Glenn Randall - Outward Bound Map and Compass Handbook

Outward Bound USA celebrates more than fifty-five years of outdoor education programs that inspire people of all ages to enhance positive change in their communities and to create a more compassionate and resilient world for generations to come.

Outward Bound is globally recognized as the leading outdoor experiential education organization, annually serving close to fifty thousand youth and adults from communities across the United States.

At Outward Bound, we believe that values are best learned when experienced concretely rather than taught abstractly; that when the makeup of a crew crosses racial, economic, or religious lines, differences are celebrated, appreciated, and valued. Together, we seek, embrace, and value adventure and the lifelong pursuit of learning.

There are eleven regional Outward Bound Schools that operate across the United States. Each School has autonomy to deliver Outward Bound courses in its region and to build strong ties within its local communities and with its regional school partners.

Each school develops programs that serve specific student populations or needs and programs that respond to issues directly affecting its local communities. For many years, the Hurricane Outward Bound School has offered semester-long expeditions where learning at sea, from the Maine coast to the Florida Keys, becomes a formative part of a students gap year plan. The Colorado Outward Bound School also offers semester-long courses where students begin their coursework in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and conclude their coursework in Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. The Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School, for example, developed The Police Youth Challenge to address the deeply rooted and fraught relationships between police officers and young people across the city, and endeavors to connect them across issues and identities. The program has created positive, systemic change empowering young people and officers to see their leadership potential, to shape their sense of responsibility to their communities, and to act with compassion toward themselves and their neighbors.

While each school operates autonomously, they all benefit from OBUSAs national network, which ensures a high level of consistency in program quality, safety, and outcomes.

Central to its mission are the values of inclusion and diversity, evidenced by its scholarship program designed to attract and benefit populations that are typically underserved. Approximately 45 percent of participants receive financial support, and they span ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic diversity.

In the United States, to advance the mission of changing lives through challenge and discovery and to achieve our goals of developing compassionate, purposeful people, Outward Bound now offers its unique blend of adventure-based programming for a broad range of student populations including:

• Highly motivated teens and young adults
• Adults
• Veterans
• Professionals
• Outdoor educators
• Struggling teens and young adults
• Partnerships with schools and other youth-serving organizations

Although programs vary broadly in student populations served, location, and objective, they all contain elements that are central to the development of effective and compassionate citizens: adventure and challenge; learning through experience; integrity and excellence; inclusion and diversity; social and environmental responsibility; leadership and character development; and compassion and service.

Outward Bound instructors are highly trained and qualified educators and outdoor skills specialists. Participant safety is a high priorityfoundational to every program. Every course is led by instructors who hold, at minimum, wilderness first-responder-level certifications and who have completed hundreds of hours of educational, safety, student, and activity-management training.

Instructors are proficient in and passionate about the specific wilderness skills of the activity they teach, whether rock climbing, sailing, mountaineering, sea kayaking, canoeing, or whitewater rafting. To help students along their personal growth paths, instructors are trained in managing groups and individuals. A vital component of every course is the instructors ability to not only shepherd students through individual course challenges but also to help them work as effective leaders and contributing members of their team.

The impact of each expedition extends well beyond the course itself. This impact is different for each student but can be seen in a variety of ways, including improved school performance, closer relationships with family and friends, or a new commitment to service.

When Outward Bound students return home, they bring with them a new sense of responsibility, an enhanced appreciation of the environment, and a strong service ethic that they share with friends, family, and their community.

Please note that websites, phone numbers, and addresses are subject to change. The remedy, of course, is a quick search in your favorite search engine, which is likely to give you the information you seek. Also, while I have provided addresses for these companies, you should always contact customer support by e-mail or phone prior to shipping a damaged or defective product back to the manufacturer. Many manufacturers will require you to obtain a return authorization number in advance and write the number on the outside of the package. The address to which you ship the product may be different from the address below, depending on your location.

Many outdoor shops carry the popular Trails Illustrated line of topographic maps. USGS maps are available from the USGS and a few private map dealers. You can order USGS maps directly from the USGS using the contact information below.

USGS

Website: https://store.usgs.gov/maps

1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747)

Order Canadian maps from Natural Resources Canada, a division of the Canadian government, using the contact information below.

Natural Resources Canada

Website: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/topographic-information/maps/10995

Toll-free in Canada: 1-855-525-9293

Telephone: 343-292-6096

Trails Illustrated, a division of National Geographic, offers maps for popular recreation areas in forty states, plus parts of western Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These tough, waterproof maps, which are printed on plastic, are based on USGS and Canadian topos. Theyre very convenient because they usually cover the entire area youll traverse in a typical trip with one map. On a trip in Colorados Indian Peaks Wilderness, for example, you can carry just one Trails Illustrated map instead of four or more 7.5 minute USGS quads. The drawback is that the scale is smaller than on a USGS 7.5 minute quad, so the maps show less detail, which makes precision route-finding more difficult. Trails Illustrated maps are available from many private map dealers and outdoor shops.

Trails Illustrated

National Geographic Maps

212 Beaver Brook Canyon Rd.