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Oregon Rock Climbing & Rafting for Adults

Photograph (above) taken by Colby Blue
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LOCATION
Pacific Northwest
EXPEDITION TYPE
Rafting
Rock Climbing
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
River Navigation, Service
PROGRAM
Adult
LENGTH
Days
SKILLS

TECHNICAL

  • Basic Paddle Strokes
  • Belaying a Climber
  • Food Preparation and Cooking
  • Knots
  • Map and Compass
  • Navigation
  • Rappelling
  • River Reading

INTERPERSONAL

  • Character
  • Leadership
  • Positive Risk Taking
  • Sense of Social Connection
  • Service
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This course for adults offers adventures on the Deschutes River, as well as at the world-famous Smith Rock State Park and other backcountry climb sites.

You will have the opportunity to escape your usual routine, explore stunning wilderness areas, and enjoy yourself to the fullest. You will learn climbing safety and equipment, including knots and systems, amidst towering geologic formations. Your team will learn paddling techniques, river hydrology, raft captaining, and self-rescue techniques as you raft the Deschutes River. Every aspect of this course will enhance your camp craft skills, including navigation using a map and compass. Building critical competencies in teamwork and outdoor skills are an integral part of this course, enhanced by the emphasis on leadership, character development and an ethic of service. Wilderness travel can be challenging, but with appropriate pre-course preparation, using tools we provide, adults of various ages and body types can be successful. You do not need to have any previous experience, but arriving as physically fit as possible and excited for the opportunity for personal development will enhance your experience and allow you to take full advantage of the expedition.

NOTE: This course requires that students submit proof of "Up-to-Date" COVID-19 Vaccination status as defined by the CDC. For questions regarding this policy please see this page or call us at 866-467-7651.

UPCOMING COURSES

This course is closed for the season.

APPLY NOW
This means a course has several open spots and is actively processing applications.

APPLY NOW – Almost Full
This means there are three or fewer currently available spots left on a course. To secure your spot click Apply Now to begin an application!

JOIN WAITLIST
Once a course has reached capacity, three waitlist positions become available. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. A $500 deposit is required. This $500 deposit includes a $150 non-refundable application fee and a $350 tuition payment. The $350 tuition payment is refundable only if you cancel your waitlist application or if an open position does not become available. If a position does become available, the applicant will be applied to the open position and the Application and Cancellation Policies of the Regional Outward Bound School will be followed, including forfeiture of the $500 deposit if you cancel 90 days or less prior to the course start date. 

Waitlist applicants are encouraged to complete all required admissions documents while awaiting an open position. Positions may become available up to two weeks prior to the course start date. Applicants may only apply to one course. We recommend applying to a course with open positions instead of a course that is accepting waitlist applications. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.

CALL TO APPLY
This means a course is very close to its start date. Although it is unlikely to secure a spot this late, you can call the National Admissions office at 866-467-7651 to discuss your options.

COURSE IS FULL
When a course has reached maximum capacity, meaning all spots and the three waitlist spots are occupied, a course will read “Course Is Full.” This means applications are no longer being accepted.

CLOSED
As a course nears its start date, the availability status may read “Closed.” In this event, a course roster has been finalized and applications are no longer being accepted or processed.

Adult Courses

Do you ever want to unplug, step away from the daily grind to take on new challenges? Are you ready to conquer harder skills and remind your senses (or discover for the first time) what it’s like to crest a mountain peak, hear the echoes at the edge of a vast canyon or feel the rush of white water spray on your face? Take a break from your routine, radically change your surroundings and test your tenacity. Put some “firsts” in front of you and find moments of unexpected discovery along the way. Experience Outward Bound as an adult and prepare for an injection of adventure, awareness and adaptability that sticks with you long after you unpack your backpack.

