Backpacking

Your course focuses on wilderness expedition skills. In the mountains, you will learn map reading, cooking, how to load and adjust your pack, foot care, hydration, knots and, most importantly, leadership and teamwork. Backpacking is a great combination of team and individual elements. The mountains of Maine are rugged, wooded, and will at times be muddy and steep, making it necessary to “spot” and coach each other through difficult terrain. At times you will travel on wilderness footpaths, at others, you will navigate off-trail. From mountain peaks, if the weather cooperates, you will be rewarded with spectacular views. Living and traveling with just what you can carry on your back is a simple existence, in which small choices can make deceptively great differences. To live well in the outdoors, all crew members must share the chores that turn a camp into a home, including setting up tents and tarps, making a kitchen area, taking a turn fetching water, and cooking satisfying meals.

Sailing

The 30-foot open sailboat is your home and classroom. These seaworthy boats are rigged to take full advantage of the power of Maine coastal winds, and when the winds do not cooperate, the boats can be rowed by two or four people pulling on oars. At night the boat will be configured as a sleeping platform and you and your watch mates will take turns at anchor watch under brilliant night skies. Underway, you will learn to set your sails properly for sailing at different angles to the wind, and to anticipate and respond to changes in weather. As you practice rowing, you will discover that by coordinating all of the rower’s movements so that the oars splash as one, you halve the effort it takes to travel on windless days. You will learn to navigate using a chart and compass across open water and among the bold granite islands, concentrating on the environment around you.

Rock Climbing

During your course you may have the opportunity to do some rock climbing on one of this area’s many granite cliffs or on our ropes course at the Outward Bound basecamp. You will learn to use climbing equipment, tie knots, climb and belay each other, while instructors provide overall supervision of the site. Climbing gives you a chance to practice your balance, coordination, and flexibility as well as the group’s ability to trust and encourage each other.

It is important to keep in mind that being able to climb is dependent on a variety of factors such as weather, course route/length, and staffing availability. We intend to have this be an element of your course, but it is not guaranteed. 

Service

Service projects are often incorporated into Outward Bound courses through coordination with local land managers, conservation groups, government agencies or social service agencies. While in the wilderness, students are encouraged to practice service to the environment and their team by sharing responsibilities and following Recreate Responsibly ethics throughout the expedition.

Solo

The solo experience is a standard element of Outward Bound courses. With sufficient food and equipment, you will set up camp at a site on your own. The solo will last anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on the length of your course. Your solo site is chosen to offer as much solitude as possible, yet be within hearing distance of other group members. You will not travel during this time alone, and your instructors will check on you occasionally. The solitude and break from the fast pace of your expedition allows for rest and personal reflection, which is necessary to make the most of your experience.

Personal Challenge Event 

Our courses end with a Personal Challenge Event, an individual final physical push. These events typically take the form of a running and/or swimming activity, though may include another element that you learned during your course.  This event is a chance to finish your Outward Bound Experience with a true personal challenge where you can own all of your decisions and efforts in contrast to the time you have spent operating within an expedition team.

Backpacking

• Proper fit and loading of packs 
• Moving efficiently over rugged terrain 
• River crossings
• Distributing group gear fairly amongst the group
• Group travel
• Route Planning
• Weather signs and forecasting

Open Boat Sailing Skills

• Boat handling skills, sailing and seamanship  
• Live aboard skills
• Tides, currents, and weather forecasting 
• Anchoring 
• Marlinespike seamanship

Rock Climbing (dependent on various factors)

• Belaying and rope handling 
• System safety
• Climbing technique 
• Rappelling

Expedition Skills

• Emergency preparedness
• Safety management and basic first aid
• Campsite selection & Route finding
• Shelter construction
• Outdoor cooking
• Conservation practices
• Ropes and knots
• Stove use and maintenance
• Recreate Responsibly wilderness ethics
• Nutrition and ration planning
• Navigation using map/chart & compass

Group Dynamics

• Leadership and decision making
• Followership and expedition behavior
• Communication and Conflict Resolution
• Individual and group goal setting
• Independence and Interdependence
• Community Building and Empathy

The essential goal of any Outward Bound course is for the students to learn autonomy. Our expedition curriculum supports this happening in a progressive way.

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 (what we call the “main expedition”), the instructors take a step back so students may step forward. Students begin to teach what they’ve 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 particular situation, environment or activity they haven’t learned about before, the instructors jump back in and teach. Each time this happens, the group reaches competency more quickly.

By the last third of the course (the “final expedition”), 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 from occurring but will let students find their own resiliency when they make mistakes, and ensure they feel the full spotlight of success when they meet their goals.

The mountains of western Maine and northern New Hampshire comprise the northern end of the Appalachian mountain range. Within this region, the White Mountain National Forest, the Appalachian Trail, the Carter-Mahoosuc Range, the Hundred-Mile Wilderness, the Grafton Loop Trail, Bigelow Preserve, and the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness all offer classic backpacking terrain. These spruce-fir and hardwood forests are home to hundreds of species of birds as well as moose, deer, and black bear. Rushing waterfalls, clear twisting streams, and spectacular views from rocky summits reward backpackers ready for adventure.

Your course area along the coast of Maine, with its intricate and indented shoreline, is a unique segment of the North Atlantic seaboard. It is renowned among sailors for its picturesque beauty, iconic lighthouses, abundant bays and harbors, rocky islands, and quiet coves. Our cruising area covers nearly 200 miles of the Maine coast, with countless rivers, bays, and islands to explore. The rocky, spruce-covered islands are the summits of a prehistoric mountain range; many generations of inhabitants have made their livelihoods here. Evidence left behind on the islands reveals the historic presence of indigenous Abenaki camps, pre-colonial fishing communities, post-colonial timber and farming operations, and early 20th-century granite quarries. Cold, nutrient-rich waters flow from the Canadian Maritimes and make the Gulf of Maine home to a wide range of sea birds, seals, porpoises, and whales.