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BOSS Staff

At BOSS, we recognize that the quality of your experience with us depends on the quality of your instructors. Please use the links to the right to learn more about our current staff and how one can possibly work for BOSS.

Josh Bernstein

Josh Bernstein
First year at boss

1987

Current Position:

CEO / Owner

Hometown:

New York, New York

Status:

New York City, with frequent trips to Boulder, Utah

I CAME TO BOSS BECAUSE...

I first read about BOSS in the classifieds of Backpacker magazine in 1986. Curious, I requested a catalog, which came a few weeks later. The next year, having saved up enough money, I attended BOSS's Primitive Living Skills course and then, in the winter, BOSS's first Winter Living Skills course. At that point, I was hooked, having fallen in love with the school's philosophy of preserving the skills of traditional cultures and teaching people to do more with less. Over the past 25 seasons (seriously?) I've migrated from student to apprentice, instructor, marketing director, and then owner (since 1997), working hard to bring the BOSS message and the power of its programs to as many people as possible.

I TEACH AT BOSS BECAUSE...

There are a number of wilderness programs out there, and I've taken courses at many of them. Few, if any, approach the wilderness with the respect and simplicity of BOSS. There is something pure about the BOSS experience. It revitalizes a part of the human spirit that our modern society stifles or ignores. It's empowering, in the literal sense.

I teach at BOSS because it's important to give people a greater sense of who they really are. It's an honor to be an instructor on the trail, to help people reawaken that aspect of themselves. While I'm not on the trail as much as I used to be, I'm proud to support my staff's accomplishing this each year. I'm grateful BOSS has reached so many people since it all began in 1968 and am even more excited about the school's future.

Interesting Trivia about Josh:

  • Josh is an accomplished photographer, with photos published in USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Men's Health, Self, Marie Claire, Men's Fitness, Outside, Backpacker, and VOGUE magazines.

  • Josh loves SCUBA diving and is a certified cave, wreck and rebreather diver.

  • Josh is a fellow of The Explorers Club and the Royal Geographic Society, and a Patron of the American Museum of Natural History.

  • He is BOSS's most-traveled instructor, having flown over 1,000,000 miles in the past 10 years, exploring 65+ countries while hosting television series for the History and Discovery Channels and on expeditions/travels of his own.

  • You can learn more on Josh's personal website: www.joshbernstein.com