New COLTS Website

Welcome to the new website for the Crowsnest Outdoor Leadership Training School (COLTS).

Find all the information on the program on this website, and be sure to say hello by emailing us or using the contact us form.

A quick overview of the program is detailed below:

COLTS is an accelerated leadership development program that aims to create Christ-centred leaders in the outdoor industry. This is accomplished through purposed instruction and in-depth training, then culminated with two months of experiential practicums leading outtrips during our summer camps.

The program goals are:

1. Leadership Development – Develop leaders who are learning participants in leadership with a special emphasis on the following three leadership styles:

1. Spiritual Leadership – blending the natural and spiritual qualities of leadership to influence others so that they may accomplish God’s purposes.

2. Outdoor Leadership – strategically utilizing wilderness areas to bring together outdoor training and leadership principles.

3. Servant Leadership – following Christ’s example of leading by means of servanthood.

2. Wilderness Guide Training – Equip participants via intensive training designed to provide them with knowledge and skills in seven basic areas pertaining to leading groups in wilderness settings:

1. Wilderness Ministry – methods by which to minister to the “whole person” (i.e. physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually), but with a special emphasis on how to minister in a spiritual sense.

2. Group Management and Leadership – the theoretical, communicative, and practical aspects of leading and managing groups in a wilderness setting and remote context—focusing on sound decision making while leading a group.

3. Outdoor Skills – become competent in a wide variety of skills necessary to travel and camp in the backcountry.

4. Emergency Response – prepare participants to critically think, communicate, and respond effectively and thoroughly in emergency situations that may arise while leading groups in the wilderness.

5. Risk Management – identify, assess, and manage risk that is inherent with outdoor pursuits, providing appropriate supervision and direction in programmed activities.

6. Environmental Stewardship – foster a biblically-based paradigm that acknowledges God as the maker and sustainer of all creation. (Romans 1:20)

7. Administration – the imperative aspects of planning, preparation, and organization of outdoor-based programs. (Proverbs 16:9)

3. Instructive Teaching – As graduates of COLTS, participants are expected to be leaders who teach and instruct the summer staff and campers at CLBC in the following six areas:

1. Whole Person – minister to the whole person in order to create enjoyable, learning, and challenging experiences for camp staff and campers.

2. Outdoor Skills – teach wilderness skills to camp staff and campers with the intention of increasing their ability to effectively participate in outdoor programming.

3. Wilderness Ministry – influence followers in devotional and spiritual insight towards greater effectiveness in an outdoor setting while applying both a biblical and theoretical knowledge in both a supervised and unsupervised nature.

4. Leadership – instruct and demonstrate effective leadership approaches to guiding people in God’s creation.

5. Discipleship – adhere to and teach CLBC’s missional approach to camp ministry and community.

6. Environmental Stewardship – foster a biblically-based paradigm that acknowledges God as the maker and sustainer of all creation. (Romans (1:20)