coastal kayaking, stroke work, video analysis of your paddling skills, rescue work, ocean leadership scenarios and more. Note: this course is required as a pre-requisite for the Instructor Certification Exam.
ACA Instructor Certification Workshop for Coastal Kayaking
April 30 – May 3, 2009
Topsham, ME
Take the skills you learned in the IDW and put them to the test! Qualified candidates will receive ACA certification.
For more details go to http://www.oltoa.com Pre-registration is required for all of our courses. Please call with any questions Contact Bob Myron at bobmyron@securespeed.net or phone 207-720-0257
River Guide Training
Dates: 5/10-5/13, 2009
East Branch Penobscot River
Cost: MWGO Members $450 Non-Members $575
The focus of the Maine River Guide Training is on how to safely lead and manage groups on technical rivers during canoe trips. Technical rivers are defined as having Class 2 and above rapids and/or mandatory portages around falls or rapids. This is not a white water skills clinic. Participants should be comfortable and competent in class 2 and above white water. You should be able to ferry, eddy out, peel out, etc. anywhere in a set of rapids in this level of difficulty. Major topic area to be covered are two fold:
•Information you, as a guide, need to cover before taking clients into a white water situation
•Information you as a guide need to have relating to group management techniques, safety considerations, protection strategies for rapids, and judgment/decision making
PRIMARY TOPICS TO BE COVERED:River safety briefing, Self rescue, Objective River hazards, Throw bags, Sample stroke lessons, Sample river maneuvers lesson, Ferries, Eddy turns, Peel outs, Eddy sets, Offensive vs. defensive paddling techniques, Sample river reading lesson, Eddies, Eddy lines, White waves, Dark waves, V's,
Info, to, have in her/his head
1. Group management skills for approaching major rapids, major portages, for easier river stretches (class 2 or below)
2. Protection systems for major rapids, timing, throw bags, boat based
3. Portage organizing, tumplines, one/two person lifts, one/two person carries
4. Lining, bridles, painter lines, canoe trim
5. Scouting from shore, from eddys
Other topics - as time and interest permits: Fly fishing, Lost clients, Map and compass, Contours and river gradients, Canoe/camping techniques, Poling upstream and snubbing, Canoe pins, avoiding, unpinning, haul systems, Knots every guide should know
ACA Instructor Certification Workshop for Canoeing
May 15-17, 2009
Topsham, ME
This 3-day workshop is an instructor development workshop and an instructor certification course in one.
Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA)
May 27-30, 2009
Wiscasset, ME
Cost: $350 MWGO member, $475 non-member
Wilderness Advanced First Aid is a comprehensive medical training course designed for outdoor recreationalists or wilderness trip leaders who venture into moderately remote and challenging environments. The content is significantly more detailed than the Wilderness First Aid course, including emphasis on common critical body system problems and environmental topics.Lodging starts on evening of May 26 for those traveling from afar.
WAFA to WFR Bridge (Wilderness First Responder)
June 1-4, 2009
Wiscasset, ME
Cost: $350 MWGO member, $475 non-member
The WAFA to WFR Bridge course upgrades the WMA™ Wilderness Advanced First Aid to a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) in 4 days. This course must be taken within two years of receiving the Wilderness Medical Associates' WAFA certificate. The WFR is the definitive medical training course for all outdoor professionals and enthusiasts. Lodging starts on evening of May 31 for those traveling from afar.
WFR (Wilderness First Responder)
May 27-June 4, 2009 (both courses)
Wiscasset, ME
Cost: $625 MWGO member, $825 non-member
Those who wish may take both of the above courses to receive a full WFR certification. Room and Board from the evening of May 27, to the last day of the course
WFA (Wilderness First Aid)
June 6-7, 2009
Wiscasset, ME
Cost: $225 MWGO member, $315 non-member
Wilderness First Aid is a two-day introduction to general medical concepts and Basic Life Support skills. It’s targeted to the outdoor enthusiast on day trips or short adventures.
Contact Chris Riley at criley@chewonki.org or phone (207) 882-7323 X 144
Sea Kayaking in a Dynamic Environment
June 14, 2009
Mid Coast, Maine
Experience wind, current and waves in your sea kayak! Learn techniques for handling these elements and what to do if a capsize occurs.
