Take adventure to new heights as you backpacking and rock climb in the legendary Colorado Rockies.
Colorado has some of the best backpacking and rock climbing in the country. On this Semester course you’ll experience the best of both worlds. Hike up to alpine meadows and camp below gorgeous cirques of peaks. As you transition to climbing, you’ll take on a whole new set of challenges. Physical, mental and emotional: both activities will provide insight into your strengths and abilities. And together, you and your crew will create memories of a lifetime.
NOTE: For the health and safety of students and staff in the COVID-19 pandemic, students may be required to travel to course start by private transportation. Please work directly with your Course Advisor for your course for the most up-to-date and regionally-focused travel options. All students and staff must provide a current negative COVID-19 viral test result before arrival to course and/or consent to having a COVID-19 test administered at course start. Outward Bound requires students and staff to follow COVID-19 protocols for 14 days prior to course start and while traveling including physical distancing, wearing a mask in public, and frequent and thorough handwashing.For complete “Health and Safety Practices for Outward Bound Expeditions,” click here.
This course starts within the next week. Please call us at 866-467-7651 to assess the possibility of applying for this course!
Most College Savings Plans, including the 529 College Savings Plan, may be used to attend an Outward Bound expedition, thanks to a partnership with Western Colorado University. Anyone can register – you do not have to be a current Western Colorado University student. Registration is easy! Click here to learn more.
Semester Courses
Break away from traditional education and make the world your classroom on an Outward Bound Semester expedition. Experience life adventures and expand your skills as you interact with new environments and diverse cultures. Form lasting relationships with outdoor experts and crewmates who are sharing the same successes, failures and discoveries. Strengthen your commitment to community as you participate in service projects that support local needs.
Build skills, form connections: Amidst rugged natural landscapes, learn to lead and to follow; to give and receive feedback; and to trust in your own capabilities as you expand your technical and personal knowledge base. Find connections with your crewmates based on support and respect (and fun too!), and in the thick of challenges, discover there is more in you than you know.
Value strengths and strengthen values: Uncover your unique character strengths, exercise your independence as you gain life experience and learn how to let compassion in to everyday life by pushing your own limits and supporting your crew as you tackle obstacles together, big and small.
Demonstrate mastery: As you gain confidence in new skills and a better understanding of the natural world around you, take on more decision-making responsibilities. Work together to achieve team goals, solve problems and succeed both as independent individuals and as a group.
What you’ll learn: Examine your personal values and discover more about your true self. Hone your technical abilities as you become a master at ropes courses or swiftwater rescue techniques. Numerous certificates are available depending on the course, and up to 18 credit hours can be earned along the way.
Exploring new environments and building new connections will put your tenacity to the test. You’ll return with broader understanding of the natural world around you, deeper appreciation for small kindnesses and greater confidence in yourself and others that will serve you well long after you return.
Outward Bound is accredited with the American Gap Association and is the longest running program in this elite group dedicated to providing safe, meaningful and high-caliber educational experiences to students.
Photo courtesy
of Brooke Warren
Photo courtesy
of Brooke Warren
Backpacking
Backpackers carry everything they need – food, shelter, clothing and gear – allowing them to go deep into the backcountry where few people go. Students feel a sense of freedom from deadlines and task lists as they grow accustomed to eating when hungry, setting up camp when tired and having complete control over what they accomplish each day. The simplicity of hiking gives students the opportunity to focus internally on their own thoughts and self-reliance, as well as externally to connect deeply with others as they talk, sing, play games and spend time together without distraction.
This course begins with lessons in basic travel and camping techniques. Along the way, students learn Leave No Trace techniques, map and compass navigation and camp craft as they get a feel for the human and natural history of the area. Students backpack along valleys and ridges, camp in basins, and stop along the way to explore microclimates and alpine ecosystems. Students spend time in an incredible area, sleep under the stars, feel the sunshine on their face and maybe watch a few sunsets over this magical landscape.
