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Winter Outdoor Leadership Series


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Lead Better Outdoor Experiences in the Winter.

Learn from professional experience on topics including food planning, navigation, equipment, and mindset.

Improve your ability to plan and prepare.

Create more positive experiences for the participants you work with.

Take the uncertainty and intimidation out of the process.

Better understand the skills you can work on to build your comfort in leading others.

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Leading groups outdoors in a winter environment can feel daunting, especially once we start to wander further from the trailhead or parking lot. As the temperatures drop and the snow and ice accumulate, little things can have big impacts. The food we bring, the gear we choose, the routes we select, and the myriad of other decisions we make in the field can add up to an experience that keeps people coming back for more, or swearing to never step outside again.

This winter we’re giving you the chance to learn directly from the mind of an expert on what it takes to lead the winter adventures you dream of, both for yourself and whatever group of participants you work with.

In this series you’ll sit down with a professional mountain guide and lifelong outdoor educator to discuss topics including –

  • Enhancing Your Trip Planning & Choosing How to Travel

  • Improving Your Route Selection & Navigation

  • Making Better Food Planning & Preparation Decisions

  • Choosing the Right Equipment and Working Within a Budget

This series is open to anyone interested in learning more about leading outdoors in the winter environment. No previous experience or knowledge is required.

This series will consist of three different online sessions. You can register for all three, or select the session that’s most helpful for you.

Session 1 – Thursday, Jan 28th @ 6PM EST - Trip Planning & Essential Winter Skills

Session 2 – Tuesday, Feb 9th @ 6PM EST - Route Selection, & Navigation

Session 3 – Thursday, Feb 11th @ 6 PM EST - Food Planning & Equipment

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In each session you will be able to…

  • Learn frameworks and ideas to improve your planning process

  • Discuss the questions and challenges you face personally when leading winter trips

  • Pick up tips and tricks to enhance any adventure you lead

Your Chance to Talk With An Expert

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Your instructor for this series is Dick Chasse, head guide for Acadia Mountain Guides. Dick has been guiding since 1998, building a resume of experience taking him from ski guiding in Iceland to managing logistics and risk in Mozambique.

He wanted to be a mountain guide since he was a teenager, after taking a leadership role in his high school outing club and job shadowing at a university outdoor program. A seminal ice climbing experience in Maine’s Grafton Notch sealed the deal, Dick became a man of the mountains. After developing as a climbing instructor for the University of Maine Outdoor Program, Dick began guiding for Acadia Mountain Guides in 1998.

Dick is a lifelong Mainer, hailing from the Waterville area. He now calls the coast and the Blue Hill peninsula home. Dick has guided and climbed throughout the US and in South America. His ski mountaineering experience has taken him from Maine to Alaska, Iceland, Japan, and the Alps.

Dick’s specialty is the attention he devotes to his clients; he truly loves guiding. “I constantly find myself thinking about how to make the next experience better for my clients. I consider it an honor to take people out to the cliffs and mountains,” he says. “The wonderful secret of guiding is that I learn as much from my clients as they learn from me.”

Guiding Credentials

  • AMGA Ice Instructor Course

  • Rigging for Rescue Technical Rescue seminar

  • PCIA Lead trainer/instructor for the SAT(Slope Access Technician) program

  • PCIA Single Pitch and Lead Climbing Instructor Course Provider

  • AMGA Rock Guide Course

  • AMGA Advanced Rock Guide Course

  • AMGA Alpine Guides Course

  • AMGA Ice Instructor Course

  • AIARE Level III Avalanche Certification

  • Registered Maine Guide – Recreation

  • Wilderness First Responder

Course Tuition -

$185 for all three sessions

$75 for each individual session

Register and pay securely online -

We stand by the education we provide. If you’re not satisfied with your experience, we’ll refund your money. It’s as simple as that.

This course is being offered to members of the OSI Community.

Our mission is to make outdoor sports an integral part of peoples’ lives and communities. We are a 501c3 non-profit organization.

The OSI Community is for individuals whose interest in outdoor sport fits into one or more of the following areas –

  • Pursuing outdoor sport personally

  • Helping and mentoring others

  • Building capacity for outdoor sports in their community

Through the OSI Community members can access online and in-person instruction, a growing online resource library, and a network of peers to connect with and share ideas.

Join for free HERE.

 

Questions?

Don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@outdoorsi.org.

Earlier Event: January 26
January OSI Community Roundtable
Later Event: February 1
Technique Troubleshooting: XC Skiing