Tabernash, Colorado • Below the Continental Divide
Dead Man
Retreat
Rocky Mountain
August 13-16, 2026 • Shekinah Ranch
Four days in the high country to get off grid, get alone with God, and walk with men who are after the same thing you are.
15 Men Only • Last one sold out • Payment Plan Available
Away from the battle
On the outside, you look steady. Most people have no idea how much you carry.
You keep the plates spinning at work and at home, and you've gotten good at making it look easy. Underneath, the soul has gone quiet. The fuse is shorter than it used to be.
There's a weight you don't talk about, and no honest place to set it down, so you keep moving and call it strength. You're not failing. You're worn thin.
This is four days to stop, get above the noise, breathe clean mountain air, and let God meet you in the quiet. You'll be with a few men fighting the same battles and turning toward the same God. You can get honest with them.
Elevation 8,000 Feet
Shekinah Ranch sits above 8,000 feet, right beneath Devil's Thumb Pass on the Continental Divide.
You're near Winter Park and Granby, the western gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, known for moose and elk, Gold Medal fly fishing on the headwaters of the Colorado River, and high alpine lakes tucked into the wilderness above.
Sleep under more stars than you've seen in years. Wake up to 360-degree mountain views.
The Weekend
Rhythm
The schedule stays simple and unhurried, with room to think, pray, and listen. We make room for God instead of filling the days.
Morning & Evening Sessions
We gather around the fire for teaching on the surrendered life. It's grounded and honest, the kind that reorders how you live once you're home.
Prayer Hikes along the Divide
Each day you'll walk the ridgeline with your journal, alone with God, listening for His voice.
Guided Climb To Columbine Lake
You'll climb 6.8 miles through moose country to the turquoise water of Columbine Lake, 11,060 feet up in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. It's a challenging climb that clears your head.
Campfire Reflections
Around the fire, there's honest conversation, confession, prayer, and real brotherhood.
Meals and unhurried time
The camp chef cooks every meal on-site, and there's time for the kind of table talk men rarely make space for.
The Practices
We Keep
A good weekend doesn't change a man. Practice does. For centuries, men serious about God have kept the same disciplines. We'll keep them together, where it's quiet enough to feel them work.
Silence & solitude
You'll get real quiet, with nothing pulling at you, until the noise dies down and you can hear again.
Scripture & study
You'll spend unhurried time in the Scriptures, slow enough for them to actually sink in.
Prayer & Christian meditation
You'll learn to sit still before God and listen, instead of doing all the talking.
Journaling
You'll put words to what you're hearing, so it doesn't fade by the time you head home.
Confession
Here you say the true thing out loud. Most men carry it alone for years, and this is where they set it down.
Fellowship
You'll find the kind of brotherhood that's hard to come by after a certain age, and you'll leave with men you can call.
What a day Looks Like
Early
Coffee and quiet. Solitude before the day starts, journal in hand.
Morning
Teaching around the fire, then a prayer hike to sit with what you heard.
Midday
A meal from the camp chef. A hike to alpine lakes. Prayer walks through the aspens.
AFTERNOON
Rest, reflection, and honest conversation in smaller groups.
Evening
Dinner, evening teaching, and time for confession, prayer, and being known.
Night
The fire, and the kind of talk that only happens once the masks come off.
All In For
Four Hundred
Four days, three nights, and everything else is covered. Bring your boots, layers for cold nights, a sleeping bag, and a pack. We handle the tent, the meals, and the rest.
If paying all at once is tough, you can split it into two payments. And if $400 is still the only thing standing in your way, reach out. Scholarship help is available.
All meals, cooked on-site by the camp chef
Lodging in an outfitter wall tent
A journal for the weekend
Climb to Columbine Lake, Indian Peaks
Daily prayer hikes on the Continental Divide
AM and PM teaching with Joe Courtney
3 attendee-only follow-up & prayer sessions
360° mountain views, minutes from Rocky Mt Ntl Park
What's included ($400, all in):
All meals, cooked on-site by the camp chef
Lodging in an outfitter wall tent
A journal for the weekend
Guided hike to a high alpine lake (moose country)
Daily prayer hikes along the Continental Divide
Morning and evening teaching
360° mountain views, minutes from Rocky Mountain National Park
Show up with the clothes on your back and the boots on your feet. We handle the rest.
Payment Options Available
It’s Me and
Fifteen Men
This isn't a stage and an audience. There's no big production, no headliner, and no handoff to a volunteer. It's me, personally, investing in fifteen men for four days on the mountain.
I've spent more than twenty years discipling men, from megachurches to mountain towns. I pastor a church, I wrote the Dead Man Manifesto, and I started Dead Man Revival because I was done watching good men settle for a comfortable, half-surrendered life. I'll be on the trail and at the fire the whole weekend, start to finish.
Have a question before you commit? It comes straight to me. I answer every man who reaches out, personally.
