This paper describes a new student orientation program at the University of Puget Sound (Washington) that involves an outdoor adventure program. New students entering the University embark on a 3-day outdoor adventure program called "Passages," as part of their orientation experience during the week prior to the beginning of the fall semester. The class of approximately 700 students is divided in half. While one group is on Passages, the other group remains on campus engaged in academic advising, registration and a 2-day seminar on writing, reading, and critical thinking called "Prelude." At the mid-point the groups switch. Goals for Passages focus on community building, providing transition from high school to college, and orienting students to the Pacific Northwest outdoor environment. Students can choose between a small group backpacking trip or a base camp experience. Passages leaders are current University of Puget Sound students who receive extensive leadership training over a 3-month period. Students in the program show decreases in a number of psychological symptoms. Participating students show increases in personal, academic, and total self-efficacy from pretest to posttest. This paper contains extensive appendices: (1) Appendix A contains a Passages 3-day schedule; (2) Appendix B provides suggestions for group discussions to be used by group leaders; (3) Appendix C is a backpacking leader pre-training questionnaire used to determine training needs; and (4) Appendix D lists backpacking leader competencies. (KS)