If you’re afraid of a zombie apocalypse, this camp is a no-brainer.
It’s called Zombie Survival Camp, and it shambled its way through Winnipeg, Man. this weekend to offer a three-day crash course in surviving an undead apocalypse.
Zombie Survival Camp is about more than just tying knots and building fires – it’s about life and (un)death.
The camp’s undead-fighting “experts” teach campers how to shiv a zombie, dress a bite wound and outrun a horde of the walking dead, all over the course of three days.
“Our mandate is to make Canada the most zombie-prepared nation on Earth,” fieldcraft instructor Deidter Stadnyk told CTV News on Sunday.
Stadnyk, a five-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, said campers learn more than just how to take down a zombie. They also pick up skills that are applicable to other, more likely disaster situations, like a flood or a power outage.
“Everything we teach here is real-life survival skills,” he said.
From Friday to Sunday, the Zombie Survival Camp transformed a Christmas tree farm near Winnipeg into Ground Zero for a zombie outbreak.
The camp combines survivalist training with zombie combat, forcing 20 campers to build their own shelters and fend off the walking dead while improvising weapons, foraging for food and banding together to complete a number of challenges.
Campers also learn a wide range of skills, from archery and Zombie-Jitsu to resource-gathering and crisis management.
“The aim is to not get caught, right?” said participant Ashley Voth.
“Not that I’m afraid some zombie is going to come kill me, but it’s still an adrenalin rush,” added her friend and fellow zombie survivor, Jen Fehr.
The whole experience leads up to Sunday’s “zombie outbreak,” when campers team up and use their superior (and delicious) brains to outwit and outrun an army of their undead foes.
“The final outbreak is when people get to learn how to work as a team,” said Stadnyk. “No man is an island. You need someone with you to kind of watch your back.”
The Winnipeg summer camp ended Sunday, but Zombie Survival Camp will rise again. The camp’s website says it will run another zombie-fighting experience starting October 17 in Orillia, Ont.
The Zombie Survival Camp has been running in Ontario for two years now, but this is the first time organizers have held the camp in Manitoba.
