Continental Divide Alpine Backpacking
« Back to SearchWith only the gear on your back, explore the wonders of the Continental Divide with Outward Bound.
This backpacking course takes place in the Rocky Mountains and focuses on the art of traveling light, exploring the natural world and becoming a high functioning team. During the course, you can expect to travel on and off trail and over wooded and alpine terrain at 9,000 feet or higher, which can be rough, steep and exposed. Learn smart and efficient backpacking and alpine travel techniques as well as Leave No Trace camping and travel skills, outdoor cooking techniques, basic first-aid, map and compass use, route finding and how to use an ice axe if necessary. Backpack up through the alpine environment and attempt a peak ascent. As the course progresses and your skills and experience increase, your Instructors will turn more and more responsibility over to you and your crew.
NOTE: This course requires that students submit proof of "Up-to-Date" COVID-19 Vaccination status as defined by the CDC. For questions regarding this policy please see this page or call us at 866-467-7651.
UPCOMING COURSES
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For detailed information on course availability statuses and what they mean, click here.
Course # CCYA-321
Age 14 - 16
Days 8
Cost $3,060
Dates 6.11.23 - 6.18.23
Course # CCMA-321
Age 12 - 13
Days 8
Cost $3,060
Dates 6.11.23 - 6.18.23
Course # CCYA-324
Age 14 - 16
Days 8
Cost $3,060
Dates 6.26.23 - 7.3.23
Course # CCYA-351
Age 14 - 16
Days 22
Cost $6,985
Dates 7.9.23 - 7.30.23
Course # CCTA-351
Age 16 - 18
Days 22
Cost $6,985
Dates 7.9.23 - 7.30.23
Course # CCYA-342
Age 14 - 16
Days 15
Cost $5,490
Dates 7.15.23 - 7.29.23
Course # CCTA-341
Age 16 - 18
Days 15
Cost $5,490
Dates 7.15.23 - 7.29.23
Course # CCYA-325
Age 14 - 16
Days 8
Cost $3,060
Dates 7.17.23 - 7.24.23
Course # CCMA-324
Age 12 - 13
Days 8
Cost $3,060
Dates 7.17.23 - 7.24.23
Course # CCMA-341
Age 12 - 13
Days 15
Cost $5,490
Dates 7.22.23 - 8.5.23
Course # CCMA-325
Age 12 - 13
Days 8
Cost $3,060
Dates 8.6.23 - 8.13.23
Course # CCYA-326
Age 14 - 16
Days 8
Cost $3,060
Dates 8.6.23 - 8.13.23
APPLY NOW
This means a course has several open spots and is actively processing applications.
APPLY NOW – Almost Full
This means there are three or fewer currently available spots left on a course. To secure your spot click Apply Now to begin an application!
JOIN WAITLIST
Once a course has reached capacity, three waitlist positions become available. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. A $500 deposit is required. This $500 deposit includes a $150 non-refundable application fee and a $350 tuition payment. The $350 tuition payment is refundable only if you cancel your waitlist application or if an open position does not become available. If a position does become available, the applicant will be applied to the open position and the Application and Cancellation Policies of the Regional Outward Bound School will be followed, including forfeiture of the $500 deposit if you cancel 90 days or less prior to the course start date.
Waitlist applicants are encouraged to complete all required admissions documents while awaiting an open position. Positions may become available up to two weeks prior to the course start date. Applicants may only apply to one course. We recommend applying to a course with open positions instead of a course that is accepting waitlist applications. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.
CALL TO APPLY
This means a course is very close to its start date. Although it is unlikely to secure a spot this late, you can call the National Admissions office at 866-467-7651 to discuss your options.
COURSE IS FULL
When a course has reached maximum capacity, meaning all spots and the three waitlist spots are occupied, a course will read “Course Is Full.” This means applications are no longer being accepted.
CLOSED
As a course nears its start date, the availability status may read “Closed.” In this event, a course roster has been finalized and applications are no longer being accepted or processed.
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Backpackers carry everything they need—food, shelter, clothing and gear—allowing them to go deep into the wilderness where few people go. Students feel a sense of freedom from deadlines and tasks 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 will begin 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 long ridges, camp in basins with views like the top of the world and stop along the way to explore microclimates and alpine ecosystems. Most importantly, 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 even an attempt to ascend a peak.
Participants follow Leave No Trace ethics as service to the environment and do acts of service while leading and supporting fellow participants. Students develop a value of service, seeing the impact of their actions firsthand and transfer this desire to serve their communities back home. Past projects have included working on a goat farm, building trails, cleaning trash and debris from natural spaces, working with a local community garden, and removing invasive species.
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The Colorado Rocky Mountains, one of the most famous mountain ranges in the world, stretch 3,000 miles from Alaska to New Mexico. Colorado offers the greatest concentration of peaks above 13,000 feet in continental U.S., with hundreds of “Thirteeners” (13,000+ feet in elevation) and 54 “Fourteeners” (14,000+ feet in elevation). The state is famous for its abundant wilderness adventure possibilities, from skiing to rock climbing to mountaineering. Colorado courses may take place in The Gore, The Holy Cross, The Sawatch, The Elks, The Sangre de Cristos, the Rawah or the San Juans. Each of these Colorado ranges present unique challenges, but are all beautiful, wild and rugged. These regions are within the ancestral lands of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Cheyenne, Arapaho, Očeti Šakówiŋ (Sioux), Eastern Shoshone, Jicarilla Apache, and Pueblos nations.
OTHER COURSES YOU MAY LIKE
Oregon Rafting & Alpine Backpacking
Courses: 6 dates available Ages: 14-16 , 16-18 Length: 15 Days Cost: $5,195 - $5,490 Details & Dates
Southwest Rafting & Canoeing
Courses: 2 dates available Ages: 14-16 , 16-18 Length: 15 Days Cost: $5,095 - $5,490 Details & Dates
Getting Started
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.