Wilderness Adventure Training
Wilderness adventure training removes individuals from their daily lives and puts them in remote locations, surrounded by the profoundness of nature. Through experiential learning the students often gain a better understanding of themselves and an appreciation for the wilderness and outdoors. These courses have a variety of objectives that include acquiring or maximizing essential outdoor skills, leadership growth, teamwork and the development of self-confidence.
Other People Are Reading
-
Function
-
Wilderness adventure training enables an individual to acquire or better basic outdoorsman skills or skills in a specific outdoor sport. Outdoor adventure schools teach beginning classes to advanced-level classes in a wide variety of activities including backpacking, mountain biking, kayaking, sailing, climbing and mountaineering. These schools will provide the beginner the equipment and instruction they need to confidently participate and learn in a safe environment.
Considerations
-
Individuals who enroll into a wilderness adventure course do it for many personal reasons, but everyone does it looking for the adventure, too. When considering enrolling or participating in a wilderness adventure training course, keep in mind that it is not "adventure travel." During the National Outdoor Leadership School's (NOLS) 30-day Alaska Backpacking course, the class will hike between 90 and 150 miles on and off trails. Make sure you understand the difficulty and are in good physical condition for the course you choose.
-
Types
-
There are several types of wilderness adventure training available. Schools such as NOLS specialize in training outdoor adventure instructors, guides and leaders. There are organizations that teach individual classes that emphasize in a sport or skill such as the REI Outdoor School. Organizations such as Outward Bound specialize in teaching troubled teenagers outdoor skills while counseling and building self-confidence. Many colleges and universities, such as Prescott College, also offer courses and degree programs in wilderness adventure.
Significance
-
Many lessons are best learned in the wilderness, with its beauty, serenity and demand for self-accountability. Often, it is goes much deeper than the outdoor skills the student is learning. Whether the student is learning to lead a group on an expedition or he is a troubled teen who has never slept in a tent, the wilderness experience will challenge him and show him that he can do more than he might ever have thought possible.
College Credits
-
There are wilderness adventure training courses that qualify for college credits depending on the school you are transferring the credits to and the degree program you are applying them to. NOLS is associated with the University of Utah and reports that more than 400 colleges and universities have accepted their courses or a portion of their courses for college credit. Always check before enrolling in a course to determine whether the course or school has had success with transferable credits if it is important to you. Many outdoor adventure schools will not qualify.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit family hiking image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com
