Survival Skills Defined

Posted: August 10, 2012 - 12:44 PM MST by Theresa Bierer

Yesterday, joined by videographer extraordinaire Erik Sather, I met up with Tony Nester at Mount Elden.  Tony teaches survival skills and has a business called Ancient Pathways.  http://ancientpathways.com In addition to teaching for NAU Outdoors and several colleges at Northern Arizona University, Tony Nester has a long list of clients from around the world.  He has worked on reality TV shows about survival, although he is selective on choosing jobs where producers are aligned with his philosophies. 

Along with the traditional survival skills like making shelter, starting a fire for warmth and sanitizing water, Tony created a lightweight group of must-have items for even the shortest of hikes. 

The weather was beautiful although pretty humid before the monsoons started at about 12:40.  The video Erik shot captured the beautiful greens of the ponderosas with the contrasting blue sky (which grew heavy with clouds by the end of our shoot.)