Minnesota to Mexico Winter Semester

This is an 81-day semester length course. It includes two sections; a winter expedition by dogsled and ski into the north woods border country of Minnesota, and a desert section including cross-cultural backpacking expeditions in Big Bend National Park and down into north central Mexico, exploring Copper Canyon and a whitewater canoeing expedition on the Rio Grande. This is a premier international semester. Students who enroll should be prepared to participate in multiple physically challenging expeditions, service, cross-cultural home visits and study and to participate in the demanding Outward Bound semester curriculum.

Al Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is one million acres of rugged forest and crystal clear lakes, it is ancient granite cliffs and trails through cedars and hundred year-old pine. Camp at designated campsites, cook over and an open fire, hear loons wolves, see bear and moose and enjoy this classic expedition travel experience.

After a cross-country road trip, you’ll arrive in the Chihuahuan Desert and a whole new world. Big Bend National Park is a remote and vast wilderness with the 7800” Emory Peak in the center, visible for miles around. Learn desert travel in Big Bend and then drive south of the border to Copper Canyon. Copper Canyon is a series of canyons that together are deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon. Meet Tarahumara Indians and walk the trails that have been use by their community for thousands of years.

The Rio Grande offers a great place to learn whitewater paddling as it winds its way along our border with Mexico. Paddle the remote lower canyons or pass through the 300 foot walls of Santa Elena Canyon.

Outward Bound Semester
The Minnesota to Mexico Winter 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 Minnesota, west Texas and Mexico. You will be able to transfer these skills to challenges that you meet throughout the rest of your life. This course has particular emphasis on cross-cultural visits and education as well as exploring the history of westward expansion.

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 81 days. The majority of your time will be spent in a group of 7 – 12 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
Our courses are based on more than just wilderness skills, they are designed to deliver life skills. Students will not only gain and practice leadership skills, they will learn in an environment where instructors role model compassion and environmental stewardship. They will learn in and environment where challenge and adventure lead to a sense of accomplishment and genuine feeling of pride. Students are expected to learn and master skills, to exercise craftsmanship, to try their best and to and are asked to consider their experience in group conversations and through an overall emphasis on reflection and bringing learning home.

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
Explore the snow-covered forests and frozen lakes of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the pristine tranquility of winter in the company of eager and enthusiastic sled dogs. Learn the ins and outs of skiing and dogsledding and how to travel in extreme weather. During your time in Minnesota you and your group build the dogsled you’ll use on your final expedition. After 3-4 weeks in the north woods, you and your team will set off on a cross-country road trip. Stop along the way to visit historic sites or participate in service projects. You will be car camping on this section of your trip. When you get to the desert and step off the van, it may take a moment for your eyes to adjust to the big sky and vast light filled landscape.

Adjust your team and your skills to desert travel: topographical map reading, water treatment, hydration, camp craft skills and new group dynamics will be your challenges as you venture into Big Bend country. Big Bend sits on the border with Mexico, on the Rio Grande. It is a place where the US and Mexico blend into one community and is a perfect environment from which to launch your journey into Mexico.

Travel the ancient trails through Copper Canyon and live among the Tarahumara Indians, they will welcome you into their home and you will get to know people belonging to one of the most intact cultures in the world. You will also travel a major section of the Rio Grandee by canoe. Enjoy the rhythms of river life, soak up the sun and learn the technical skills of whitewater paddling.

NOTE: Semester courses are demanding physically and socially. Students who are unmotivated or stuggle 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.

NOTE: This course is an international semester. The final phase of the course takes place in Mexico. You and your group will drive together across the border. Passport OR a government issued photo ID accompanied by a certified birth certificate is required.

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: Minnesota

Activities: Desert backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing, canyoneering, service, dogsledding, solo, service and final expedition

Additional Information:
Application Fee
Transportation Fee

Dates	Days	Age	Focus	Location	Tuition	Course	Enroll
01/07/09 to 03/28/09	81	18-30	Semester	Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to Utah	$9795.00	MIS981