Blue Ridge Mountains Outdoor Educator
Break into the outdoor instructor industry by training with the world's oldest and leading provider of wilderness education.
Are you ready to follow your dreams of becoming an outdoor educator? Set in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, this 50-day course focuses on learning essential technical outdoor skills and Outward Bound’s experiential education principles to help lay a foundation to begin or further your career in the outdoor industry. During this comprehensive training, you and your crew will practice expedition skills, orienteering, cooking, and setting up camp in the back country. Work together to climb rock faces, rappel, and navigate Class I-Class III rapids. By learning ‘hands-on,’ you will better understand the technical and teaching skills needed to lead your crew—and your first students—to success.
This course includes three unique phases: Curriculum Immersion, Skill Development, and Wilderness First Responder training. Students can earn college credit, Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification, and complete a service project.
UPCOMING COURSES
Course # NTQL-2571
Age 18 and up
Days 50
Cost $10,050
Dates 3/7/2025 - 4/25/2025
APPLY NOW
This means a course has several open spots and is actively processing applications.
Course # NTQL-2671
Age 18 and up
Days 50
Cost $10,050
Dates 3/6/2026 - 4/24/2026
APPLY NOW
This means a course has several open spots and is actively processing applications.
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 positions become available. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. A $500 deposit is required. This $500 deposit includes a $150 non-refundable application fee and a $350 tuition payment. The $350 tuition payment is refundable only if you cancel your waitlist application or if an open position does not become available. If a position does become available, the applicant will be applied to the open position and the Application and Cancellation Policies of the Regional Outward Bound School will be followed, including forfeiture of the $500 deposit if you cancel 90 days or less prior to the course start date.
Waitlist applicants are encouraged to complete all required admissions documents while awaiting an open position. Positions may become available up to two weeks prior to the course start date. Applicants may only apply to one course. We recommend applying to a course with open positions instead of a course that is accepting waitlist applications. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.
CALL TO APPLY
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.
The most challenging aspect of the Outdoor Educator course for me was learning how to speak up and assert my ideas when I felt they were valid. Our Instructors did a phenomenal job asking us as individuals to step outside of stereotypical gender roles and intentionally make space for each other to speak. As one of the quieter and timid members of the group, it took a lot of patience and encouragement from my peers, but eventually I found my voice and recognized that one need not be loud in volume to be a good facilitator. What weighs much more heavily is confidence in your words.
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.
You want to be an outdoor educator? We feel so seen. Designed specifically for individuals interested in pursuing positions as outdoor instructors, guides, or outdoor teachers, Outdoor Educator courses offer in-depth technical skill development while simultaneously exploring group dynamics, assessing risk, problem solving, and leadership. Previous participants have gone on to work in all facets of our industry — as guides, instructors, and classroom teachers — and have expressed that these courses deliver invaluable experience, relevant skills, and knowledge needed to help them become better educators.
- Build Connections: Find connections with your crewmates based on support and respect (and fun, too!), and in the thick of challenges, discover there is more in you than you know.
- Value Strengths and Strengthen Values: Discover the power of reflection and how to create lasting impact behind every challenge.
- Master Outdoor Skills: Learn from top educators, develop the technical prowess you’ll need to master multiple outdoor activities, and add your own strengths as you design and lead courses.
- Train in 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.
- Your Career Awaits: Return home with the knowledge and skills necessary for teaching and leading field-based education programs, and a solid grounding in the Outward Bound philosophy and methodology for teaching and facilitation.
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.
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.
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Participants develop the ability to give and receive feedback essential in outdoor education while 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.
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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.
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A little more than halfway through course, students will participate in a reflection period called Solo. During this time, Instructors assign students their own individual spaces within a designated area. These sites are both secluded and within hearing distance of other group members and Instructors for safety. Students will be given all the necessary gear, food, water and skills to enjoy this time alone. Solo is a great opportunity for students to relax, recharge, and reflect on their course after having long days of strenuous group activities. They also know the location of their Instructors should they need to contact them for any reason. Instructors will be monitoring students closely during this experience.
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Service is an integral part of every Outward Bound course, allowing students to experience a deeper relationship with the environment and local communities. During longer courses, students can engage in meaningful service projects such as maintaining trails, partnering with nonprofits, or assisting local farms and gardens. These projects enable students to experience the profound impact of giving back to their community and leading with compassion.
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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 formed over 250 million years ago, some rocks underlying the region are over a billion years old. The Southern Appalachians' long geologic and evolutionary history has created one of North America's most biologically diverse regions. 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 kinds of trees, more than 50 types of mammals, 150 different types of birds, and over 50 species of amphibians. The huge numbers of trees and plants give 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 Cherokee.
Course Stories
The most challenging aspect of the Outdoor Educator course for me was learning how to speak up and assert my ideas when I felt they were valid. Our Instructors did a phenomenal job asking us as individuals to step outside of stereotypical gender roles and intentionally make space for each other to speak. As one of the quieter and timid members of the group, it took a lot of patience and encouragement from my peers, but eventually I found my voice and recognized that one need not be loud in volume to be a good facilitator. What weighs much more heavily is confidence in your words.
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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.