March 2012 sees the return of the OTMC Bushcraft course. Our bushcraft / tramping skills course is designed for people just starting out tramping to those that have done several trips and want to brush up on some tramping skills.

This years course consists of three or four evening meetings in our clubrooms, followed by a weekend tramp into the local Silver Peaks area, located north of Dunedin city. A day of map and compass instruction is also available, as well as a river safety day.

The first evening for Bushcraft 2012 is on March 13 (Tuesday evening) and will cover tramping clothing, footwear and equipment. The second evening  (March 20) will introduce map, compass and navigation, as well as covering weather signs and environmental care.

The third evening (March 27) will concentrate on planning the weekend trip to the Silver Peaks, covering all the things you need to think about when planning any trip.

The map and compass day will be on Sunday, March 25 and will be held on Flagstaff . A short refresh before starting will be followed by a practical exercise around a set of markers, with the opportunity to use both map and compass skills to locate them. Tramping and clothing suitable for off-track travel will be required.

The weekend trip to the Silver Peaks is on March 31 - April 1, leaving Dunedin at 8am on the Saturday morning. Participants will be split into parties of 4-5 people, each with an experienced OTMC leader. The purpose of the weekend is to put into practise the skills we have covered at the evening meetings. This includes route-finding using map and compass, pitching tents or flies, and using portable cookers. (the Silver Peaks consists of tracks of varying degrees of condition (sometimes no track) and includes some steep sections - typical tramping time for this trip is 5-7 hours per day). 

River safety and river-crossing skills are amongst the most important skills a tramper needs. Unfortunately there is no suitable location within the Silver Peaks to practise this essential skill, so a further day (April 15) will be held at the Taieri River from Outram Glen to introduce and practise river crossing.

The format of the course is adaptable, so if there is something we are not covering that you would like to see, please let us know and we will include it.

To register for the course, please fill out the application form (available below), and either email to mailto:otmc@ihug.co.nz, post, or bring to the first night (payment can be made on March 13).

BUSHCRAFT 2012 Application form: PDF Ι MS Word