Technical Training Workshops
New Post-ITS Workshops Added!
American Trails and PTBA are offering Technical Training Workshops pre and post-ITS. These are optional and attendees can register for them for an additional fee. The following workshop(s) listed below are available to register for now.
PLEASE NOTE: You must be an attendee in order to register for these workshops. You can learn more about these workshops via the link below, and you can register for these workshops under the Optional Additional Items webpage during registration.
Real Trail Assessment: Seeing the Trail Through the Eyes of a Professional
Date: Friday, April 21, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cost: $250
Description: This workshop features on-the-trail education focused on the basics of trail assessment including erosion and user-created problems. The workshop will include reading grades with a clinometer and applying an understanding of slope and trail grade to trail assessment. The group will identify and discuss the right and wrong segments of trail as well as possible solutions to perceived problems. Discussion will include strategies for water management, user management, and re-routes.
Universal Trail Assessment Process & High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process Coordination (UTAP/HETAP)
Date: Friday, April 21, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. classroom session and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. field session
Cost: $150
Description: The Universal Trail Assessment Process (UTAP) and the High-Efficiency Trail Assessment Process (HETAP) collect objective information about trail conditions such as grade, cross slope, typical and minimum clearance width, surface type, firmness, and obstructions. Through classroom and practical, hands-on trail assessment experience, participants will learn how to objectively measure trails using UTAP and HETAP. Participants will also learn the details of UTAP measurements, semi-automated wheeled information sensor package measurements, and HETAP 3.0 Software. This workshop will discuss the benefits of objective information, the application of UTAP and HETAP in diverse environments, how to disseminate Trail Access Information (TAI), and how that dissemination meets the requirements of the new federal accessibility guidelines for outdoor developed areas.
Initiation to UX Design for Trails
Date: Friday, April 21, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $350
Description: This 1-day classroom workshop is designed to teach the basics of User Experience (UX) for trail planning. UX is widely used in technology and product design to evaluate how users both think and feel, the context for how the product is used, and how a user’s experience of a product may change over time. Learn how to apply UX design and its focus on user experience to your next trail project. Through a number of activities, the participants will learn the concept of UX applied to personas conception, market positioning, outdoor-oriented Business Model Canvas, value-driven proposals, and more. Those components will be presented in case studies and scenarios.
Backcountry Rigging Techniques
Date: Friday, April 21, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. classroom session and Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. field session
Cost: $500
Description: During a two-day trail rigging workshop participants will be educated in the following: Mechanical advantage with simple machines: the lever, pulley, and incline plane; Understanding trail-based rigging components: use, safety, and maintenance; Knowing component strength and calculating Working Load Limits (WLL); Introduction to ground-based operations: skidding objects and pulling stumps; Establishing a system of crew communication; Reinforcement of Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) and tailgate safety sessions; Determining safe working positions by visualizing the directions of force; Gaining mechanical advantage with 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1 rigging systems; Understanding vector forces as they relate to loads, blocks, slings, and hoists; Introduction to aerial operations: skylines and highlead systems; Setting blocks and anchor systems; as well as Belaying heavy loads.
Terrain Dynamics for Trail Folks
Date: Friday, April 21, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. classroom session and Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. field session
Cost: $300
Description: An overview of the nature and mechanics of the ground that we build trails across. Treats the ground as a dynamic structure and covers slope stability, soil mechanics, surface and subsurface hydrology, the roles of bedrock and vegetation, all these factors in combination, and surface indicators of subsurface phenomena. Stress is on using this knowledge in the selection of trail routes, structures, and drainage systems that work for, not against, ground stability.