Instructors:

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Bruce Zawalsky has over 22 Years’ Experience Working as a Professional Wilderness Survival Instructor. He has a practical Hands-on Philosophy on the Teaching of Modern Wilderness Survival. His Monthly Podcast the Canadian Outdoor Survival's Podcast is available directly or through iTunes.  www.boreal.net 

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Kelly Harlton is recognized by other professionals as one of the finest bushcraft and wilderness survival instructors in Canada.  He is always appreciated for his thorough instruction, boundless energy and keen ability to reduce an essential skill to its simplest form.  www.wildside.ca

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Dave Holder is an accomplished outdoor leader with over 37 years of experience teaching around the world.  He graduated as a Wilderness Living Skills Instructor with Mors Kochanski in 2012. Currently, he is the lead survival consultant on the History Channels Alone show and has worked on several other survival shows.  A skilled interpreter, guide, trainer, and wilderness survival and bushcraft instructor.  Simply one of the best. www.mahikan.ca

 

Lori Breeuwsma has been involved with teaching outdoor skills and crafting for over 20 years.  She is a patient instructor that inspires everyone to work towards creating beautiful pieces of craft.  She and Randy run Karamat Wilderness Way, the cornerstone of bushcraft and survival skills instruction in Alberta.  www.karamat.com 

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Russ Meades served in the British Army and Canadian Army for a total of 41 years. He retired in 2022 as a Lieutenant Colonel when he was the Commanding Officer of the Canadian Rangers in Western Canada. He has been a leader since 1983, including during overseas operations. He is qualified as an instructor in several military disciplines, including as a mountain expedition leader, firearms instructor, tactics instructor, close protection operator, and in winter warfare.  He is a Bushcraft and survival instructor, predominantly with the Alberta Trappers Association.

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Ber Roberts has been a registered nurse in a trauma centre, an extreme sport enthusiast and an adventure traveler on 5 continents. She has fallen in love with bushcraft and primitive technologies. She melds nursing, historical teachings and modern technology into what can be useful for us while in the outdoors, traveling, during natural disasters and more!

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Don Auten:  Following in my Dad's footsteps,,, His love of the Bush was contagious and I caught the bug early in life. I have memories still of riding on his shoulders checking traps on the weekends and sometimes in the dark evenings using a flashlight. We spent as much time as we could in the Bush, hunting, trapping, fishing or just being there.  I describe myself as a Nature Nut and quite a few years ago I hung up the steel traps and replaced them with camera traps. Wildlife photography using trail cameras is a great hobby!  Maintaining the cameras is a great activity to keep busy with while spending time in the Bush and they are great tools to learn about the wildlife in the area and their behaviors.

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Dave MacDonald is the founder and lead instructor for the International Canadian School of Survival Inc. located in Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba. He served 25 years with the Department of National Defense, 19 years as a Search and Rescue Technician with the Royal Canadian Airforce. Volunteering with local ground search teams, the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) and running tracking/search dogs, he gives a unique perspective on survival and rescue. His objective is raising awareness through education to prevent suffering and loss of life, by equipping individuals to help themselves in an emergency situation and assist in their own rescue. www.survivalbytraining.com

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Dragan Uzelac is the founder of NIKO Wilderness Education.  A concrete-man by trade, and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable bushcraft instructor through his incredible passion for experienceing and sharing about the natural world.  Dragan is a patient and inspiring instructor that brings enthusiasm and humour to everything he takes on.  Visit them at www.nikowilderness.com

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Chris Randall, after many years hiking and paddling in Europe, with regular visits to North America, Chris moved with his wife to Manitoba in 2010 to be somewhere with real winters. His first “hot tent was sewn from a set of Egyptian cotton bedsheets bought from the local liquidation store and though he has now graduated to a Snowtrekker tent his enthusiasm for designing and making outdoor gear has grown into a cottage business, making a variety of gear for winter campers and paddlers. 

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Zef Ordman has in excess of 20 years in crisis management in extreme situations and environments in various locations around the globe: from Africa to Russia and North America. This includes experience as Federal Crisis/Hostage negotiator and  training in outdoor survival and fieldcraft.

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Brian Rice Bushcrafter and survival instructor, is dedicated to teaching the love of the outdoors and how to coexist in harmony with nature.  Brian has been operating Three Ravens Bushcraft for 6 years and is part of the volunteer leadership team that coordinates Frostbite! on an annual basis.  www.threeravensbushcraft.com

 

Robb Brouwer is a certified archery instructor and avid leather craftsman. He became an outdoor enthusiast at an early age after being given a copy of Northern Bushcraft, written by the great Mors Kochanski. This created a lifelong passion for bushcraft and survival. Robb founded  Bear Paw Bushcraft to impart his knowledge with all who wish to learn traditional outdoor skills.  www.bearpawbushcraft.com can be found on Facebook and Instagram.  Also started a public group called “Alberta Wilderness Skills Community”on Facebook  for  anyone to post Bushcraft related info

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Crystal Bezeau is a Paddle Canada Instructor, wilderness guide, first aid instructor and part of the dynamic duo that is NIKO Wilderness Education.  In Alberta, NIKO is leading they way with guided winter trekking experiences and bushcraft canoe journeys in the summer.  Follow them at www.nikowilderness.com 

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Trevor Page has led numerous trips as a wilderness guide - both dog sled expeditions in the winter and canoe trips in the summer; however, he spends most of his time these days teaching Outdoor Safety and Survival skills, as well as serving with the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association and Ground Search and Rescue in Manitoba.

