When your daring will not do

After so many close calls, I decided a little backcountry education couldn't hurt, so I signed up for a wilderness survival course in Gros Morne National Park on Newfoundland's west coast. Here creeping juniper clings to the ground, and battering winter winds have sculpted the stunted tamarack trees. In this unforgiving landscape, icefalls cling to 2,000-foot cliffs; the local residents include black bears, coyotes, and moose; and it's not uncommon to be the only person around for miles.

Each winter, Ed English, owner of the adventure tour company Explore Newfoundland, runs multiday trips into this vast wilderness where he teaches survival courses. He is certified in Red Cross wilderness and remote first aid and has even traveled up to Labrador to train the Inuit in winter safety and survival. English was my guide on a kayaking trip around icebergs off northern New foundland a few years ago, so I trusted him completely. This time, my friend Peggy from Vermont was joining me on my adventure.

Our plan was to ski five miles to the mouth of a remote fiord, then spend two days learning how to build snow shelters, navigate in the wilderness, and cope with emergencies. We would also have a chance to explore the fiord and surrounding mountains, which lie at the northern end of the Appalachian range.

At the trailhead in Gros Morne, we shouldered our 35-pound packs, clipped into our skis, and began a steady ascent up Berry Hill with views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to our left and the snow-covered Long Range Mountains ahead.

I felt confident at first as we crossed relatively level, open fields where the sun-baked, crunchy snow held firm underfoot and the only obstacles were scraggly little bushes that we could easily navigate. But then we wound into a dense forest of black spruce and fir, where our skis disappeared beneath a foot of sticky powder and every step was hard work.