Montana Summer Semester

This is a 50-day summer semester for individual 17 and older. It features travel on the Yellowstone River, backpacking in the northern Rockies and climbing in the Humbug. Semesters are demanding courses and require significant commitment. Students who enroll should be prepared to focus on the demanding Outward Bound Semester curriculum and gain the enhanced benefits available on the is extended summer adventure.

The Yellowstone River is wide and swift fringed by willow and cottonwoods and constantly changing. It winds it way towards the Beartooth Mountains and is a river with diverse wildlife, sandy beaches and a rich history.

From angular peaks, to alpine tundra, to geologic wonderlands of rock spires and fins, travel in Montana is unforgettable. Courses take place at 7,000 to 12,000 feet with “walkup” peaks that don’t require the heavy gear of technical mountaineering. Montana Alpine Backpacking courses take place at a variety of amazing wilderness areas in southwestern Montana. From the rugged peaks of the Pioneers and the expansive vistas and glacial lakes in the Bitterroot Range to the tallest peaks in Montana in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, a wilderness expedition in Montana will be unforgettable.

Tucked away in southwestern Montana is a relatively small area called The Humbug Spires, where geology stepped out of the ordinary. Erosion and extrusion together left this area littered with rock fins and narrow rock points (“spires”). It is a perfect place to focus on climbing. Learn setups and safety and experiment with friction climbing, mantles, crack climbing and bouldering.

Adjacent to The Spires are the Highland Mountains, a graceful range with lower elevations rolling hills. Many courses take side trips into this area for solo or a peak ascent.

Outward Bound Semester
The Montana 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 Montana. 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 50 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 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
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.

Course Description
Hike high along the Continental Divide in Montana, tackling 11,000-foot peaks and passes while you develop your leadership and back country skills. Continue your expedition into the Humbug Spires where you spend over a week focused on rock climbing. Develop strength, balance and tenacity as you climb the rock fins and dramatic spires that characterize the area. Next, build your team and communication skills as you paddle the mighty Yellowstone River in open canoes. Your semester culminates with an extended backcountry expedition into the Beartooth Range, an even more challenging environment. Build climbing, map & compass navigation, expedition planning and back country skills and more while you experience this 50-day expedition. Course order may vary and includes solo, service and final expedition.

The Montana Summer Semester is an extraordinarily diverse expedition which combines beautiful, challenging environments and adventurous activities with an intensive curriculum of leadership, interpersonal skills, individual growth, and community building. This semester course offers 50 days of in-depth learning in mountain travel, backpacking, and canoeing, ensuring that by the time you reach your journey’s end—after hundreds of miles under Montana’s Big Sky—you will be an expert in wilderness travel and be ready to undertake similar adventures on your own. But these new skills are just the beginning. For as with all Outward Bound Wilderness courses, the focus is not just on what you do, but how you do it, why you do it, and who you are when you have finished. As you backpack the spine of America along Montana’s isolated Continental Divide, and travel amongst Montana’s highest peaks, tundra, and lakes in the massive Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, you’ll encounter few people, plenty of wildlife and wildflowers, and even more challenges. These experiences are designed to not only push you physically, but also emotionally and socially. They will provide valuable opportunities for you to discover your strengths and potential, and also to learn tools that will help you better cope with difficult situations. An exploration of the importance of compassion, service, and social and environmental responsibility will provide real experiences to learn anew the value of giving to others as well as being an involved community member and steward to the environment.

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.

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: Montana

Activities: Backpacking, peak attempt, canoeing, rock climbing, service solo and final expedition

Additional Information:
Application Fee
Transportation Fee

scholarship program pick
Dates	Days	Age	Focus	Location	Tuition	Course	Enroll
06/14/08 to 08/02/08	50	16-30	Semester	Montana	$6295.00	RFS870