Itinerary Overview

Your course begins in the world famous desert backpacking and rock climbing area of Joshua Tree National Park, California. The first two weeks are spent honing your backpacking, camping and navigation skills through this enchanted desert landscape. The next two and a half weeks will be spent in the front country of Joshua Tree rock climbing and camping in established areas. You will learn and work on rock climbing techniques and develop the skills necessary to set up top rope climbs or perhaps lead 4th and 5th class climbs. After the rock section, you will travel by van to spectacular southeastern Utah where you will begin your canyon expedition. You will spend two and a half weeks backpacking and canyoneering, building on the skills you acquired in Joshua Tree. You will then travel by van to our Leadville Mountain Center (LMC) in Colorado to begin the final adventure of your course, spring skiing/snowboarding in the Rockies. You will spend 4-5 days based out of the LMC while you ice climb, ski or ride at one of the local resorts, and learn the skills to travel and live in the high country during winter/spring. After the base camp section, you will spend eight days further developing your expedition skills, including winter camping, backcountry skiing/snowboarding and avalanche hazard evaluation.

Course Area

Joshua Tree National Park, California: A surreal and alien landscape is an apt description of Joshua Tree National Park. The federal government first protected this unique region in 1936. Two distinct desert types, the Sonoran and Mojave merge at a transition zone where one can see different species indicative of each desert ecosystem. Canyons, small mountains, and broad valleys are the canvas that nature has used to create this intricate and subtle landscape. Doctor Seuss like plants and a multitude of rock formations rise out of this magical topography. While Joshua Tree is internationally known for its rock climbing, few people venture, as you will, into its remote and rugged wilderness.

Canyonlands
In 1869, while exploring the Green and Colorado Rivers, John Wesley Powell was first Westerner to explore the Canyonlands in Southeastern Utah. At the time, this was the largest uncharted area in the United States. Now, as then, this area is desolate, mysterious and beautiful. It is made up of fascinating geological formations created by climate and erosion over thousands of years. Sandstone and slick rock canyons were sculpted into a labyrinth of overhangs, rock bridges, pinnacles, buttes, box canyons, ledges and arches. You will follow in the footsteps of the Fremont and Anasazi peoples who inhabited the canyons long before Powell's expedi­tion. Many of their pictographs (rock paintings) still exist, as do remnants of their dwellings. These ancient people mysteri­ously disappeared, although later tribes claimed to be their descendants. In the 1880's cowboys, bank robbers, horse thieves and prospectors succeeded native peoples. Butch Cassidy and his "Hole-in-the-Wall" gang evaded lawmen in these canyons. Today, the Canyonlands is an internationally renowned destination for mountain bike enthusiasts, hikers, climbers and rafters.

The Rocky Mountains, Colorado: One of the most famous mountain ranges in the world, they stretch 3,000 miles from central Canada to New Mexico. They have provided the foundation of legends and have had a profound influence on the development of the continental United States. Native Americans were the first to live among these peaks. In more recent times, the Spanish launched major expeditions into these mountains, searching for gold and precious minerals. Although no one is sure who first climbed them, the first documented exploration of the Colorado Rockies was undertaken in 1776 by two Franciscan priests. From that point on, Colorado became a magnet for prospectors, explorers and pioneers. The greatest concentration of high peaks — hundreds of thirteeners (13,000+ feet), and 54 fourteeners — is in Colorado.

NOTE: Semester courses are demanding physically and socially. Students who are unmotivated or stuggle with inappropriate behaviors on course may be expelled. Students who are expelled are not eligible for a refund. You should be prepared to make a commitment to being in a relatively formal educational setting for the entire length of the course.

To apply for this course click the apply button next to the course dates that work for you, or better yet, call one of our expert Admission Advisers at 866-467-7651. Course tuitions do not include our Application Fee or Transportation Fee.