Heading outdoors to do a little shooting? Fly fishing? Hunting? Archery? Rapelling? Just need to survive Alaska's wilderness?
You need skills, and a state program run with support of the Outdoors Heritage Foundation aims to teach them in a friendly, supportive environment. The Becoming an Outdoors Woman program, or BOW, aims to teach the skills women (men can enroll, too) need to thrive in the outdoors and embrace new challenges.
"When I first got here I was nervous," said Haley Heniff of Fairbanks, who enrolled in her second immersion weekend Aug. 7-9 at the Lost Lake Scout Camp on the Kenai Peninsula. "There's so many people and we all come from different backgrounds, we're all different ages.
"We all don't know each other but within 10 minutes you feel so comfortable, and everyone is open and accepting. We have … someone who's a pro at something to a complete novice, and we're all completely comfortable with each other."
Read more: Becoming an Outdoors Woman
Watch this video on YouTube, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great videos. Contact Tara Young at tara(at)alaskadispatch.com.