The Wild Training Institute is a relatively new nonprofit that does technical rescue and outdoor industry trainings. One of their more popular events has been the women’s rowing clinic, focused on swiftwater navigation and rescue. Executive Director Mystik Miller explains what the women’s courses are all about:
“That was an idea similar to my female firefighter camp; white water can be a male-dominated industry, so we wanted to give a special class for the women who are trying to come up in the industry. We work on all kinds of things. We take women beginners to more advanced control. We learn how to read white water, how to react in a whitewater environment, how to handle a raft, how to navigate, and how to deal with issues that might come up. So a little bit of rescue thrown in there, too. You know, if you get thrown out of the boat, if others get thrown out, how to help them…”
While the women-only events are popular, there’s a WILD training course for everybody who works in rescue or outdoors.
ACA rowing instructor and raft guide Jordan Smith teaches swift water clinics for WILD, and says they’re great opportunities for anyone who wants to hone their skills on the water:
“These are also really good for first responders anywhere who want to come in and do this. Swift water rescue is really important; that’s a big part of our clinics. We also have private swift water classes that we teach. So anybody who wants to learn how to paddle, raft, or get on the oars—this is a great opportunity for them to come and do.”
To learn more or sign up for a training on anything outdoors, from swiftwater to wilderness first-aid, to foraging, visit wildtraining.org.
