Canoeing

Wilderness canoe expedition skills are the mark of a New England outdoorsperson. In the foothills of Maine’s mountains are networks of remote lakes and rivers. Students learn to maneuver canoes using paddle strokes such as the sweep, draw, pry, and J-stroke. To get from one waterway into another, the group will portage (carry the canoes on their shoulders), and line (guide the loaded canoe down the sides of un-runnable rapids). Teamwork skills are honed as every member of the crew learns to communicate well as they coordinate efforts with paddling partners each day. Discovering the power of people truly working together is a keystone of the experience.

Rock Climbing

Rock climbing is the ultimate opportunity to challenge oneself physically, mentally, and emotionally.  The mountains of Maine and New Hampshire provide rocky granite crags that offer beginning, intermediate and challenging rock climbing. During climbing days, participants learn about rock climbing equipment, safety, and etiquette, belaying techniques, climbing rescue techniques, and rappelling. Students test their balance, control, and mental strength on the vertical rock faces nearby. In addition to stretching the limits of what they think they’re capable of, climbing hones their coordination, flexibility, and grace on the rock. These skills will be put to the test over several days of progressive climbs on different sites to which students and the crew will travel and be rewarded with spectacular views.

Depending upon the expedition route, technical rope activities may include a “via ferrata” or “Tyrolean traverse”. There may be the opportunity to work through a high ropes obstacle course together - these uniquely structured activities provide opportunities not only for self-reliance, but also for communication and collaboration as participants confront and work through their fears.

Climbing presents many individual challenges for students, while the team must work together to set systems up, communicate clearly and support each other throughout the climb. Students do not need prior climbing or backpacking experience for this course, just an open-mind and willingness to learn new skills!

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 Leave No Trace ethics throughout the expedition.

Solo

The Solo experience provides an important break from the rigors of the expedition to give students quiet time to reflect on the Outward Bound experience. With the basics of food and equipment, and with safety a top priority, students will take some time away from the group to be alone at sites of their own, using the wilderness skills learned during the first parts of the course. Often located along beautiful lake shorelines or peaceful rivers, Solo sites are chosen to offer as much solitude as possible (yet be within emergency whistle-signaling distance of other group members). Most students spend their Solo time journaling, drawing or just thinking and resting as they process lessons learned and focus on their goals for the future. Instructors check on each participant at regular intervals. The time students spend on Solo depends on the length of the course – on a 22-day course, students can expect to complete at least one overnight Solo experience, weather and course conditions depending.

Course Area

The upper reaches of the Androscoggin watershed are fed by Aziscohos Lake, the Magalloway River and the Rangeley Lakes. Indigenous Abenaki peoples used the Androscoggin as both a means of transportation between winter habitats inland, summer living on the coast and as a source of food. Later the Androscoggin River was 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. These regions are the ancestral land of the Wabanaki Confederacy, which includes Abenaki/Abénaquis, W∂last∂kwiyik (Maliseet), Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy nations.