My seven year-old daughter attended the Wilderness Skills Camp and was absolutely thrilled with her experience. She was so excited to tell me about the adventures of each day, and always looked forward to returning. Under the expert guidance of Brian and Toni, I watched my daughter become more confident and connected to the world around her. It feels very important to me as a parent to expose my children to the slower pace of nature, to compensate for the very structured, fast-paced world we live in today.
Brian and Toni's depth of experience and commitment to building each child's relationship to the natural world is a rare and precious gift. I highly recommend this camp!
Laura McCormick, Ph.D.
Parent and Clinical Psychologist
Wilderness Skills Institute is unlike anything else
Matthew Downey, 9th grade Sir Francis Drake High School,
San Anselmo, CA
"The time I spend doing camps with Brian at Wilderness Skills Institute is unlike anything else I have ever done. The first camp I took with Brian was a week long summer camp, and I remember after the first day feeling like I wanted to learn everything possible about what he had to share. One of my favorite things that Brian teaches is the friction fire; it is such a gratifying process to create fire out of nothing more than two pieces of wood and it is useful as well. Archery is another of my favorite things he teaches. It is really cool to learn to use a bow and arrow; it is a fulfilling sensation to feel as if one has control over the arrow. One of my favorite things about the way that Brian and the rest of the staff mentors us is that it is a total immersion, they always have useful tips or pieces of knowledge, so I always end up learning way more than is just within the domain of the specific activities we may be doing. For instance, when learning to track an animal, Brian gathered leaves off a plant that we saw along the way, later that day we used those leaves to build the tiny speck of glowing coal we made with our hands into a fire. When asked what it was he asked us questions about the plant, with those answers and the field guide I discovered what it was. That night he put a bundle of the mug wart into the coat he was going to use as a pillow, when he was asked why, he handed me some and said “Try it”"
Matthew Downey, 9th grade