Pathfinder High Sierra Alpine Backpacking & Rock Climbing
With a focus on self-realization, goals and decision-making, this 30-day Pathfinder expedition will help you explore your next step in life.
In the simplicity and challenge that only the mountains can provide, there will be space to reflect in nature and push yourself. This course can guide you towards life independence while providing a platform of confidence to make it happen. You’ll be immersed in the wilderness, learning the skills necessary to travel in wilderness terrain, carry your own gear, navigate a tricky trail or rock face and live and work together with your crewmates.
Instructors will guide you in leadership skills such as communication, collaboration and conflict resolution - the skills you’ll need to navigate your life path wherever it may lead. In the final days of the course, time is reserved for you to call your family and share your course experience with new found goals for the future.
NOTE: Outward Bound strongly recommends that all students be vaccinated against COVID-19 and up to date as defined by the CDC prior to arriving to their course start. For all open enrollment courses beginning on or after April 15, 2023, Outward Bound will no longer require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19. For questions regarding this policy please see this page or call us at 866-467-7651.
UPCOMING COURSES
What is this?
For detailed information on course availability statuses and what they mean, click here.
Course # XMPE-361
Age 18 - 25
Days 30
Cost $7,695
Dates 6.18.23 - 7.17.23
Course # XMPE-362
Age 18 - 25
Days 30
Cost $7,695
Dates 7.31.23 - 8.29.23
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.
As instructors, one of our first responsibilities is to create this compassionate safe space. We can teach this in a variety of ways—through evening meeting structure, conflict resolution skits and Outward Bound history and philosophy lessons. Ultimately though, it is the students who have to put what we teach into practice. My students this summer were courageous and compassionate individuals who together formed two inspiring crews. The safe space they created allowed for them to share their thoughts and feelings openly. If I have done my job as an instructor, my students will leave with the ability to transfer what they learned about themselves and their ability to overcome challenges to use in their daily lives. The real Outward Bound course only begins once the wilderness expedition ends.
The first phase of this course is spent learning backpacking skills including group travel, gear selection and use, map and compass navigation, back country cooking techniques, weather/hazard assessment, camp craft, communication skills and effective teamwork. Participants will travel both on and off-trail to develop their technical skills, while Instructors teach and facilitate the interpersonal skills needed for participants to function effectively as a team, accomplish goals and tackle new challenges every day. Challenges on course are designed to guide participants toward taking risks, drawing upon inner resources and developing trust in one another. One such challenge might include a peak attempt. With lighter packs, participants will start before the sun rises to summit a mountain and be rewarded with 360 degree views and an incredible sense of accomplishment.
Several days will focus specifically on skills associated with technical rock climbing including knots, anchors, movement over rock, top-rope belaying, equipment use and care of harnesses and other items. Participants will have ample opportunity to actively improve their personal skill with various types of outdoor, granite climbs. The climbing section provides an introduction to personal climbing skills while building trust among crew members as they belay one another and set goals as a group.
Service to others and to the environment are core values of Outward Bound and they are integrated into each course. Participants follow Leave No Trace ethics as part of their service to the environment. Students develop an ingrained appreciation of service, seeing the impact of their actions, firsthand, by multiple small acts of service with and for their crewmates while leading and supporting each other throughout the journey.
Outward Bound believes in order for profound learning to take place, there must be time to reflect on the experience. Within course, the solo is that opportunity. It is a chance to experience solitude in the wilderness without distraction while also taking a break from the physical rigors of course. Students are separated from their group for a period of time which depends on course length and Instructor assessment of group capability. Solo sites are chosen to provide solitude. Participants have all necessary equipment, food and water. Solos range in length from 12 hours to 72 hours.
Outward Bound courses vary in length from four (4) to 85 days. On shorter courses, participants will receive an introduction to leadership skills, strength of character and a desire to serve while activities fill most of the time and the pace is quick. With longer courses, the same outcomes and benefits are achieved with the opportunity to reach a more profound level of mastery as there are more chances to develop technical skills, receive and implement feedback and further personal development. However many days the expedition lasts, the strength and impact of the experience lasts a lifetime.
Backpacking, rock climbing and wilderness navigation techniques are great practice for the essential skills and habits that help prepare for new challenges at school, work, home and in the community. Outward Bound expeditions encourage students:
- to remain engaged and present, giving every challenge the best effort, even when the goal seems beyond reach.
- to form a team and focus on the team effort.
- to share responsibilities, communicate and lead. Leadership roles are shared within the group, and responsibilities rotate each day.
- to find reserves of tenacity and compassion. Outward Bound courses are designed to expand and stretch your limits so that every expedition is a true accomplishment and a memorable journey.
The Sierra Nevada range is California’s backyard and wonderland of wilderness, waterfalls, lakes and peaks. It’s an enormous range – spanning more than 400 miles from north to south, and 70 miles east to west. Courses take place in the southern and western parts of the Sierras: Ansel Adams Wilderness and Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park.
Summer and Early Fall in the High Sierra is mostly sunny, with occasional rain and cold evenings. Snowfall is unlikely, though June courses may traverse atop lingering winter and spring snow. Summer temperature tends towards the 70s to 80s during the day, dipping into the 30s to 50s in the evening and night.
These regions are the ancestral lands of the Northern Paiute, Western Mono/Monache, Me-Wuk (Central Sierra Miwok), Eastern Mono/Monache, and Tübatulabal nations. We acknowledge them as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land, and also pay respect to their elders, both past and present. We recognize and continually support and advocate for the sovereignty of the Native nations of this territory and beyond. By offering this land acknowledgment we affirm tribal sovereignty, commit to working to support these tribes, and commit to holding Outward Bound California accountable to this work.
Course Stories
As instructors, one of our first responsibilities is to create this compassionate safe space. We can teach this in a variety of ways—through evening meeting structure, conflict resolution skits and Outward Bound history and philosophy lessons. Ultimately though, it is the students who have to put what we teach into practice. My students this summer were courageous and compassionate individuals who together formed two inspiring crews. The safe space they created allowed for them to share their thoughts and feelings openly. If I have done my job as an instructor, my students will leave with the ability to transfer what they learned about themselves and their ability to overcome challenges to use in their daily lives. The real Outward Bound course only begins once the wilderness expedition ends.
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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.