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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA: Adventure Expedition

WFR Certification: Wilderness First Responder Course

Heartsaver BLS Adult CPR

Backpack Olympic National Park, Washington

Ice and Snow Mountaineering North Cascades, Washington

Rock Climb Squamish, British Coumbia

Wilderness Solos, both individual and group


As weather shapes mountains, challenge shapes leaders. Being a wilderness expedition leader is a very rewarding job - it allows you the opportunity to work in the outdoors and share your love of adventure with others. Being an effective leader requires knowledge of both technical wilderness skills and group management skills. This trip is designed with a specific purpose - to train and prepare future leaders.

Leadership development is ultimately self-development. The Leadership Challenge is a personal challenge. On this 34-day course, we encourage and support one another in an ambitious exploration of leadership.We begin our challenge in Seattle and head north of the border to British Columbia - Squamish, to be exact. There we begin our journey with an overview of expedition skills, including trip planning, packing, food preparation, route charting and personal and group safety. Squamish, a seaside mountain community located on Howe Sound, provides the perfect backdrop. Home to some of the best rock climbing in North America, the granite cliffs surrounding Squamish are our classroom for four days. We learn the fundamentals of rock safety, climbing technique, belaying, and rappelling before moving on to more advanced instruction in setting up climbs, placing rock protection and building top rope anchors.

Our next eight days are spent in a fast-paced, hands-on Wilderness First Responder Course. This is a nationally recognized 72-hour curriculum that includes standards for urban and extended care situations. Special topics include but are not limited to: wound management and infection, realigning fractures and dislocations, improvised splinting techniques, patient monitoring and long term management problems, and up-to-date information on all environmental emergencies. Emphasis is placed on prevention and decision-making, not the memorization of lists. The course is designed to provide us with the tools to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in remote locations. We will complete realistic case studies and scenarios to challenge our decision making abilities. A Heartsaver BLS Adult CPR course is also included.

Prepared with our new Wilderness First Responder certifications, we now move to North Cascades National Park, where we develop ice and snow mountaineering skills while surrounded by ancient volcanoes punctuating the skyline. The 10,000-foot peaks give way to near sea level valleys and glaciers clinging to the sides of foreboding slopes. For the next five days we learn safety and evacuation procedures, technical ice climbing skills, crevasse rescue, route finding, running and hanging belays, leading on ice, and hazard assessment. We also train in setting top ropes and anchors as we make our bid for the summit of Mt. Shuksan via the Sulphide Glacier Route.

Following our ice and snow mountaineering section, we move to Olympic National Park and tackle the Skyline Ridge North Fork Quinault Loop. The next ten days are spent in the backcountry learning what it takes to be a wilderness trip leader. We hike both on and off trail in this rugged wilderness area, practicing route finding, working with a map and compass, and learning backcountry health and safety protocols. Along the way, we spend time discussing group dynamics and the interpersonal skills needed to work effectively with groups of people in the wilderness. We have the opportunity to reflect on our personal experience in solitude as we spend a one and a half-day solo in the wilderness of Washington. The final days are ours to explore as a group and a team.

Much has changed by the time we complete this epic journey - so what's next after The Leadership Challenge? A summer internship with The Road Less Traveled, perhaps?