What the mountain sends down
- The glove goes down the face. Wind takes it at the third belay and his hand starts going wooden while you climb. The math on that hand (cover it, rewarm only if it can’t refreeze, rethink the day) starts before the next pitch.
- Rockfall at the anchor. A block the size of a toaster comes down the gully and finds a shoulder. The helmet held; the collarbone didn’t, and your descent plan assumed two working arms.
- The walk-off wins. Talus rolls under a full pack ninety minutes above the bivy, and an ankle folds. Whether that’s a slow limp or a long night depends on the splint — and on vitals taken more than once.
Rack these five first
Ordered for how alpine days come apart:
- Patient Assessment — a system that works on a ledge with cold hands
- Musculoskeletal Injuries — splinting with what a rack and a pack provide
- Cold Injuries — frostbite, the dropped-glove problem, and hands that must keep working
- Bleeding & Wounds — pressure and packing, for what the mountain drops on you
- Evacuation — retreat math: hours of daylight, terrain, and who’s left to move the patient
Then pressure-test it
Interactive scenarios — one decision at a time, tempting mistakes included, debrief at the end:
- Hero Complex — the gully that isn’t done dropping rock
- The Guy Who’s Fine — the decked leader who wants to keep climbing
- Leave It Frozen — the thaw-or-walk call, made properly
The certification question, honestly. “Wilderness First Aid” isn’t a regulated credential. No government body defines what a WFA card means — it means whatever the company that printed it says it means. What counts in front of a patient is whether you can do the work. This course teaches the work, free, and issues a record of completion — not a certificate, and we won’t pretend otherwise. If guiding is the goal, the AMGA and every employer on that track expect a current WFR — a paid, hands-on course this record of completion doesn’t replace. It does make you the student who already knows the vocabulary when the scenarios start. If nobody requires you to hold a card, what you need are the skills, not the laminate.
What this is
Fifteen lessons, a 40-question knowledge check, sixteen practice scenarios, a printable field reference card, and a kit checklist. Free, no account, nothing recorded about you, source on GitHub. It teaches decision-making, not hands-on skill — practice the hands-on parts on a real, padded, complaining friend.
Other people who rope up: boulderers & crag guides · via ferrata climbers & operators · backcountry skiers & splitboarders