Much of America's newest national park may be teeming with visitors this summer, but the vast areas of woodland beyond are likely to remain as untracked as ever, ideal for the region's newest venue for outdoor recreation—New River Survival and Bushcraft.
Launched by some of West Virginia's most knowledgeable outdoorsmen, the wilderness-survival school has opened its tent-flaps at the rim of the New River Gorge National Park, an area that beckons to lovers of the outdoors, though students will learn far more than the average adventure tourist here, according to co-founder and instructor Josh Sapio.
"The New River Gorge region is ideal for a survival school," says Sapio, who'd long worked as an adventure guide for Ace Adventure Resort, where the school is located.
"The national park has long attracted rafters and rock climbers and hikers and bikers, but there's a wilderness out there beyond the boundaries that's ideal for teaching survival and bushcraft."
New River Survival and Bushcraft will begin accepting reservations May 1, offering full-day courses in survival and bushcraft and workshops for Scout Wilderness Survival Merit Badge and Bugouts.
Its premier course, Survival Instincts, teaches core concepts of fire craft, shelter building, and water purification.
Professional instructors will teach students skills necessary to live through an unexpected short-term emergency survival scenario, Sapio said.
Courses will be offered daily and are taught within a fun and energetic teach-emulate environment.
The Bushcraft course teaches students to thrive in an outdoor environment and is designed to introduce students to wilderness living and self-reliance beyond survival, introducing students to alternative methods of camp craft, including shelter building, fire making, water procurement, foraging, and woodcrafts.
”We are proud to bring wilderness survival course offerings to the New River Gorge region," Sapio said.
"The New River Gorge has been home to us for many decades, and we are very excited to introduce students to the region that we’ve explored within our own backyards and educate our clients with the knowledge gained of survival and preparedness.”
For more information, visit New River Survival and Bushcraft.
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