About Us
Fabian Schmitz
…holds a German Master’s Degree in Geography and Environmental Sciences…but happened to be a lot more interested in “woods bumming” rather than a career in science.
In 2007 he arrived on Canadian soil and hasn’t looked back! He now lives with his partner Claudia near Fox Lake, about 60 km north of Whitehorse, Yukon in a beautifully forested area in the foot hills of the Coastal Range. They share their place with 20+ sled dogs, some chickens and a handful of rabbits.
Since his childhood Fabian has an interest in anything wilderness, bushcraft and survival. Many trips around the world allowed him to learn bush skills in a variety of environments. Over the years he learned wilderness and survival skills from a variety of instructors (such as Mors Kochanski, Kelly Harlton, Rainer Besser and Argus Eymann), trappers, hunters, First Nation elders, mountaineers and many other bushcraft and survival enthusiasts.
Since 2009 he works as a full-time guide and wilderness instructor in the Yukon and enjoys taking people out into the woods and teaching ways to live and thrive in the backcountry. He has an extensive record of long wilderness backpacking trips and is also well versed with canoe and dog sled. As a dog musher he has participated in several mid-distance races such as the Yukon Quest 300, Copper Basin 300, GinGin 200, and Percy DeWolfe 200.
Fabian achieved certification as a canoe instructor with Paddle Canada in 2017, is a volunteer with Yukon Search & Rescue and is a certified first aid instructor. He has over 15 years of experience in wilderness guiding and teaching outdoor skills and is Yukon’s leading instructor when it comes to bushcraft and wilderness survival.
He published several magazine articles on survival and wilderness living skills. In November 2020 he released his first survival handbook in Germany: Survival – Überleben in der Wildnis.
Claudia Wickert
…studied Biology at the University in Potsdam, Germany, and spent a few cruel winter months at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. She has enjoyed the North ever since and moved to Canada in 2007.
After guiding dog sled tours in British Columbia she was determined to have her own team of Huskies and moved to the Yukon Territory to fulfill her dream. She has since completed multiple mid-distance dog sled races such as the Two Rivers 200, Yukon Quest 300 and participated in the 2018 Yukon Quest 1000.
She also enjoyed some long-distance hikes and paddled the entire 3200 km on the Yukon River from Whitehorse, YT to its mouth at the Bering Sea in Alaska.
She supports Bushcraft Yukon as an assistant guide and instructor, but is mostly busy keeping things smooth behind the scenes.