Climbing walls can be designed to satisfy the needs of both untrained and experienced climbers offering these people a place to learn their craft as well as a place for them to keep their skills honed during off seasons. Users of the artificial wall can be classified into special groups, such as "Youth at Risk," who are engaged in…

A resource room containing information about outdoor programs generates individual and cooperative learning activities and outdoor experiences. Although adventure participants are responsible for decisions and risks undertaken, the program should attempt to enhance experiences by reducing difficulties brought on by outsiders, institutions, and red…

Provides recommendations that may be useful to administrators and directors of programs that require more and more truly exceptional skills and experiences on the part of instructors and trip leaders if the programs are to be conducted safely and effectively. (Author/IRT)

Provides the outdoor adventure educator with a working knowledge of self-esteem to inform practice and allow communication between practitioners. Discusses a practical model of self-esteem, methods of increasing global self-esteem, evidence that adventure increases self-esteem, and relevant guidelines for framing adventure activities. (SV)

A camp that is establishing a challenge course or climbing wall must ensure program safety. Discusses financial planning, selecting a contractor, adhering to standards for construction, inspections, staff training, screening of participants, and the administrative challenge of implementing and documenting proper actions. Sidebar discusses a study…

A study of a coeducational outdoor/adventure program for 13- to 15-year olds at Shotmoor, England, where all participated in the same activities. The boys' beliefs about the abilities of girls were altered in a way that would not have occurred in a classroom. (DM)

Activities for team-building in college-level management and organizational behavior classes are described. The exercises use adventure-education techniques but have as their central theme the production of rhythms in various forms: creating predictable agendas; beating simple rhythms on desks; a Japanese hand clapping; recitation; and feeling…

The Duke University (North Carolina) experience using adventure-based or wilderness learning programs for staff development is discussed, focusing on the program rationale, planning, common responses of participants and nonparticipants, and outcomes. Quotations from program assessments are included. A brief list of relevant industry resources is…

Bicycling is a valuable medium for outdoor experiential learning. Bicycling shares with other outdoor learning activities some common elements such as environmental contrast, physical activity, a small group context, and a self-reliant form of transportation. However, bicycling has several unique characteristics that set it apart from other common…

This study investigated the effectiveness of using an outdoor-adventure education program as a method of intervention for enhancing the self-concept of a group of hearing impaired individuals receiving services from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Nine adults (6 male, 3 female) with hearing impairments participated in a 4-day…

Activities commonly associated with outdoor adventure education can be used effectively in therapy for couples. The adventure education concepts of risk, trust, fear, anxiety, dependence/independence, problem solving, and intimacy are all dealt with in therapy and enrichment experiences for couples. While the outdoor environment has a tremendous…

Three entries address various outdoor education issues. The first outlines eight steps for promoting professional work. The second suggests ways to adapt 16 games, group initiatives, and ropes course elements to teach environmental concepts. The third explains the use of belay anchors, or cork-screw anchors designed to tether large dogs. (JHZ)

Most take canoeing, leadership, first aid, CPR and other courses to help cope when something happens, but there is more to dealing with crisis than learning proper procedures and techniques. Three areas of concern interlock to form the Crisis Management Triangle: knowledge and skill, preventive awareness, and crisis management planning. (ERB)

Gathers comprehensive information about accidents and near misses occurring in outdoor programs. Includes checklists for types of injury/illness, program activity, and contributing factors. Asks for analysis and recommendations, comments by the program director, and a narrative description of how the accident happened, treatment given, and…

An account of an early outdoor leadership experience illustrates that a trip leader's role is to build a team capable of accomplishing goals without dependence on the leader. Only when campers are taken beyond their comfort zones does true learning and emotional growth begin. Sidebar presents eight dos and three don'ts of good trip leadership. (TD)