Classic Courses

No two Outward Bound expeditions are ever quite the same. Every crew is unique; every route is distinct; and every adventure is dynamic. But one thing remains the same. On each course, students rise to meet exhilarating natural challenges in some of the country’s wildest places – and find strength and determination along the way.

• Build core skills: Learn and practice wilderness, teamwork and leadership skills. Form a crew that supports and encourages one another, and in the thick of challenges, discover there is more in you than you know.
• Practice Outward Bound values: Learn to incorporate Outward Bound values into everyday life by pushing your own limits and seeking challenge as an opportunity for personal growth.
• Demonstrate mastery: As the course nears the end, take on more leadership and decision-making responsibilities. Work together to apply new skills and achieve team goals during this final phase of the expedition.
• What you’ll learn: Return home a stronger, more resilient individual. Discover increased self-confidence, improved leadership, and a desire to make a difference.

Outcomes

Strengthen a sense of self and feel what it means to connect to others. A nine-day course for 13 to 14-year-olds is the perfect introduction to the Outward Bound experience. Supportive Instructors teach the skills of wilderness travel and guide the formation of the group into an expedition team.  As the students’ abilities grow, the Instructors intentionally and progressively challenge them to take on more responsibilities, try out more leadership roles and develop a heightened sense of self and purpose.  Caring Instructors prioritize safety while encouraging students to share ideas, experiment, triumph… and sometimes fail. Students may feel moments of frustration and disappointment during course, and at such times Instructors help them review their choices, weigh the results, decide what changes to make and try again. We find this teaches decision making, responsibility, and resiliency and ensures the group knows that all successes are truly theirs!

Through these condensed experiences, students are provided space to express their opinions and make real choices while developing their individual identity and resistance to peer pressure. While on the expedition, students support each other and participate in social activities that strengthen empathy and belonging. They become comfortable living and working together in the wilderness and leave feeling inspired to take on real challenge and return readier to fully participate and positively engage at home, at school and in their communities. 

Course Progression

The essence of an Outward Bound course is student autonomy. During the first third of a course (a phase called “training expedition”), the Instructors are very present in the group. They teach outdoor skills, the technical aspects of the activities, and guide the students as they form a team. In the middle third of the course (called “main expedition”), the Instructors take a step back so that the students may step forward. Students begin to teach what they have already learned to each other, and experiment with applying basic skills to bigger challenges. The Instructors continue to coach and support as the students practice leadership roles. When the group meets a situation, environment, or activity they haven’t learned about, the Instructors jump back in and teach. Each time this happens, the group reaches competency more quickly. By the last third of the course (“final expedition”), the students are the stars of the show. They are applying what they know, leading each other, setting goals and solving problems collaboratively. The Instructors are close by and ready to step back in to prevent a safety issue, but will let students find their own resiliency when they make mistakes, and ensure that they feel the full spotlight of success when they meet their goals.