River Navigation, Service, Whitewater Rafting, Rock Climbing
PRICE
$4,875
PROGRAM
High School
AGES
14-16 , 16-18
LENGTH
15 Days
START LOCATION
Redmond, OR
END LOCATION
Portland, OR
i
SEASON(S)
Summer
SKILLS
TECHNICAL
Basic First Aid
Basic Paddle Strokes
Belaying a Climber
Campcraft
Food Preparation and Cooking
Knots
Leave No Trace Methods & Ethics
Map and Compass
River Reading
Water Safety and Rescue
INTERPERSONAL
Character
Communication
Empathy
Independence
Leadership
Positive Risk Taking
Problem Solving
Responsibility
Self Awareness
Self Confidence
Sense of Social Connection
Service
SHARE
Raft through desert canyons and climb volcanic peaks in the untamed wilderness of Oregon.
The Oregon Rafting & Rock Climbing course offers students an opportunity to challenge themselves physically and mentally while exploring amazing wilderness areas. The first days of your trip will be spent building critical skills in teamwork and the outdoors. At the world famous Smith Rock State Park, you will learn climbing techniques, as well as the basic gear, knots, and rope systems that keep you safe amidst the towering geologic formations. Along the wild and scenic Deschutes River, your team will learn paddling methods, river hydrology, raft captaining, and self-rescue techniques. The course also includes an emphasis on leadership, character development, and an ethic of service. Whether navigating through rapids, hiking long distances to reach climbs, or keeping calm when exposed to heights, wilderness travel is demanding. You do not need to have any previous experience, but arriving physically fit and excited for the opportunity for personal development will enhance your experience and allow you to take full advantage of the expedition.
NOTE: For the health and safety of students and staff in the COVID-19 pandemic, students may be required to travel to course start by private transportation. Please work directly with your Course Advisor for your course for the most up-to-date and regionally-focused travel options. All students and staff must provide a current negative COVID-19 viral test result before arrival to course and/or consent to having a COVID-19 test administered at course start. Outward Bound requires students and staff to follow COVID-19 protocols for 14 days prior to course start and while traveling including physical distancing, wearing a mask in public, and frequent and thorough handwashing. For complete “Health and Safety Practices for Outward Bound Expeditions,” click here.
This course starts within the next week. Please call us at 866-467-7651 to assess the possibility of applying for this course!
Classic Courses
Are you ready to take a journey that will change your life? You won’t look at day-to-day drama the same way after you’ve conquered a high mountain ridge, made a boat obey your command in windswept waves or slept under the stars watching bats swoop overhead. Joining an Outward Bound expedition changes you. Your crew, your Instructor, your route and your adventures will have a profound and lasting impact on you as you rise to meet exhilarating natural challenges in some of the country’s wildest places.
Build skills, form connections: Learn and practice wilderness, teamwork and leadership skills. 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: Uncover your unique character strengths, develop your leadership abilities and learn how to let compassion in to everyday life by pushing your own limits and working alongside your peers.
Demonstrate mastery: As you gain confidence in new skills, take on more decision-making responsibilities. Work together to achieve team goals, solve problems and succeed both as individuals and as a group.
What you’ll learn:For High School students, the opportunities to carry more weight (literally and figuratively) and make impactful decisions with accompanying consequences fills the expedition as you go through numerous trials and triumphs. It’s all about independence.
After you come home, many of the character, leadership and service traits you uncovered on your expedition stay with you, helping you navigate your daily life with more resilience and success.
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Shannon Orcutt
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Colby Blue
Photo courtesy
of Colby Blue
Photo courtesy
of Colby Blue
Rafting
Students will travel on the river in four to six-person paddle rafts, and learn to “captain” (maneuver) their paddle raft team through Class II to III rapids. After lessons in basic river travel and safety, students will learn to read currents, anticipate obstacles, and scout rapids. Students will also learn river hydrology, swimming in currents, and paddle techniques. There may also be an opportunity for short day hikes.
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Colby Blue
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Alice Burgess
Photo courtesy
of Justin Hall
Rock Climbing
Students will receive individual instruction and test their skills against the vertical cracks, steep faces and boulders of Smith Rock State Park. Among the skills students will learn are: basic climbing equipment, rope management, wearing harnesses, tying knots, belaying and rappelling techniques, and movement on rock.
Service
Service to others and to our environment is a core value of Outward Bound and is integrated into each course. Groups follow Leave No Trace ethics as they engage in acts of service while leading and supporting fellow participants. Designated service projects are coordinated with land managers like the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service to collaborate on land restoration projects. Additionally, students may have the opportunity to work alongside select social service agencies like nursing homes, hospitals, and organic farms. Students see the impact of their actions firsthand, and may develop a desire to continue service in their home communities.
Photo courtesy
of Luke O'Neill
Photo courtesy
of Luke O'Neill
Solo
In order for profound learning to take place, students spend time reflecting on their experience, and Solo is that opportunity. The Solo experience provides an important break from the rigors of the expedition and gives students the opportunity to reflect on their Outward Bound experience. With sufficient food and equipment, students will set up camp at sites of their own, using the wilderness skills learned during the first portions of the course. The amount of time students spend on Solo is based on course length, weather, student condition, age, and Instructor preference. Solo campsites 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, reflecting, thinking and resting as they process lessons of the course to focus on their goals for the future. Instructors check on each participant at regular intervals, as safety is always a top priority.
Personal Challenge
Courses typically end with a Challenge Event—an individual final physical push. This typically takes the form of an endurance run or triathlon-style challenge.
Outcomes
Outward Bound promotes character development, leadership, and service in the most engaging classroom possible … the wilderness. In real time, students experience the effects of their decisions on themselves and the other members of their group as they work to complete difficult tasks necessary for wilderness travel. Instructors challenge students to try new things and step outside their comfort zones. They also provide feedback that students implement on course and when they return to their communities.
Photo courtesy
of Ari Kosal
Course Area
Deschutes River, Oregon
The Deschutes River is part of the national Wild & Scenic Rivers System, flowing north from the Oregon Cascades to the Columbia River and then on to the Pacific Ocean. Courses generally travel anywhere from fifty to one hundred miles along the Lower Deschutes. The rapids on the Deschutes are rated to class IV, mostly class II-III. The group camps each night along the banks of the river. These regions are the ancestral lands of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the Tenino nations.
Smith Rock State Park, Oregon
Smith Rock State Park is a world-renowned climbing destination that attracts climbers of every ability level. The Crooked River winds its way through the canyon, and to the west, the snow-capped volcanoes of the Cascade Range rise on the horizon. One of the most striking features is a prominent spire, Monkey Face. Given the dry and temperate climate, rock climbing is feasible most of the year. These regions are the ancestral lands of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the Tenino nations.
SAMPLE ITINERARY
15-Day Course
DAY 1
Course Start, welcome and introductions, duffle shuffle, course overview
DAY 2-6
Whitewater rafting: Use of PFD, safety topics, captaining a raft, reading water, swim assessment, navigation, and camp-craft skills. Opportunity for a day hike, rock jump, rock climbing, rappelling.
DAY 7
Complete the 96 mile river rafting section by taking out at Deschutes State Park. De-issue river gear. River closing and celebration.
DAY 8
Travel to Smith Rock State Park. Orient to new environment and new equipment.
DAY 9-13
Rock Climbing: Introduction to rock climbing systems. Movement on rock, belaying, top roping and lowering. Experience various types of rock climbs and difficulties.
DAY 14
Personal Challenge Event, de-issue gear, de-brief, course end celebration and graduation
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.