Oregon Wilderness Instructor Course

Wilderness Instructor Course

Enhance your readiness to work in outdoor programs by participating in this extensive multi-faceted educational expedition. Develop your skills in rafting, mountaineering, and rock climbing. Learn group facilitation methods and creative course planning strategies. Study risk management with groups in a variety of settings and situations, planning for and actually teaching area youth. Wilderness First Responder and courses included; academic credit is available.

Your group of six to 10 students will complete an expedition in the style of Outward Bound, learning about wilderness education through direct experience. Your instructors and other staff will enrich your expedition with seminars and discussions about how to teach both the skills you know and those you learn, plus broader issues concerning how to manage a wilderness experience to achieve specific goals for individuals and groups.

The element that makes this experience so special is that you will be a student and a teacher on your course as you utilize your peers and instructors to gain insight, in the form of feedback, which will help you develop the skills and techniques of the outdoor educator. Lessons and workshops throughout the course will include topics such as Outward Bound philosophy and methodology, adventure and experiential education, teaching styles and techniques, group dynamics, group facilitation and debriefing practices, leadership theory, conflict resolution, judgment and decision-making, risk management, and course planning coupled with logistics design.

Your instructors are extremely dedicated and highly skilled professional educators that strive to embody and exemplify the Outward Bound founding principles: challenge and adventure, compassion and service, social and environmental responsibility, character development, and learning though experience. As your course progresses your instructors will expose you to the most current and technical hard skills available to the outdoor industry, hold you to your own high expectations, teach and guide you from their own experiences, and demand your best effort at all times.

The Outward Bound Difference On your course wilderness will be the catalyst for personal introspection, a sense of awe and mystery, and most importantly leadership. If you feel your calling is to pursue a career in outdoor instruction and education plunge into this instructor development course and explore what it takes and means to be and outdoor educator. Students are given the opportunity to thrive in genuine leadership situations while gaining practical experience in leading a group toward a common goal. You will learn the fundamentals of experiential education, and discover, first hand, the power of learning by doing.

The Oregon Wilderness Instructor Course is a specialized Outward Bound course in the Central Cascades, Smith Rock State Park and on the Deschutes River in Oregon. It is designed to train you in the skills necessary for an entry level job in the field of outdoor education.

Course Area(s)

The Deschutes River runs North from central Oregon, on the East side of the Cascades, to the border of Washington State where it joins the Columbia river on its journey to the Pacific Ocean. The Deschutes, meaning “the waterfalls” in French, is a wild and scenic designated river that is a popular river for both whitewater rafting and fly-fishing.

The 96 river miles that you will travel has an amazing geologic landscape and history that has seen the hooves of wild horses, forests of banana trees, and biblical type floods originating from a glacial trapped lake in Montana. As the Deschutes flows down to the ocean it boasts rapids ranging from class II all the way up to Class IV. The environment surrounding the river is very dry and arid in the summer season, but in the spring you will find abundant greenery and wild flowers on its banks. Wildlife surrounding the river includes ospreys, bald eagles, deer, bighorn sheep (rare), rattlesnakes, and waterfowl such as mergansers and mallards. Because of the necessity of the river in this dry region a colorful human history has also evolved around its shores leaving behind a historic railroad, which is still in use to this day.

The Central Cascades is home to the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, and Mt. Jefferson Wilderness areas. Four 10,000+ foot glaciated volcanoes are present in this course area, with a total of eight major volcanoes. The West side of the Cascades is lush boasting ancient pines and fur trees; the East side is much dryer allowing uninhibited views of the high desert that stretches to the east as far as the eye can see. During your course you will attempt to climb at least one peak in the area.. Because this course takes place in the early spring, snow travel will be mandatory for the mountain sections of this course. The potential peaks you may attempt include: Broken Top (9,175’), South Sister (10,358’), Middle Sister (10,053’), North Sister (10,094’), and Mt. Jefferson (10,497’). A final expedition to Mt. Hood (11,239’), Oregon’s highest peak or Mt. Rainier (14,411’), Washington’s highest peak will come at the very end of your course.