The expedition includes at least one peak attempt. Peak attempts are major enterprises and typically require early morning starts and take all day to complete. Weather or other factors including group dynamics and physical ability, may preclude a peak attempt.
Photo courtesy
of Alexa Geider
Photo courtesy
of Erica Bareuther
Photo courtesy
of Griff Jones
Photo courtesy
of Ian McConnell
Photo courtesy
of Joe Kubis
Photo courtesy
of Tyler Phillips
Rock Climbing
Rock climbing is the ultimate opportunity to challenge oneself physically, mentally and emotionally. Students learn basic climbing techniques, helmet and harness use, climbing commands and belaying, placing gear, setting up top ropes, and may have the opportunity to attempt multi-pitch ascents. Learning new body mechanics, balance and energy maintenance techniques help students climb efficiently and unlock the incredible feeling of flowing up a route. There are many ways to climb the same rock, allowing each climber to solve the puzzle in their own way.
Photo courtesy
of Brooke Warren
Photo courtesy
of Jack Klim
Photo courtesy
of Tyler Phillips
Mountaineering
Mountaineering is perhaps the most rugged and exciting form of backcountry travel. On this course, students practice mountaineering techniques like kicking steps, glissading and ascending fixed lines over mixed routes of snow, ice and rock. As the course progresses, students use backpacking skills to travel into remote technical terrain where they’ll use ice axes and advanced techniques to reach summits 13,000 feet or even 14,000 feet in elevation. The challenges are significant but the rewards are great.
Wilderness First Aid
This introduction to wilderness medicine is geared toward people of all ability levels and is a precursor to additional certifications. Students will learn the Patient Assessment System, how to provide effective first aid treatments for injuries and illnesses common in the outdoors, and how to make appropriate evacuation decisions in varying conditions.
Solo
In order for profound learning to take place, there must be time to reflect on the experience. Weather and time permitting, the Solo experience provides an important break from the rigors of the expedition and gives students the opportunity to reflect on their experience. Many students use this reflection time to make decisions about their future, journal and enjoy the beauty of their surroundings unencumbered by the constant external stimulation of modern life Solo can range anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours or more, depending on the length of the course as well as the competency and preparedness of the student group.
With all the food, skills and supplies they need, participants are given a secluded spot to reflect alone and are monitored by Instructors at regular intervals, as safety is always a top priority. Students find that Solo provokes profound and powerful learning in a short period of time and often becomes one of the most memorable parts of their Outward Bound experience.
Outcomes
All Outward Bound expeditions focus on building character and leadership skills. This Semester course allows students the opportunity to dive deep into both technical skills, as well as interpersonal skills, such as self-awareness and team-building.
As the course progresses, Instructors gradually transfer responsibilities, like decision making and leadership of the expedition to the students, allowing each person to test the new skills they have learned. Through the dynamics of an evolving group setting, students have more freedom to investigate who they are and how they want to develop personally.
Course Area
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. The name means “blood of Christ” in Spanish and is thought to have come from the reddish hues seen on snowfields when the sun is rising or setting, known as alpenglow. The Sangres contain several wilderness areas such as the Green Mountain Wilderness Area, and are also known for some unusual geological features like the Crestone Needle or The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. This remote area is high and rugged enough to challenge any group of Outward Bound students.
The Sangre de Cristo mountain range lies within the ancestral lands of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), and Jicarilla Apache nations.
Staunton State Park
This area is one of the most recent additions to the Colorado State Park system. Landscapes across its almost 4000 acres vary and allow for a variety of plants and wildlife to call this area home. Its granite formations provide many options for climbing, with crags maintained by the climbing community.
Staunton State Park lies within the ancestral lands of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) and Tséstho’e (Cheyenne) nations.
If you are ready to enroll on a course click the enroll button next to the course you wish to select or you can enroll over the phone by speaking with one of our Admissions Advisors (toll-free) at 866-467-7651.
To secure your spot on a course you must submit an enrollment form and $500 deposit that is applied toward the total cost of the course and includes a $150 non-refundable enrollment processing fee.