Once a year, the Sierra Club holds a course called the Wilderness Travel Course (WTC) held in four locations: West Los Angeles, Pasadena, Carson, and Tustin.
It's 10 classroom sessions and four field trips. Navigation, First Aid, Gear, Planning, Snow Travel, Snow Camping, Rock Travel (class 3 maximum), Clothing, etc. Yes, it's $300 something, but check out a single weekend class at REI -- they're about $300 for just the weekend. This is a bargain and super helpful for anyone serious about backcountry travel.
I have no affiliation other than I attended in 2007 and really got a lot out of it (even though I had been hiking for a long time). This is just information on a once-a-year opportunity to sort of up your game in terms of technical knowledge.
Here's a link if anyone is interested: Wilderness Travel Course. There's a discount that expires December 15th.
HJ