Blue Ridge Mountains Outdoor Educator
TECHNICAL
- Basic First Aid
- Campcraft
- Food Preparation and Cooking
- Leave No Trace Methods & Ethics
- Map and Compass
- Navigation
- Outdoor Emergencies
- Rappelling
- River Reading
- Ropes Course Management
- Safety and Risk Management
- Wilderness Medicine
INTERPERSONAL
- Character
- Communication
- Conflict Resolution
- Leadership
- Positive Risk Taking
- Problem Solving
- Resilience
- Responsibility
- Self Awareness
- Self Confidence
- Service
Testimonial
This 50-day course combines outdoor skill mastery with proven experiential education principles for those wanting an introduction to the outdoor education profession.
As the oldest and leading provider of wilderness education in the world, Outward Bound provides comprehensive training on the fundamentals needed to become effective outdoor educators. On course, you and your crew will practice technical outdoor expedition skills, how to cook and set up camp in the backcountry, orienteering, rock climbing and rappelling, and navigating Class I-Class III rapids. By learning ‘hands-on,’ you will gain a better understanding of both the technical and teaching skills needed for a career in outdoor education.
This course includes three phases: Immersion, Skill Development, and Wilderness First Responder. It also provides students with the opportunity to earn college credit, their Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification and to complete a service project.
NOTE: For details on current COVID-19 policies, including vaccination, please contact an Admissions Advisor at the National Admissions Office at 866-467-7651.
UPCOMING COURSES
This course is closed for the season. 2023 courses coming soon.
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 spots will become available. In the event a spot becomes available, those on the waitlist may have an opportunity to secure the available spot. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. Upon completion of your application, a $500 deposit is required to reserve the waitlist spot. If you choose to remove your application from the waitlist, or if a spot does not become available, you will be refunded the $500 deposit. If a spot becomes available and you elect not to take it, Outward Bound will keep $150 of the deposit.
Waitlist spots are prioritized in the order of returned paperwork, not in the order applications are received, so be sure to return the initial paperwork as soon as possible! Please be aware that waitlist spots may become available up to two weeks before the course starts. While cancellations do occur, we cannot guarantee a spot will become available. Applicants may only be listed on one waitlist. If there is another course that still has availability and is also of interest to you, we recommend applying for that course instead. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.
ENROLLMENT CLOSED
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.
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.
Outdoor Educator Courses
Are you motivated by the never-ending discovery in the adventure of the outdoors? Are you passionate about sharing knowledge and helping future generations become comfortable and confident appreciators of the natural world? Working as an outdoor educator requires deep technical expertise in outdoor skills alongside hands-on training in the science behind experiential learning and how to create lasting impact for students. Outward Bound leads the outdoor education industry in both areas, providing a coveted foundation to jump-start an outdoor-involved career.
- Build skills, form connections: Refine backcountry, technical, and interpersonal skills - and practice teaching them. Help students evaluate options, manage risks, and learn to engage people of different ages and backgrounds in an environment where they are “crew, not passengers.” Master the outdoor knowledge, strengths and skills that can’t be found in a traditional classroom.
- Value strengths and strengthen values: Absorb the technical prowess you’ll need to master multiple outdoor activities and potentially help others do the same. Discover the power of reflection and how to create lasting impact behind every adventure, challenge and opportunity.
- Demonstrate mastery: Learn from the best outdoor educators in the industry and add your own strengths as you design and lead courses, as you take on physical and mental challenges in numerous wilderness environments and as you become responsible for the creation and fulfillment of life-changing lessons.
- Train in basic first aid and wilderness medicine: Learn the principles and techniques of patient assessment, care and treatment in remote and extreme environments. Earn Wilderness First Responder (WFR) Certification on select courses.
- What you’ll learn: Return home with the knowledge and skills necessary for teaching and leading field-based wilderness education programs. Depending on the course, you’ll have expanded knowledge and skills relating to a variety of land and/or water-based activities. You’ll be a conscientious safety and risk management leader and you’ll have a solid grounding in the Outward Bound philosophy and methodology for teaching and facilitation.
