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WILDCARD WILDERNESS: LEARN TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE
Wildcard Wilderness is led by Jacks Genega, a wilderness skills instructor teaching skills full-time across the globe with an extensive experience trekking in a variety of environments from desert, woodland, mountain, to alpine.
Embark on your own wilderness adventure with Wildcard Wilderness LLC, a school that champions self-reliance and understands the unpredictable nature of the wild. But with the right skills, wisdom, and a fearless spirit, you can become the wildcard, overcoming obstacles and become resilient.
KNOWLEDGE
Learn How Your Environment
Can Aid in Tasks
SKILLS
Learn Critical Survival Skills
That Aid in Self-Reliance
COMMUNITY
Find Companionship With
Like Minded Individuals
CONNECTION
Develop a Deeper Understanding of the Wild
Did you know that being vulnerable and sharing stories fosters trust?
"In 2004, I was a victim of a violent crime. I always believed the worst in life because the worst actually happened. I lived the life of every parents’ worst nightmare. I was the girl who was kidnapped and raped and left for dead. I was only 19 when everything I knew about myself, people, and the planet all changed. I was constantly trying to find a raft to keep me afloat in a world that turns a blind eye to people like me. I was continuously seeking a 'quick fix' that would make me feel like something other than a trash bag. It wasn’t until I leaned into the beauty of nature that I began to heal. It wasn’t easy at first. I was terrified of getting lost or injured or worse. While being afraid taught me that I still had something to lose or worth fighting for, I wanted to stop being afraid of something that brought me joy. So I studied it. I started small by learning fire and then navigation and more. The more I learned the more I hiked, and was able to unlock the fears that I was shackled by for so many years and regained control. I no longer had to search for a life raft, I just began swimming. Survival training and expeditions became my new 'fix' and in return, nature taught me that I belong. The wilderness not only changed my life, but it saved it. I became an instructor because I wanted to let people know about the greatest healer on Earth, Mother Nature. I’ve now dedicated my life to teaching skills in hopes that others follow, introduce them to a path of resilience, and be inspired to take the first step in becoming a wildcard, a person who can overcome against all odds."
- Jacks Genega
Lead Instructor and Founder of Wildcard Wilderness LLC
Jacks Genega is an avid adventurer whose journey into exploring the world of wilderness survival began when encountering an earthquake and witness to an avalanche just moments after she began a 5-day solo hike in Iceland’s Landmannalauger region. She has solo-hiked across the United Kingdom twice beginning in 2019 with Scotland’s West Highland Way from Glasgow to Fort William along Loch Lomond and Ben Nevis; followed by The Great Glen, bordering several lakes including the infamous Loch Ness, ending in Inverness. In 2020, she completed Alfred Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk from the Irish Sea at St. Bee’s to the North Sea at Robin Hood’s Bay crossing 220 miles through England's Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and North York Moors in under 10 days.
Other solo travel achievements would be completing Schwarzwald Germany’s 200-mile Westweg, or “The Black Forest Trail,” ending in Basil, Switzerland; as well as the Tour Du Mont Blanc, a 110-mile walking trek through France, Italy and Switzerland traversing some of the Alps’ highest peaks, glaciers and rivers. In 2023, Jacks spent 21 days hiking alone across Sweden's Arctic Circle and Lapland region via the infamous 300-mile King's Trail, the Kunglseden. She is also no stranger to various scrambles along the Appalachian Trail.
Her outdoor skills education began with the field of bushcraft when attending a course with Woodland Ways (UK) leading up to the completion of their Northern Forest Year, a yearlong intensive with David McCrae in Scotland’s East Lothian region, home to the famous mountaineer, John Muir. She then carried her dedication and talent back to the U.S. training under various experts in the fields of emergency and wilderness survival including Dave Canterbury (Best-Selling Author of Bushcraft 101, Owner of Self Reliance Outfitters, and Founder of the Pathfinder School); Shawn Kelly (Content Creator ‘Corporal’s Corner’); Joshua Enyart (Former Army Ranger, Green Beret and Owner of Gray Bearded Green Beret); Craig Caudill (Best-Selling Author of Extreme Wilderness Survival and Founder of the Nature Reliance School); Phillip Liebel and Dave Holladay from Primitive Wilderness Survival, and Boulder Outdoor Survival School.
Jacks was an Instructor at Dave Canterbury's Pathfinder School Worldwide before starting her own, Wildcard Wilderness Survival. She is currently an instructor at Jason Marsteiner’s (Author of Wilderness Survival Guide: Practical Skills for the Outdoor Adventurer) The Survival University in Colorado, where she teaches both their curriculum and Wildcard Wilderness courses. Jacks is also an instructor for Georgia Bushcraft where she leads all women’s survival courses with varying levels of difficulty. She is also staff at The Foxfire Museum in Georgia. She is a certified Wilderness First Responder and HAM Radio Operator (KE8WHY). Jacks is also a brand ambassador for LT Wright Knives and Woods Monkey. She has developed a reputation as a well-respected talent and an all-around lovely, bad-ass woman who often sets things on fire for fun.
She lives in her van full time and travels across the country teaching weekend classes and workshops in survival, navigation, campcraft, and her biggest passion, tree identification. Jacks is also a trainer for the online education platform, Survival Mastery, leading an intensive module on treelore.
HIGHLIGHTED CONTENT
FEATURED PODCASTS
PROUD PARTNERSHIPS
TESTIMONIALS
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GUEST INSTRUCTORS
Co-founder of LOSTWAYS SURVIVAL AND HOMESTEAD
Becky Christopher has always been an avid outdoorsman from the time she was young having spent much time in the woods with her father. When pursuing a career in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) and with a rescue squad, her passion for the outdoors grew leading to employment with a SAR (Search and Rescue) team in the Blue Ridge Mountains and becoming Swiftwater certified. She primarily teaches Wilderness First Aid as she feels others should know how to care for themselves and others. Becky loves taking her 22 years of EMS and finding ways to apply it to the outdoors.
Becky has since moved to the Sandhills of North Carolina and is the Co-Founder of Lostways Survival and Homestead alongside her husband, Paul Christopher. When she is not in North Carolina she can be found teaching across the country at various institutions such as Georgia Bushcraft LLC; The Woodsrunner School; and events such as Old School Survival Bootcamp, Georgia Bushcraft's Spring Campout and Fall Gathering, and The GatherThing. Becky has a vast knowledge of survival skills and enjoys teaching and working alongside others as they find their own path.
BECKY CHRISTOPHER
CARLEY STOVER
Digital Creator for @TAC_WILDROOTS
Carley Stover grew up in the hollers of Kentucky listening to her grandparents talk about plants and herbs while making flower crowns from wild yarrow. When she realized plants were more than just pleasing to look at but were also edible and potent medicinals, her study of plantlife, love of foraging, and craft in handmade remedies had launched. Carley also has training in bushcraft and survival and is WFA (Wilderness First Aid) and CPR certified through ASHI (American Safety and Health Institute.)
Carley lives in the hills of West Virginia and is a homesteader and prepper. Through serious dirt time and multiple certificates of completion, she now shares her love of gardening, knowledge of nature, passion for plants, and skills in medicine-making with her community, like while yarrow is great for crowns it can also help stop a veinous bleed.