Alaska Summer Semester

This summer semester combines three challenging, inspiring expeditions into one course. Travel the Kenai Mountains, sea kayak in Prince William Sound or the Kenai Fjords and raft the Copper River or its tributaries. Ideal students are fit, motivated and ready for the challenges of extended wilderness travel and willing to focus on the demanding Outward Bound semester curriculum.

The Kenai Mountains is a land of precipitous peaks, dense forests, vast landscapes, omnipresent wildlife and water in every form imaginable - snow, swift streams, waterfalls, ice, rain, fog and rainbows. It is known as the “land of the midnight sun.” On your journey through south-central Alaska you will encounter a wide spectrum of Alaskan wilderness as we paddle, backpack and climb through a variety of engaging backcountry.

The first thing you may notice about the sea is how quiet and peaceful it is. The silence, however, is often broken by the raucous calls of seagulls, the shriek of nesting eagles, the frantic flapping of chubby Puffins defying gravity, the exhalation of Humpback whales, and the rumble of calving glaciers crashing into the sea. It is a thriving environment, where one gets the sense of how the Earth may have been in another time, full of diverse life, going about its age-old business without the interference of humankind. We are privileged to be a part of this once common, now increasingly rare exuberance, if only for a little while.

The Copper River and its tributaries like the Nelchina and the Talzina are swift, cold and clouded with glacial silt. Traveling on them requires skillful maneuvering, and learning to guide the raft successfully will be one of your first challenges.

All types of Alaska’s habitats can be found on the peninsula: tundra, alpine, rivers, wetlands and forest. They are home to wolves, lynx, beavers, caribou, wolverines, black and brown (grizzly) bears, Dall sheep, salmon, trout, mountain goats, bald eagles and numerous other small birds and mammals. From 18 to 20 hours of daylight will be the rule with a golden glow for the twilight of the night sky. All living things will be in full gear for the burst of summer.

Outward Bound Semester
The Alaska Summer Semester is designed to develop your technical outdoor skills and to enhance your leadership, communication, environmental, and teaching skills—all while you train in methods of wilderness travel in a variety of environments in Alaska. You will be able to transfer these skills to challenges that you meet throughout the rest of your life.

Your decision to attend this course is an important commitment and should be made with complete awareness of the course’s depth, challenge and complexity—this is an adventure in which you live Outward Bound values in the field for 72 days. The majority of your time will be spent in a group of 7 – 11 people. Your group-mates may very well become your best and lifelong friends; at times, they may be your biggest challenge. It is our goal to teach you the skills to live and work together effectively with a diverse group of people. Everyone will be expected to maintain a spirit of compromise and respect differences. Ultimately, how effectively your group works together and how much you learn will be up to you.

When you commit to an expedition, you enter a dynamic and demanding learning situation, in which what you will learn directly relates to what you’re doing. You will need to master skills, face challenges, and solve real and immediate problems. You will work on becoming a member of a team: listening to others, giving and receiving feedback, and expressing your ideas. You will learn leadership techniques within that team, discovering how best to incorporate each other’s opinions and work with each other’s strengths. Because the success of the expedition depends on your collaborative efforts, an ethic of service is tightly woven through all of our courses. Some opportunities will occur within your group: helping a teammate, coaching them up a steep hike, preparing food for the group. Others will present themselves within a larger community as organized or informal projects.

The Outward Bound Difference
Our goal is to teach you and your fellow team-mates how to bring leadership into your lives. By focusing on a progression from wilderness skills to team and leadership skills and exploring issues like environmental stewardship, compassion and group living, you will see things you couldn’t see before. This course is ideal for fit, motivated older teens and a great way to spend the summer before college. Successful completion of your course demands mastery of skills, trust, fitness, confidence, tenacity, leadership, initiative and compassion. The promotion of these qualities, and the discovery of what’s in you, is the purpose of Outward Bound.

This course may be the hardest thing you have ever done. Outward Bound philosophy maintains that by facing the challenges the course will offer you, you will emerge physically and mentally stronger, with an increased mastery of expedition skills as well as a better understanding of your own capabilities. We think that the payoff is well worth the work, but you should be aware of what you’re getting into and excited about tackling the challenges. Come challenge yourself this summer with us!

Course Description
While on the water, you will explore along the coast of the Kenai Peninsula. The coastal shoreline is a rugged and remote coastline where icefalls, vertical cliffs and pebbled beaches meet the Gulf of Alaska and the adjacent fjords and passages. The best way to access this spectacular landscape is by boat. Sea kayaks, sometimes called “a poor man’s yacht,” are the perfect way to experience this incredible place. With long summer days, there will be many opportunities to explore and enjoy this wild coastal environment. You will travel across Resurrection Bay and then either east to Prince William Sound or west to Kenai Fjords, to a thin strip of beach between the ocean and the dense rainforest. The first thing you may notice is how quiet and peaceful it is. The silence, however, is often broken by the raucous calls of seagulls, the shriek of nesting eagles, the frantic flapping of chubby Puffins defying gravity, the exhalation of Humpback whales, and the rumble of calving glaciers crashing into the sea. It is a thriving environment, where one gets the sense of how the Earth may have been in another time, full of diverse life, going about its age-old business without the interference of humankind. We are privileged to be a part of this once common, now increasingly rare exuberance, if only for a little while. Your group will learn to travel independently and self-reliantly, the first days of this phase are spent learning and practicing basic kayaking and camping skills. Paddling a sea kayak is not particularly difficult; in fact it is deceptively easy. However, knowledge of seamanship and judgment must be learned in order to be safe in what can be an unforgiving environment. Instruction in sea kayaking will include proper kayak loading and care, navigation and rescue techniques.

Next, you trade in your kayaking equipment for backpacking and mountaineering gear. During this portion of your course, the Kenai Mountains will be your playground. Located in south central Alaska, this mountain range is bounded by the Gulf of Alaska to the south and Prince William Sound to the east, the range rises abruptly from the ocean fjords. Initially on a trail through the forest, and later onto the alpine tundra above, you climb above the river and lake valleys to the heights of the Kenai Mountains. Trails penetrate only the first few miles into the backcountry; from there it is off-trail travel through forests, over passes, across tundra and onto numerous glaciers. Learning new skills of wilderness travel will be necessary as you travel by foot to gain access to the high-country above the forests. Once above, you are surrounded by alpine terrain.

NOTE: Semester courses are demanding physically and socially. Students who are unmotivated or struggle with inappropriate behaviors on course may be expelled. Students who are expelled are not eligible for a refund. You and your family should be prepared to make a commitment to being in a relatively formal educational setting for the entire length of the course.

Important Note: Pack weight is between 50 and 70 lbs dependent on participant's body weight. Packs on courses in Alaska weigh more because of additional gear brought into the field. We encourage students to test out a pack that is this heavy prior to choosing this course.

To enroll in this course click the enroll button next to the course dates that work for you. To shop comparatively on line visit our Advanced Course Finder or better yet call one of our expert Admission Advisers at 866-467-7651. Course tuitions listed below do not include our Application Fee or Transportation Fee.

Region: Alaska

Activities: Mountaineering, possible glacier travel, peak attempt, sea kayaking, seamanship, low-impact camping, solo service and final expedition

Additional Information:
Application Fee
Transportation Fee

Dates	Days	Age	Focus	Location	Tuition	Course	Enroll
06/09/08 to 07/28/08	50	18-30	Semester	Alaska	$6995.00	APS870