  • Build skills, form connections: Meet like-minded peers and make connections as you work through priorities and adventures together, learn outdoor skills at the hands of expert Instructors and earn every good night’s sleep.
  • Value strengths and strengthen values: Re-discover your inner strength, renew your natural leadership abilities and practice adapting to new environments. Tap in to your trust and compassion as you tackle obstacles with a support crew standing beside you.
  • Demonstrate mastery: As you awaken your wilderness skills and dig deep to rise to the physical and mental challenges, the bulk of the expedition’s leadership and decision-making responsibilities transfer from the Instructor to the crew. Work together to achieve team goals, solve problems and succeed both individually and together.
  • What you’ll learn: By allowing yourself to focus beyond daily responsibilities and obligations, you’ll master more difficult skills and open up new directions and opportunities you never thought possible. You’ll find clarity in the life changes you’re facing, you’ll uncover inspiration in the wilderness and you’ll renew your sense of adventure to take on the next challenge in front of you.

Return home with newly expanded wilderness acumen, an energized outlook, a rekindled allowance of empathy into situations and relationships and an eye toward the future.

a group of adults watch an outward bound instructor tie a knot on a rock climbing course
an outward bound instructor points at a rock while while a group of adults wearing helmets observe
two people wearing rock climbing gear sit high atop a tall rock wall after climbing it
Photo courtesy of Colby Blue
a rope and carabiner are pictured in the foreground. the rope is attached to a climber further below
a person wearing rock climbing gear is suspended in mid-air between two rock walls. below there is a green vista with mountains in the distance.
Photo courtesy of Colby Blue
the camera looks down from atop a rock wall as a rock climber makes their way up and a belayer and others look up from the ground
two people look up while working to belay a rock climber
a person ties a rope in a knot as an instructor observes on a rock climbing trip with outward bound
Photo courtesy of Colby Blue
a person in rock climbing gear handles a rope on an outward bound course
Photo courtesy of Jor El Zajatz

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.

a group of adults navigate whitewater in a raft on an outward bound trip
Photo courtesy of Colby Blue
a group of people make their way downhill to a river
a group of adults navigate whitewater in a raft on an outward bound trip
Photo courtesy of Colby Blue
three people wearing life jackets stand on a rock above a river and raise their hands in celebration
Photo courtesy of Kim Budd
a group of adults navigate whitewater in a raft on an outward bound trip
Photo courtesy of Shannon Orcutt

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 opportunities for short day hikes.

Service

Service to others and to the 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.

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.

Final Expedition

Outward Bound believes that an appropriate amount of independence is a powerful educational tool. During the travel sections of this course, Outward Bound Instructors purposefully and gradually transfer certain leadership responsibilities to the students culminating with the “Final Expedition.” Near the end of course—if the group has demonstrated the necessary leadership, team problem solving and wilderness living skills—students may have the opportunity to travel without Instructors immediately present. Many of our students feel this phase of the course is the most rewarding, as the group learns to work as a team, problem solve, and accomplish a goal independently, while utilizing all the skills they have acquired.

Personal Challenge Event

Courses typically end with a Personal 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, as well as provide feedback that students implement on course and when they return to their communities.

Course Area

Central Cascades, Oregon

Volcanoes dot the spine of the Cascade Mountains, rising over 10,000 feet above the forests, lakes, and rivers of the surrounding region. The Central Cascade Range is home to the Three Sisters, Broken Top, Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Jefferson. Active glaciers, traces of avalanches, and the volcanoes themselves are the perfect setting. 

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.

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.

SAMPLE ITINERARY
DAY 1
Course Start, welcome and introductions, duffle shuffle, course overview
DAY 2-4
Rock climbing section: introduction to rock climbing systems, movement on rock, belaying, top roping and lowering; development of climbing technique.; experience various types of rock climbs and difficulties
DAY 5
Travel to the river; introduction to whitewater rafting, use of PFD, safety topics, captaining a raft, reading water, swim assessment, navigation, and camp-craft skills
DAY 6-8
Whitewater rafting: practice captaining a raft, flip drills, scouting, throw bag drill, swimming activities, run rapids; opportunity for a day hike, rock jump, rock climbing, rappelling
DAY 9
Travel to the end of the river section; de-issue gear; course end celebration and graduation.
DAY 10
Travel home

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Getting Started

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. 

OR
ENROLL TODAY