Hmmm. Well, I live in California, but never took a survival class to figure out how to live here.

I think most of us on this board think of backpacking as recreational. That means that we know what dangers there are, and we do a pretty good job of not meeting them. We're in the mountains because we want to have fun and enjoy the spectacular beauty.

The very best survival course is one that teaches you to avoid getting even close to a situation that is life-threatening...and I suspect we all work pretty hard to achieve that goal.