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

Canoeing Skills

• Care of canoes and paddles 
• Paddle strokes and maneuvering 
• Weather signs and forecasting 
• Paddling in convoy

Your canoeing course area will be within the upper reaches of the Androscoggin, Penobscot, Kennebec, Allagash, and/or Upper Dead River watersheds, which are fed by Moosehead Lake, Flagstaff Lake, and the Rangeley Lakes. Indigenous Abenaki peoples used these waterways as both a means of transportation between winter habitats inland, summer living on the coast, and as a source of food. The great rivers of Maine were used to move logs to mills downstate during the logging boom of the nineteenth century. These days the lakes and rivers are used primarily by canoeists, fishermen, and other recreationalists. Some of the portage trails here, such as along the Rapid River, have been in use for centuries.

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.

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.

Canoeing

Part, or most, of your course will be focused on learning wilderness canoe expedition skills. You will canoe on lakes and rivers, learning paddle strokes such as the draw, pry, and J-stroke. You may also learn about lining (guiding your canoe down un-runnable rapids) as you travel through some of the amazing waterways of Maine. In learning to work and communicate well with your paddling partner each day you will discover the power of two people truly working together.

Portaging

To travel between lakes, your group will work together as a team to carry packs and canoes over trails. Portage trails are rugged and often rocky or hilly. They vary in length from a few hundred yards to a few miles. The group will work to come up with a portaging plan that sensibly and safely distributes all of the responsibilities.

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.

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.

On your HIOBS program, you will learn four important Outward Bound Core Values:

• Compassion
• Integrity
• Excellence
• Inclusion and Diversity

Some of the most important lessons you take home are learning about yourself and your community while acquiring backcountry skills and having an adventure. As you will be traveling through wild places on your expedition, you’ll also learn to protect and appreciate the unique, unspoiled environments through which you travel.

Middle School Courses 

Our courses for 13- to 14-year-olds are designed to introduce young teens to Outward Bound. 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. Under the close supervision of caring instructors, students are permitted to share ideas, experiment, triumph…and sometimes fail. While safety is conscientiously maintained, students may feel moments of frustration, disappointment, cold, wet and tired. At such times, we coach young teens to 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 that the group knows that all successes are truly theirs! Students return readier to fully participate and positively engage at home, at school, on teams, and in their communities.

You need to be physically fit, and motivated to live, learn and work together within your expedition team. You will need to be ready to work and live with crew mates with different views and values from all different parts of the country and world. No previous wilderness travel or camping experience is necessary—all travel and leadership skills are taught from the beginning, and each day of the expedition builds on the previous one.