The Green Mountain Club offers a variety of programs and workshops to help you or your group travel safely and confidently in Vermont’s backcountry and have fun while doing it. Most workshops are hosted at GMC’s Visitor Center in Waterbury Center, VT, but some are out in the field all over the state. We offer programming in Leave No Trace, Wilderness First Aid through SOLO Schools, Map and Compass, Winter Trekking, Vermont Ecology, Women’s Backpacking, Yoga and Hiking, Adirondack Pack Basket Making, Trail Maintenance, and more! Please contact us with any questions.
If you’re interested in a GMC educator hosting a program with your work, school, or volunteer group, please contact us. We can work with you to put on a great program that meets your needs!
Map and Compass 101
Date: Saturday, August 18th, 12 PM – 4 PM
GMC Visitor Center
Waterbury Center, VT
Do you like to get out and explore, but worry about the skills needed to find your way back? Join us and learn how to read and understand maps and use a compass correctly. Topics covered in this four-hour workshop include reading map symbols and contour lines, matching the terrain to the map, taking and using bearings, orienting map and compass, declination, determining your location and planning your route. Part of the workshop will be spent outdoors practicing skills learned in the classroom on GMC’s orienteering course. At the end of this course participants should feel more comfortable with their abilities to plan routes and make it out of the backcountry safely.
Instructor: David Hathaway
Limit: 12
Fee: $30 Non-Member, $24 GMC Member
Please register at least one week in advance.
The World is Our Classroom:
How One Family Used Nature & Travel to Shape an Extraordinary Education, with Cindy Ross
Date: Monday, October 1, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
GMC Visitor Center
Waterbury Center, VT
Cindy’s story begins in the Rocky Mountain wilderness on a unique and extraordinary journey: two parents leading their young children 3,100 miles on the backs of llamas. This Canada-Mexico trek illustrated to her and her husband, Todd, what experiential education can do. Inspired by the experience, they went on to create a new way of supplementing their children’s education, focusing on two arenas for learning: the natural world and travel. In this age of world connection, it is important to raise broad-minded and empathetic children who are knowledgeable about other cultures. To accomplish this goal, they chose an unorthodox approach: they orchestrated learning opportunities as their family traveled the world, moving about on foot and bicycle, living simply and intimately. But just as important, and more accessible for many parents, were the opportunities for learning closer to home, as well as those provided by the natural world. These adventures brought intangible gifts: values such as compassion, self-reliance and appreciation, among others that are not always fostered in a traditional curriculum but crucially important to raising children.
Presenter: Cindy Ross
Fee: Free! Bring the whole family.
SOLO Wilderness First Aid
Dates: November 10th and 11th, 2018 9 AM – 5 PM
GMC Visitor Center
Waterbury Center, VT
Sign up early—this course fills fast! This sixteen-hour, hands-on course will prepare you for backcountry medical emergencies. Its focus is on the prevention, recognition, and treatment of injuries and illnesses. Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification or Wilderness First Responder (WFR) recertification is provided upon completion.
Instructor: SOLO
Limit: 24
Fee: $190 Non-member, $170 GMC Member. Please contact GMC if you need WFR recertification and/or CPR (additional fees apply).
Age Limit: 14 and up
Please register at least two weeks in advance.
Cancellation Policy: Refunds will be provided for cancellations made at least a week before workshop start date. No refunds for reservations cancelled less than seven days before the workshop start date. Workshop dates and venues are subject to change. GMC reserves the right to cancel a program at any time, in which case the club will notify registrants via email and a full refund will be provided.