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Ross Hinter coordinates the Public and Trapper Education Program for the Alberta Trappers Association. He has been teaching as a trapping instructor for 25 years and has traveled throughout Alberta and B.C. dealing with human and wildlife conflicts.  As a wildlife control expert, he continues to work with Government and Industry on behalf of Alberta trappers. His involvement with Environmental Groups, Wildlife Biologists, the University of Alberta, Environmental Sciences and others, have all contributed to his reputation as an ambassador for the sustainable use of wildlife resources. http://www.youtube.com/c/NorthTrappingBushcraft  Ross is passionate about examining the predator-prey relationships and dispelling the myths of trapping and wildlife habitat that is so vital to real conservation.  Together with his wife Deborah, they operate, North Trapping and Bushcraft, teaching trapping and other bushcraft living workshops.

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Brenda Holder is a professional guide and also maintains an active herbal medicine practice that calls upon both western and indigenous systems of knowledge.  Ask her a question, and be prepared for an engaging answer that is brimming with experience and passion for the topic.  www.mahikan.ca

 

Randy Breeuwsma is a skilled braintanner and practitioner of modern and ancestral survival skills.  Formerly he was a frequent instructor at Rabbitstick, and continues working with Lori Breeuwsma to run Karamat Wilderness Way, the cornerstone of bushcraft and survival skills instruction in Alberta.  www.karamat.com 

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Dale and Colleen Kiselyk operate Nature Alive Adventures out of Barrhead, AB.  Together they offer bushcraft and wilderness living workshops, canoe trips and courses, and they facilitate engaging community drum circles.  Dale and Colleen are skilled in bringing a passion for nature alive in every student.  www.naturealiveprograms.com  

 

Jay Seely is a person of remarkable talent.  An incredible worker of wood, having built canoes, paddles, custom furniture and more.  Jay is also a driller of wells, and an instructor of traditional wilderness living skills with Mammut Bushcraft. www.mammutbushcraft.com

 

Ken Sheffield is a professional chef and entrepreneur with a passion for being outdoors.  Primarily in a canoe, but with a steady lean toward a kayak in recent years.  A regular contributor to his local community through volunteerism, sharing of food and leading regular paddle outings on local rivers. 

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Jaye Selin has played in the bush for decades and is an accomplished outdoorsman, craftsman and spoon carver. He relies on experiential learning to expand his knowledge. In his knife course, he will share specific knife techniques to increase safety and efficiency, with the intention of reducing overall risk.  He is an active member of the Alberta Bushcraft community and in addition to teaching his children and his friends, he has instructed numerous knife skill and leather work classes in both formal and informal settings. 

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David Delafield has been working in the outdoor education field for over 25 years. Currently he is an assistant professor of Outdoor Leadership at Burman University and lead instructor for Mammut Bushcraft.  David is part of the volunteer leadership team that coordinates Frostbite! on an annual basis.  www.mammutbushcraft.com

 

Rob Edwards    grew up in the woods, hunting, fishing and trapping, in addition to spending time in Scouts.  He is dedicated to the promotion of our traditional archery and pre-archery technologies through sharing his knowledge, teaching others to build their own weapons and hunting with the tools they create.   To further promote these skills, Rob founded Alberta Atlatl (2006) and the Alberta Primitive Skills Society (2014) to assist in passing on traditional/primitive hunting and bush style living to a new generation of folks.  http://www.albertaprimitiveskillssociety.com/ 

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Maryann Borch has been making willow baskets for 25 years, and recently has been extending her knowledge by attending workshops in the UK, Washington and Denmark.  Her mentor and guide through this process, Rae Hunter, continues to inspire and encourage her. The willow labyrinth at Good Note Community Farm hosts 16 types of basketry and native willows.  www.goodnote.ca

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Dean McLeod loves teaching practical skills, he loves snow, and he loves winter! He has made and slept in hundreds of quinzhees since his first backyard winter adventure in 1969. Dean has instructed Outdoor Education courses since 1976, specializing in winter camping, snow structures, long winter travels, XC skiing, snowshoeing, ice safety and rescue, moving water canoe/kayak, wilderness canoe tripping, and outdoor cooking!

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Ted Dahr is a wilderness living, survival, and bushcraft instructor for Beaver River Bushcraft located in Cold Lake, Alberta. His passion for learning from the wilderness and passing along that knowledge has been a staple in his life for past 40 years and one which he has shared with various youth and community groups, as well as military units, including 4 Wing's Ground Search and Rescue Team.  

Visit us on Facebook @beaverriverbushcraft. 

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Marcel Prefontaine of SOS Wilderness Survival will be joining us for the first time and we are eager to welcome him to our community.