Adult Leader Training
Adult Leader Basic Backpacking
Part 1 - Outdoor Classroom
Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
2/21/25 (6pm - 9pm) & 2/22/25 (7am - 5pm)
Outdoor classroom training will be conducted at the IRVINE RANCH OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER, 2 Irvine Park Road, Irvine, CA 92869, and consists of demonstrations and equipment and implementing “High Adventure” into your unit, round robins covering backpacks, tents, clothing, footwear, sleeping systems, stoves and cook gear, wilderness electronics, backpack cooking and food, water treatment, map and compass, critter encounters and food protection, planning a backpack with Scouts including adult leadership
Part 2 - Day Hike with Instructors
Various locations across Southern California
2/23/25
The day hike will include map and compass fieldwork.
Part 3 - Weekend Overnight with Instructors
Various locations across Southern California
TBD
Practical application of the skills learned in class out in the field. Dates will be set by January.
NOTE: We typically offer 2-3 weekend options from which to choose, usually within a 1-2 month period of the class. You'll sign up for one of these weekends at the start of the in-person classroom session.
Adult Leader Desert Backpacking
Part 1 - In-Person Outdoor Classroom
Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
2/22/25 (8am - noon)
PREREQUISITE: Adult Leader Basic Backpacking Course taught in the Spring and Fall
Have you always wanted to take your Scouts hiking/backpacking in late winter and early spring but do not know where to go? Exciting possibilities exist in the deserts of California, Arizona, and Utah. Try the Boy Scout Trail or California Riding and Hiking Trail in Joshua Tree National Park, Kelso Dunes in the Mojave National Preserve, Telescope Peak in Death Valley National Park, to name a few. The slot canyons of northern Arizona and southern Utah beckon adventurous Scouts and Scouters over Easter/Spring Break.
This course will get you thinking and started and builds upon the principles and skills taught in the Basic Backpacking Course which is a prerequisite to this course. Covered in the 4 hours of classroom are seasonal considerations, how to choose your desert trails considering Scouts, what to wear trekking the desert, water availability and management, packing lightly but safely, and hazards specific to the desert such as daytime radiation and nighttime cold, flash floods and sharp organisms like scorpions, cacti, and rattlers.
Part 2 - Weekend Overnight with Instructors
Typically Joshua Tree National Park
TBD
The overnighter is a 6-mile round trip out of the Covington Flats Trailhead in Joshua Tree National Park, or an alternate trailhead depending on wilderness permit availability. An easy one to get you started. Pre-trek planning at the course.
Adult Leader Winter (Snowshoe) Backpacking
Part 1 - In-Person Outdoor Classroom
Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
1/4/25 (10am - 5pm)
PREREQUISITE: Adult Leader Basic Backpacking Course taught in the Spring and Fall
Have you always wanted to take your Scouts snowshoe backpacking in winter but do not know where to go? Or how to do it? Exciting possibilities exist in the winter wonderland of the mountains of southern California.
This course adds winter weather and resources to the skills you learned in the Basic Backpacking Course. The course topics include: (1) snow travel and snowshoe technique; (2) backpacking with a full pack using snowshoes and poles; (3) winter clothing and footwear; (4) how to camp and sleep in the snow; (5) how to cook and eat in the snow; (6) winter environment and hazards; and (8) ideas on when and where to go with Scouts.
Part 2 - Overnight Snowshoe Backpack
Little Lakes Valley - Rock Creek (conditions permitting)
2/15/25 - 2/17/25
On the overnighter snowshoe backpack with instructors, students and instructors will snowshoe backpack into a backcountry camp somewhere in the local So Cal mountains (possibly the Eastern Sierra if local So Cal snow levels are inadequate). The date and location will be voted on by the students. The trek will be low mileage and low angle snow. Typically, will drive up on a Saturday morning, hike in Saturday afternoon, camp Saturday and Sunday evening, hike out and drive home on Monday.
Adult Leader Non-Technical Ice Axe
Part 1 - In-Person Outdoor Classroom
Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
1/4/25 (8am - 10am)
NOTE: THIS CLASS IS RUN THE MORNING OF THE SAME DAY AS THE WINTER SNOWSHOE BACKPACKING CLASS.
PREREQUISITE: Adult Leader Basic Backpacking Course taught in the Spring and Fall
Are we going to learn how to climb frozen waterfalls in this course? No, of course not! The key phrase in the title of this course is non-Technical. This course will serve as an introduction to low angle snow travel using basic mountaineering ice axe technique, with and without MICROspikes on your boots. No crampons!!!
The course will include (1) anatomy of a mountaineering ice axe; (2) ice axe maintenance and safety; (3) how to carry and grasp an ice axe; (4) ascending low angle snow with an ice axe including climbing in balance, rest step and step-kicking; (5) making a direct ascent using the cane position, stake position, horizontal position; (6) making a diagonal ascent using the cane position, cross-body position, changing direction and traversing; (7) descending low angle snow including plunge stepping, backing down and glissading; (8) stopping a fall including self-belay and self-arrest; (9) introduction to MICRO spikes.
Part 2 - Overnight Snowshoe Backpack (Little Lakes Valley - Rock Creek)
Same location as the Adult Leader Winter Snowshoe Backpacking course
2/15/25 - 2/17/25
NOTE: THE OVERNIGHTER FOR THE ICE-AXE CLASS IS RUN WITH THE OVERNIGHTER FOR THE WINTER SNOWSHOE BACKPACKING COURSE.
On the overnighter snowshoe backpack with instructors, students and instructors will snowshoe backpack into a backcountry camp somewhere in the local So Cal mountains (possibly the Eastern Sierra if local So Cal snow levels are inadequate). Students will practice ice axe technique on low angle snow with instructors.
The date and location will be voted on by the students. The trek will be low mileage and low angle snow.
Adult Leader Map & Compass Course
In-Person Outdoor Classroom
Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
1/11/25 (8am - 3pm)
Scouts must learn map and compass for First Class Rank…right? How about us as adult leaders? How well do we know the subject? Here is your chance to be the map and compass “North Star” on your unit’s next backpack.
This course will include: (1) choosing a topographic map; (2) reading a topographic map including coordinate systems, datum, scale, and contour lines; (3) route finding with a map; (4) anatomy of a compass; (5) how to measure and plot bearings on a map; (6) how to measure and plot bearings in the field; (7) adjusting bearings for magnetic declination, which includes pre trip preparation of your topo map; (8) practice fieldwork with instructors at the OEC which will include a half mile round trip hike to the top of Koll mountain;
Bring: (1) 2-3 pencils; (3) day pack with water and snacks for hiking; (4) hiking clothing and footwear; (5) camp chair; (6) sun protection.
OCC-HAT PROVIDES SUUNTO M-D LEADER COMPASS AND TOPOGRAHIC MAPS.