More Skill-Building Trips

Paragliding
At the confluence of two valleys where there's a strong aerial venturi effect, Point of the Mountain, south of Salt Lake City, consistently offers the best paragliding in North America. Cloud 9 Soaring Center virtually guarantees that students get enough air time to reach the solo-flying status of P-2 in one week. The paraglider's wing is made of UV-protected ripstop nylon, and the Kevlar lines are designed to let you sit comfortably in a harness while flying the mountain air currents or flatland thermals. Become one of only 4,000 registered paragliding pilots via the $750 P-2 Package, which trains you for solo flight with unlimited lessons for up to six months (8 to 12 lessons usually do it) and includes classroom instruction plus several tandem flights. CONTACT: 888-944-5433; www.paragliders.com

Wilderness Survival
If "becoming one with your surroundings" is your goal, Tom Brown's Tracking, Nature, and Wilderness Survival School will give you plenty of bark to chew on. The seven-day Standard Course immerses students in the skills and philosophy of wilderness survival while exposing them to the uncanny Tom Brown, who wrote the 1978 tome The Tracker and spent ten years training with a revered Apache elder and another ten in the wilderness using no manufactured tools. Renowned for his near-extrasensory perception, Brown can identify ant tracks invisible to normal humans and spot a coyote's pressure-release footprints from a speeding vehicle. Learn the basics of foraging, shelter construction, water gathering, and fire making, plus the subtleties of moving silently through the forest. The Standard Course is taught in Asbury, New Jersey ($650), and Boulder Creek, California ($700). CONTACT: 908-479-4681; www.trackerschool.com

Adventure Racing
A regimented bunch that includes three former Navy SEALs, the staff at Presidio Adventure Racing seem to take a military glee in crushing their doe-eyed clients. The four-day Adventure Race Training will have you navigating, mountain biking, kayaking, and trail running, plus learning all about technical rope skills, racing strategy, and energy consumption. The winning team of the culminating 24-hour race is deter mined by each member's time, so teamwork matters. The next session will be held March 27, 2001 and costs $1,395 (food, lodging, and equipment included; bring a sleeping bag). CONTACT: 415-775-8210; www.presidioar.com

Mountain Biking
The forests of southern British Columbia are a gnarly maze of stumps, roots, rocks, and mud--a perfect training ground for the former professional racers who staff the West Coast School of Mountain Biking. The four-day Hornby Island Co-Ed Camp in August 2001 includes instruction in free-riding, dual slalom, and trials, plus advice on bike maintenance and general fitness. The cost is US$330 ($575 for couples); bring a tent or stay in the guesthouse for $50 extra. The school also offers day clinics for groups of four (US$40 per person) or three-hour private lessons (US$80). CONTACT: 604-931-6066; www.wcsmb.com

Fly-Fishing
Like bugs to an Alabama porch light, trout will find your casting irresistible after you take a three-day Crash Course on Oregon's Deschutes River. Kaufmann's Streamborn Inc. provides a curriculum of hydrology, entomology, trout behavior, and fly casting--all for the strange pleasure of catching wild rainbow trout and letting them go again. Expect lots of river time and guides versed in everything from fly tying to subsurface presentation. Rates are $600 per person, including food and accommodation at the company's riverside lodge. Bring your own gear. CONTACT: 800-442-4359; www.kman.com   —Philip D. Armour