- Joe Courtney, Dead Man Revival
The Particulars
Dates
August 13–16, 2026 · Thursday through Sunday
Lodging
Outfitter wall tents · primitive camping + bath
Cost
$400 · all-inclusive
Spots
15 men · first come, first held
The Area
Moose and elk country near Winter Park and Granby, with Gold Medal fly fishing on the Colorado River headwaters
Getting There
About 2 hours from Denver International Airport, in the western gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park
Location
Shekinah Ranch · Tabernash, Colorado
The Terrain
Camp sits at 8,000 ft beneath Devil's Thumb Pass. Daily trail hikes plus one moderate 6.8-mile climb to Columbine Lake (11,060 ft). You don't need to be an athlete, but you should be able to walk several miles at altitude.
Bring
Bible, broken-in hiking boots, sleeping bag, a pack, layers for cold nights, and a willingness to be honest
Who It’s For
This is for the man who's carrying more than he lets on and is done pretending he's fine. It's also for the man who isn't in crisis at all, but knows there's another level in following Jesus and wants to be equipped for it.
Don't show up impressive. Show up willing.
Men who want to go deeper with Jesus and be equipped to follow Him in real life
Men carrying weight they need to set down
Fathers and sons who want to do this side by side
Pastors and leaders who need to be poured into
What You’ll
Carry Home
You'll drive home on Sunday with more than a good weekend behind you. The rhythm you practiced on the mountain is simple enough to keep in an ordinary week: prayer, silence, and time in the Scriptures. You'll know a handful of men you can call when things get hard, men who will call you too.
You won't just come home rested. You'll carry a fresh touch from God, a clearer sense of what He's asking, and whatever He said to you in the quiet, written in your journal. You'll be better equipped to follow Jesus at home, at work, and in your church, and to give the rest of your life to what actually lasts.
What Happens
After
Most men come down from a weekend like this fired up, then watch it fade by Wednesday. We're after something that lasts.
Every man who comes gets three attendee-only follow-up sessions after the retreat. They're for group reflection and prayer, to help what God started on the mountain take root once you're back in the noise.
You're not just buying a weekend. You're stepping onto a path of surrender and brotherhood that keeps going after you get home.
What's included ($400, all in):
All meals, cooked on-site by the camp chef
Lodging in an outfitter wall tent
A journal for the weekend
Guided hike to a high alpine lake (moose country)
Daily prayer hikes along the Continental Divide
Morning and evening teaching
360° mountain views, minutes from Rocky Mountain National Park
Show up with the clothes on your back and the boots on your feet. We handle the rest.
Payment Options Available
FAQs
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No. You'll sleep in an outfitter wall tent, eat real food cooked on-site, and have everything you need provided. It's primitive, not punishing. Just enough to get you off your screens and into the open.
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Manageable for most men in reasonable shape. You'll camp at 8,000 feet and hike on mountain trails daily, with one moderate 6.8-mile climb to Columbine Lake at 11,060 feet. If you can walk a few miles, you can do this. Come a day early if you can, to let your body adjust to the altitude.
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You're responsible for getting yourself to the ranch and back home. Denver International Airport is about two hours away. From the airport you'll drive west on I-70, then head north on US-40 over Berthoud Pass and down into the Fraser Valley. It's a scenic mountain drive, so give yourself daylight and a little margin for I-70 traffic. Once you register, we'll help connect men who want to carpool or split the drive.
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Yes. You don't need to arrive sorted out or impressive. New believers, men wrestling with doubt, and men coming back after a long time away all belong here. You only need to come willing.
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Absolutely. Fathers and sons (16+) have come together before, and men often bring a brother or two. Just register each man so we hold the right number of spots.
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Bible, broken-in hiking boots, clothes you can layer for cold nights and warm days, and a willingness to be honest. We provide the journal, the lodging, the meals, and the rest. A full packing list goes out once you register.
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It's spotty at best, and that's by design. This is four days to be unreachable on purpose. We'll have a way to handle real emergencies.
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Your spot is transferable, so you're always free to hand it to another man. If you need to cancel instead, you'll get a full refund up to 30 days before the retreat and a half refund up to 7 days before. Inside of 7 days, we can't refund, because this is all-inclusive and the food and supplies are bought ahead of time.
FIFTEEN SPOTS
Want in?
That's it. Fifteen men, and they go to the ones who reach out first. Lock yours in, and we'll hold your place. The last retreat filled.
What's included ($400, all in):
All meals, cooked on-site by the camp chef
Lodging in an outfitter wall tent
A journal for the weekend
Guided hike to a high alpine lake (moose country)
Daily prayer hikes along the Continental Divide
Morning and evening teaching
360° mountain views, minutes from Rocky Mountain National Park
Show up with the clothes on your back and the boots on your feet. We handle the rest.
Payment Options Available