Wildlife Track and Sign Evaluation (Certificaiton in Wildlife Tracking)
June 20-21 2009
In conjunction with Cybertracker Conservation, White Pine Programs is proud to host Wildlife Track & Sign Evaluations. Evaluations are a two-day certification process that open to the public and are intended to validate the experience of practicing trackers as well as help them understand their strengths and weaknesses in terms of a working knowledge of track and sign and trailing skills.We hope that evaluations can serve as a means for competent trackers to prove credibility and gain employment in the application of tracking skills. Tracker evaluations are also an efficient form of education and excellent means to test observer reliability.
Intro to White Water
June 19-21, 2009
Newry, ME
Cost $250.00 MWGO member, $325.00 non-member
This course is designed for people with little or no white water canoeing experience. It is also highly recommended for anyone who has no formal training in white-water technique. Price includes lodging, meals and paddling equipment. A $100.00 deposit is required to hold a space. A packet will be sent out after your deposit is received. Participants are asked to arrive by 7pm Friday the 19th. The course will cover the following topics: canoe design and handling properties, white water strokes, white water equipment, safety, self rescue, group management, throw bag use, river hazards, river reading and scouting, paddle signals, maneuvers including eddy turns, peel outs, ferries, side slips, and surfing. For more information contact Kevin Slater at info@mahoosuc.com or phone 207-824-2073
White Water Rescue
June 26-28, 2009
Newry, ME
Cost $250.00 MWGO member, $325 non member
This course is designed for guides, instructors, trip leaders and white water paddlers who have no formal training in modern white water rescue techniques. It is experiential in nature. Participants should be comfortable paddling and swimming in class II white water. Price includes meals, lodging and paddling equipment. A $100.00 deposit is required to hold a space. A packet will be sent out after your deposit is received. Participants are asked to arrive by 7pm Friday the 26th. Course will cover the following topics: river safety, river hazards, rescue theory, rescue types (shore, on/in the water), swimming rapids, rescue equipment, belayed swimmer, river entrapment, boat entrapment, boat rescues, advanced throw bag use, conscious and unconscious swimmer, unpinning boats and haul systems. There will be several live accident simulations that participants will need to respond to. For more information contact Kevin Slater at info@mahoosuc.com or phone 207-824-2073
Maine Wilderness Guides Outdoor Classroom
September 18-20, 2009
Cold Stream, West Gardiner, ME
Cost $375 MWGO members, $400 non members
Maine Wilderness Guides Organization is offering outdoor field work classes in Wilderness Technique. Improve your outdoor skills, be mentored by Registered Maine Guides of MWGO’s Outdoor Skills Enrichment Weekend. Offering affordable weekend classes in the outdoors. Hands on, in the field learning. Prices include food. $375.00 per person for the weekend. Our Guides take their time and offer what we know will be the most valuable to you in the outdoors, because the teachers are all WORKING GUIDES! Here is a sampling of what you will be DOING! Trip Planning & Safety Knot Tying How to start a fire in ANY condition Canoe Skills & Safety Traditional Canoe Poling Gourmet Cooking & Baking over an open fire Map/Compass & GPS. Cost includes meals from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.
White Pine Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship
October 2009-June 2010.
Cost $1795.00
A Three-Season Monthly Immersion in Wildlife Tracking & Naturalist Training. The purpose of the White Pine Tracking Apprenticeship is to help prepare trackers, guides, scientists, and educators to apply tracking skills as effective tools in educational, scientific, and community settings . Apprentices are guaranteed monthly field tracking time in a diversity of habitats across New England, monthly coaching calls, focused assignments, and evening workshops to become more proficient and experienced wildlife trackers.
Training For Backcountry Ski Guides
December 12-13, 2009
Cost: 100.00 for MWGO membership, $150.00 non-member
Sourdough Cabin, E. Bethel, Maine
Weekend Workshop-Sat. and Sun. early winter, 2009 (e.g. mid-Dec.)
Course topics will include: organizing a ski group of mixed ability for a 1 day tour; equipment update. Practicum-ski technique (if snow conditions are iffy, some dry land training, cold weather injuries, decision making. Practicum-ski technique-focus on downhill and uphill. Intro to avalanche awareness, with a recent DVD, ski tour with instruction on the tour, plus teaching exercise for guides. Prior to the tour, we meet at the cabin for Sourdough pancakes breakfast. Some Particulars: Bring lunch for both days; bring skis and all equipment ( also boots for hiking if snow conditions are iffy; we could also travel to the Balsams, about 1 hr. away, and have light equipment (or rent) for traditional Nordic skiing review). Cabin has sleep accommodations for 4-6 people (6 is a pinch), and/or winter camping on Sourdough premises. Sat. night dinner is extra. Minimum number: 4.
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Guide Training Workshop 