Spring

With the season changing and the days getting longer you can feel the excitement of the adventures to come. All over town you can see people getting ready to spend more time out of their homes and instead enjoying the outdoors.

For the ODA students this crunch time to finish off our major projects and start getting ready to move onto our summer jobs.
This week is the last week of winter expeditions with the last half of our class crashing through the bush learning to navigate and practice winter survival. Next week we will be starting our Wilderness First Responder course which is an intensive 80 hour program which teaches us how to respond to medical emergencies in remote locations.

Ride Music:
This past weekend Toronto artists Jay Spectre came into to town to promote their debut album "Too Little, Too Much"at Cafe Ole. They rocked the show with some original songs and even a few james brown covers that brought the crowd to it's feet. Check out their myspace and enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/jayspectremusic

Word To The Wild

A heavy portion of our second semster includes winter survival systems, and the majority of this mark comes from knowing how to spend a night outside. Many outdoor enthusiasts have a lot of experience with three of the four Canadian seasons but the winter can be a very different beast for the inexperienced.

Managing your heat can mean the difference between the beauty rest you need to get back on the mountain the next day or a miserable night of shaking or shivering. Sleeping outdoors means coming prepared with a sleeping bag rated to the proper temperature, being well hydrated and fed so that your body is actively digesting something while you sleep and having a shelter to protect you from the elements outside.

With these facts in mind I have started preparing for next weeks Winter expedition. We will be hiking on Wilderness Tours property from Monday morning till Wednesday night. The biggest issue that the group will face during this trip will be managing water for the three days. We will be unable to carry enough water for the trip and getting more will mean melting snow will be our only choice to stay hydrated.

Although winter survival requires more effort than the other three seasons it also offers a whole new element of adventure to all our excursions.

Ride Music:

The season are showing signs of change again; the days are starting to get longer and the sun's familar warmth is coming back and so this week I encourage everyone to kickback and listen to some classic Jurassic 5.

Jurassic 5-What's Golden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohi8NlxjtTQ

Cheers