Survival Skills School Celebrates 30 Years

Outdoor survival guru Cody Lundin says students come to his school to learn how to be self-reliant.

Courtesy photo

Survival Skills in Demand

Cody Lundin’s Aboriginal Living Skills School marks 30 years of preparing people for emergencies

By Bonnie Stevens, FBN

As a series of severe winter storms walloped Texas in February, causing a crippling statewide power crisis that led to shortages of water, food and heat, one woman in her late 60s was texting Cody Lundin from her San Antonio home, thanking him for the life-saving skills she and her husband learned in the Sonoran Desert Daze course they took through his Aboriginal Living Skills School (ALSS).

“They got out the sleeping bags that had never been used since the course, were eating a chipped beef sandwich that was cooked over a bunch of candles, had filled up their bathtub with rainwater and snowmelt that they caught, and didn’t understand why people were short on water,” said Lundin. “They had transferred their mindset from fear to coping skills.”

The news came as the Arizona outdoor survival instructor was about to mark 30 years in business with his Prescott-based school. For decades, Lundin has taught a cave full of courses at Prescott College and Yavapai College and has walked thousands across Arizona’s harsh desert and frigid high country. His Aboriginal Living Skills School is one of the oldest survival schools in the United States, where he teaches outdoor survival skills, primitive living skills, bushcrafting and urban preparedness.

“We’re in a physiological body, yet most know very little about their biological needs. Most don’t have any idea where their water comes from, where to find it, how to make it safe and where to store it. Most don’t know how to regulate their body temperature. We are so dependent on the grid and people don’t realize the extent they rely on it for their survival, let alone the complacency that comes with it. This creates the lack of being prepared and the feeling of shock when being caught off guard. The body shuts down.”

He says everybody will be scared in a survival situation, including him. “Fear uncontrolled can kill people. Ninety percent of survival is psychology and 10% is everything else, like hard skills. I teach people how to be more self-reliant. Once people know how to deal with their needs, it simplifies their thought process – their focus can narrow in on what’s important to their safety and that brings down their fear.”

Lundin’s students range from 7-year-olds to 80-somethings, although most are middle-aged, educated professionals. “The No. 1 reason they come to me is they want to learn how to do more with less. This has been true since the school’s inception. And the confidence they gain is huge when you can put someone in the field and bring them back a more confident person.”

Those skills, he says, are going to be applicable in any stressful situation, whether it happens in the African bush, the Red Rock Secret Wilderness or the concrete jungle.

“One of the biggest causes of a survival situation is the case of a day hiker who is not physically, mentally and emotionally prepared. These hikes are notorious for killing people. For example, say you have Jeff from Connecticut who’s visiting Northern Arizona on a business trip. He’s not familiar with the area or the climate. He’s not hydrated before the hike and he didn’t bring enough water on the hike. He doesn’t have the right gear and didn’t tell the front desk at the hotel where he was going and when he should be back. There are a million ways this can go wrong. When his core body temperature rises, he begins to have all kinds of issues, including poor judgement. When disaster happens, he goes into a form of mental and emotional shock.”

Lundin draws wisdom from a lifetime of being in nature and his insatiable appetite for knowledge, much of it coming from medical journals. The best gift he ever received was the book “Wilderness Medicine,” which came from his mom, a doctor of pharmacy, who worked at Yavapai Regional Medical Center.

In the 1980s, Lundin had a revelation about creating his Aboriginal Living Skills School while hiking in Sedona. “I saw a need to educate people going into the backcountry, I wanted to be my own businessperson and I adore nature. I wanted to tie in to the natural world and teach others how it can influence them for the better.”

Those who spend any time with Lundin may quickly assess that he is part rugged caveman, part savvy businessman. Lundin lives what he teaches and has the wildland credibility to do so. He loves the outdoors, thrives on a connection to nature and maintains a minimalist lifestyle in his passive solar subterranean home. Whether he’s

Eugene M. Hughes Leaves Lasting Legacy

By Ray Newton, FBN

The death of former Northern Arizona University President Eugene M. Hughes does not diminish the legacy he leaves behind in the state.

Hughes, 86, died March 10, 2021, in Flagstaff. The Nebraska native was born April 3, 1934, in Scottsbluff.

Hughes first arrived in Flagstaff in 1970 as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He rapidly advanced and was promoted to Provost of Arts and Sciences. In 1877, he became academic vice president. The Arizona Board of Regents selected Hughes as president upon retirement of J. Lawrence Walkup in 1979.

Hughes filled that role for 14 years – from July 1, 1979, until June 30, 1993. During those years, the NAU campus grew dramatically in student population, faculty positions, and campus facilities. Its prestige increased, too, when Money Magazine in 1986 selected NAU as a public university that was successful in sustaining a flourishing liberal arts ambience that emphasized personal attention to students.

During his years as president, enrollment grew from 11,301 to 18,491. More than 20 buildings were constructed on campus. Several new academic projects were introduced, among them the Center for Excellence in Education, the Southwest Center for Forestry Science Complex in cooperation with the Forest Service; founding of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management; and “New Momentum,” an academic program that involved Native Americans from throughout the Southwest and United States.

Notable expansion occurred when Hughes helped establish NAU field sites at several community colleges, including NAU-Yuma at Arizona Western College. Parallel to that was the creation of NAU-Net, a satellite and microwave network that allowed NAU to offer courses to off-campus sites. During the same era, Hughes and his colleagues initiated cooperative agreements with four universities in China so that NAU could expand its international presence.

Hughes was equally active in the community. He served on several boards of directors for organizations, including the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, Museum of Northern Arizona, East Flagstaff Rotary Club, Flagstaff Summer Festival and Boy Scout Council.

After leaving Flagstaff in June 1993, Hughes served as president of Wichita State University until 1999. He then was asked to serve as interim president at Eastern Kentucky University, a position he had from 2000 to 2001. He and his wife, Margaret Ann, returned to Flagstaff for permanent retirement in 2001. He immediately became active in the community again, including being president of the Museum of Northern Arizona and co-president of the Flagstaff Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Hughes had earned three academic degrees: a bachelor’s of science degree in 1956 from Chadron State Teachers College (CSTC); a master’s degree in 1958 from Kansas State University; and a doctorate degree from George Peabody College-Vanderbilt University in 1968. He had three honorary doctorates: NAU, 1997; CSTC, 2003; and Eastern Kentucky University, 2011.

Hughes is survived by his three children and their families – Deborah (Hughes) Cruze, Greg Hughes, and Lisa (Hughes) Zyriek; and their mother, Caroline Hartwick Hughes; by seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren; and by his second wife, Margaret Ann Romeo Hughes, and her children.

The Hughes family expects to announce a Celebration of Life event later this year. FBN

Eugene “Gene” M. Hughes – 1934 - 2021

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