Smith Rock State Park is a world-renowned climbing destination that attracts climbers of every ability and from around the world because it is widely considered to be one of the top sport climbing areas in the country. Smith Rock is a unique and very beautiful area that commonly graces postcards and calendars. Below the climbing sites the Crooked River lazily winds its way through the canyon, cutting a path through the cliffs and spires that make up this climbing paradise. One of the most striking features at Smith Rocks is the so-called “Monkey Face” which is a prominent spire that dominates the skyline and has the appearance of a monkey's face. Looking out to the west from the climbing crags, the snow-capped volcanoes of the Cascade Range rise from the horizon and dwarf the flat checkerboard of irrigated plains that surrounds Smith Rock. Given the dry and temperate climate, rock climbing is feasible year round.

Course Break Down

After pickup and transportation from the Redmond, OR airport (RDM), you begin the Wilderness Instructors Course with a thorough course overview, introductory activities, gear review and organization at the airport. You will then be transported to Mecca Flat on the Deschutes River to spend night one under the stars getting ready for your immersion into a 50-day Outward Bound course.

River skills I (Days 1-7): This initial river expedition will focus on whitewater rafting skills such as river safety, strokes, ferries, eddy-turns, peel-outs, rapid swims, river reading, river/rapid classification, rescue concepts, hydrology and group management. This expedition will also focus on establishing important group cohesion and communication skills that will serve as a foundation for the entire course. Course area will be the Deschutes River.

Rock skills I and II (Days 8-15): The next several days will focus specifically on skills associated with technical rock climbing. Topics will include knots, anchors, movement over rock, top roping, belaying, belay escapes, harnesses and other equipment, rappelling, guiding applications, site assessment/ management, and facilitation skills. Students will have ample opportunity to actively climb and improve their personal skill with various types of climbs including bouldering, face climbs, cracks, and multi-pitch. Course area will be Smith Rock, rock sites at the Odin Falls base camp, and/or other Central Oregon crags.

Wilderness First Responder & CPR (Days 16-24): Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification is recognized as the standard level of expertise in backcountry first aid. Our WFR certification will be taught by professionals from the Wilderness Medical Training Center at our basecamp in Redmond, OR. Get your certification and develop the following skills: patient assessment, knowledge of body systems, equipment improvisation, trauma, environmental medicine, toxins, wilderness protocols, backcountry medicine, and wilderness rescue. See link to Syllabus. http://my.outwardbound.org/pdf/course_files/OII_WFR_syllabus.pdf

Mountaineering/backpacking skills (Days 25-42): Head for the hills as the focus turns to the development of backpacking and mountaineering skills. Topics will include group travel, gear selection and usage, map & compass navigation, cooking, weather/hazard assessment, 3rd class travel, snow/glacier travel and camping, group management and facilitation skills. You will have an opportunity to attempt a major summit climb, weather and group dynamics dependent. Course area will be the Central Cascades.

Final Expedition (Days 43-47): The final expedition of your course will take you to Mt. Hood, the tallest peak in Oregon or to Mt. Rainier the tallest peak in Washington.

Practicum (Days 48-49)Your course comes to completion by heading back to our basecamp in Redmond, OR to focus on two days of practicum with real students.

Course End (Day 49-50) A personal challenge event will cumulate your experience of lifetime as a capstone, final experience. The rest of the days will include any final lessons, course evaluations, clean-up, de-issue, and tying your experience together in the context of what it means for the large picture of your life. Transportation to the Redmond, OR airport (RDM) is provided at the conclusion of the course.

Region: Oregon

Activities: Mountaineering, peak attempt, rafting, rock climbing, solo, service, final expedition, Wilderness First Responder certification

Additional Information:
Application Fee
Transportation Fee

Dates	Days	Age	Focus	Location	Tuition	Course	Enroll
03/23/09 to 05/11/09	50	20+	Instructor	Oregon	$5795.00	OII970