Outdoor Educator courses allow you to work in and through the widest variety of wilderness environments and develop high level skills in each. Beyond preparing you for career opportunities in the outdoor industry, you may also earn academic credit in the field of Recreation and Outdoor Education.
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.
Outward Bound Curriculum Immersion
Students begin their course with a wilderness-based immersion expedition. Immersion is structured like a typical 8-to-10-day Outward Bound backpacking course so that participants learn what it is like to be a student of the program. Learnings include on-and off-trail navigation, training in Leave No Trace minimum-impact camping techniques, cooking and nutrition, introductory lessons on leadership, decision-making and much more.
Skills Development
Participants are taught how to both give and receive the feedback necessary between teacher and student in outdoor education while also developing essential judgment and risk management skills. This section of the course includes:
- Rock Site Management and Climbing - Knots, anchors, top rope and slingshot set-up, belaying, equipment, site assessment and management, facilitation skills and multi-pitch climbing
- Ropes Course Management - High ropes course experience, harnesses and other equipment, self-belay systems, rescue techniques and facilitation skills
- River Site Management and Whitewater Canoeing - River safety, strokes, ferries, eddy-turns, peel-outs, rapid swims, river reading, rope throws, river rapid classification, rescue concepts, hydrology and group management
- Workshops - Possible topics include, Outward Bound philosophy, adolescent management skills, games and initiatives, teaching styles and techniques, group facilitation and debriefing, diversity, educational philosophy and environmental ethics, leadership theory and conflict resolution.
Wilderness First Responder Certification
Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification is recognized as the standard level of expertise in backcountry first aid. This nationally recognized 80-hour program trains participants to respond to emergencies in remote settings. Participants spend time completing practical skills, case studies and scenarios designed to improve decision-making abilities in high-stress situations.
Students develop patient assessment skills, knowledge of body systems, equipment improvisation, trauma response, environmental medicine, toxins knowledge, wilderness protocols, backcountry medicine and wilderness rescue techniques. The WFR certification is offered through a partnership with Landmark Learning, an accredited organization. After successful completion of the WFR and CPR certification, students are eligible to apply for academic credit.
Service
Outside of learning technical outdoor skills, longer courses also allow enough time to conduct a service project. Whether maintaining trails, partnering with nonprofits or helping at local farms and gardens, stewardship has long been a part of the mission and values of an Outward Bound program. These projects help students discover the true meaning of giving back to their community, the value of compassion and their ability to lead.
Course Area
Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina
The Blue Ridge Mountains, or Southern Appalachians, is one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. While the mountains themselves formed over 250 million years ago, some of the rocks that underlie the region are over a billion years old.
The long geologic and evolutionary history of the Southern Appalachians has created one of the most biologically diverse regions in North America; some even say it is “rainforest-like.” This region is home to beautiful rushing rivers, hundreds of waterfalls and some of the highest peaks in the Eastern United States—including Mt. Mitchell (elevation 6,684 feet), the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Its diverse landscapes have been featured in many motion pictures including The Hunger Games and The Last of the Mohicans.
Outward Bound students can expect to share the wilderness with over 700 different kinds of trees, more than 50 types of mammals, 150 different types of birds and over 50 species of amphibians. The huge numbers of tree and plant life is actually what gives these mountains their namesake. Trees put the ‘blue’ in the Blue Ridge Mountains from the organic chemicals they release into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the distinctive color of these mountains.
Temperatures in this area range from 50 to 85 degrees in the summer, 30 to 65 degrees in the spring and fall, and 10 to 50 degrees in the winter. These regions are the ancestral lands of the ᎠᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee, East), S’atsoyaha (Yuchi), Catawba, Moneton and Keyauwee nations.
Testimonial
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.
