Bushcraft Courses

Category: Expeditions

Canoeing in the Ardeche

Whilst learning to canoe several years ago, Ray came up with the excellent concept of learning to canoe in warmer water than we would normally experience in places like Wales or Scotland. This would give a little more enjoyment to learning rescue techniques and falling in. Therefore Ray decided Woodlore should teach people to canoe in Southern France. The Ardeche is a perfect environment in which to learn to canoe with warm weather, warm water and stunning 300m limestone cliff scenery.

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Capturing the Wonders of Wyoming

There are few places in the world that can compare with the beauty and majesty of Wyoming. Incredible scenery on a huge scale and some of the most magnificent wildlife in North America lure photographers, artists and natural historians from around the world to be part of its rugged splendor. Nature surpasses the Old Masters with every new vista, giving you the opportunity to capture the splendor and emotion of this very special place. Under the guidance of the outstanding wildlife photographer and artist Phil Coles, this will become a possibility, allowing you to return home with more than just the memories of this once in a lifetime journey. Once again, Woodlore is at the forefront of wilderness travel and training, giving you the skills to enjoy and record your adventures in vivid depth and detail.

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Nordic Intermediate Ski Touring

The aim of this course is to give clients with proficient skiing skills a wider general knowledge of ski touring in a high mountain environment. We plan to improve personal winter skills including avalanche awareness and an introduction to snow holing, and obtain a good working knowledge of the Norwegian hytte system. The course will also give a good insight into how an expedition is carried out and planned regarding route planning and safety factors. All of this will take place over 7 days in Norway, one of the great wildernesses of Northern Europe, and the home of Nordic Ski Touring.

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Nordic Skiing

Cross-country skiing is one of the most exilarating means of travel known to man. It is also incredibly good exercise and gives the skier an enormous sense of freedom. Your heart pounds as you dig your skis in and heave yourself to the top of the escarpment before letting yourself effortlessly accelerate along hundreds of meters of hard packed snow, enjoying the scenery until the last of the momentum wears off. This is a feeling that you look forward to when you're skiing and can be likened to the anticipation and thrill of approaching and running a rapid in a canoe.

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The Heroes of Telemark Expedition
The Ray Mears' Real Heroes of Telemark TV series demonstrated the bravery of a small group of Norwegian saboteurs during WWII who put their lives at risk to stop the Germans gaining access to a substance called Deuterium Oxide or 'heavy water', a secret ingredient crucial in the Nazis attempt to make an Atomic Bomb.

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Tracking in Namibia with Ray Mears

Join Ray Mears and Woodlore for an amazing course and an adventure of a lifetime. You will experience the bush in a way that is offered nowhere else. This special course will take you to the oldest part of Africa and will allow you to interact with it in a very unique way. It is likely you will be following tracks through the very dust that the first human being did, thousands of years previously. Drawing on his 40 years of tracking experience, Ray will open your eyes to this fascinating and ancient art. Together you will locate and interpret the signs and traces left behind by wild creatures in the stunning African landscape.

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Woodlore Arctic Experience

Around the northern hemisphere runs a vast forest – the Taiga. An almost continual belt from North America to Eurasia, the Taiga covers much of Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, northern Kazakhstan and Russia (particularly Siberia), most of inland Alaska and Canada as well as northern parts of the US. The Taiga is the single largest community of trees and associated animals – or 'biome' - on the planet. Characterised by coniferous trees such as pine and spruce as well as animals such as lynx, wolf, bear, wolverine and reindeer this is an awe-inspiring wilderness.

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Woodlore Canadian Wilderness Canoe Expedition

As part of our ongoing celebration of Woodlore's thirtieth year I am pleased to announce that we shall be offering a new and long awaited Woodlore Expedition. You are invited to join me on a very special expedition to discover the magic of the boreal forest in late summer. Our journey will take us through some of the most stunning wilderness to be found in Northern Ontario, Canada. There is of course only one choice of transport here, the most perfect craft ever invented for travelling in the northern wilderness, the Canadian Canoe.

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For those that like something a little more challenging, we offer expeditionary bushcraft courses taking you to wild places and the true wilderness in the Arctic, tracking in Namibia, Canoeing in the Ardeche or Canoeing in Canada.

Arctic Survival courses are lead by Lars Falt, Sweden's foremost expert in bushcraft and an old friend of Ray Mears Bushcraft.

Brian Desmond oversees our courses in Norway, which are taught by Glyn Sheppard. These include The Heroes of Telemark Expedition, Nordic Intermediate Ski Touring and Nordic Skiing. The Heroes of Telemark expedition retraces Ray Mears' TV series about the bravery of a small group of Norwegian saboteurs during WWII. For those wanting to improve their skiing why not try the Nordic Skiing course?

Please also see our Trip Planning & Expeditions page for planning trips of this type.

It is our firm belief that Wilderness Bushcraft has something of value to give to everyone. Hopefully this is reflected in our programme of bushcraft courses and educational Wilderness Bushcraft Survival courses that have evolved over the thirty years we have been operating.

At Woodlore, bushcraft course development is a never-ending process as we endeavour to bring the subject to a wider range of students. The skills and knowledge gained through Ray Mears bushcraft is extended and enhanced by tapping into the wilderness survival skills developed by many indigenous peoples and other experts in the bushcraft survival course field, including Lars Fält, Brian Desmond and many others.