Your Group
Co-ed and grouped according to age, your trip will consist of ten to fifteen students with two to three adult male and female leaders respectively. This allows us to maintain our low student-to-staff ratio at all times.
 Your
First Day
You will be met at the airport by your Wilderness Ventures
leaders where your gear will be checked to be sure you
have all the essentials you will need for your expedition.
As soon as all group members have arrived, we will proceed
to our nearby campsite where we will begin getting acquainted
with each other. After sharing our first evening meal
together, your leaders will introduce you to various
outdoor skills you’ll need for your first trip,
including how to put up your tent, how to pack your
backpack and how to operate our lightweight
backcountry stoves.
Your Backcountry Experience
The following morning, you’ll depart on your first
wilderness experience. Since most of your tripmates
will be inexperienced, we’ll start with low daily
mileage and gradually pick up the pace to longer daily
mileage as we become stronger and more accustomed to
backpacking. We will generally hike between four and
ten miles per day (depending upon expedition and terrain).
Your summer experience will likely involve two to four
different backpacking trips ranging from four to twelve
days depending upon your expedition. It will likely
include other multi-day wilderness activities, such
as whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, rock climbing,
canoeing, mountaineering, or mountain biking.
What You’ll Eat
One of your favorite parts of the summer will be purchasing,
preparing and eating our group meals together as a community.
Our meals are always plentiful and nutritious but reflect
the limitations of outdoor cooking and our tripmates
preparation skills. Preparing group meals makes it impossible
to provide separate meals for vegetarians, students
with food allergies, vegans, or students with other
eating restrictions. Vegetarians can expect to eat the
same group meals, but can have the meat portion withheld.
Students with food allergies should assess how their
particular allergies might limit their meals. It is
impossible for us to accommodate a vegan diet.
Your Gear
We will provide all group equipment necessary for our
expeditions including tents, stoves, cooking gear, and
first aid equipment. We also furnish all specialized
gear for activities such as bicycling, rafting, canoeing,
kayaking, and climbing.
We’ll send you a clothing and equipment list after
you’ve been accepted which will describe types
of sleeping bags, backpacks, hiking boots, raingear,
and other personal clothing items that you will need
to bring. An exciting part of a Wilderness Ventures
experience is the fun you will have putting the personal
gear together prior to your trip.
How You’ll Travel
Most of our expeditions will utilize comfortable fifteen
passenger vans to transport you between activity destinations. All of our leaders are trained to safely drive these vehicles before your summer begins.
Because we hold so many different and wonderful wilderness
permits, we have the luxury of being able to cluster
our activities and minimize travel time between these
areas. Sometimes we’ll use ferry boats to quickly
move our group to remote islands, and if distances are
a bit far, we’ll travel by bush planes or sometimes
by jet aircraft. Regardless of how we travel, only five
percent of your time will be spent moving from one area
to another, and ninety-five percent of your time will
be spent involved in our activities.
When we do travel, we’ll take advantage of worthwhile
scenic, cultural, or historical sites and we always
take advantage of spontaneous and unplanned opportunities
as they arise. This could mean time out for a swim in
a roadside lake or stream, a plunge in an inviting hot
spring, or a stop for an hour or so in a tourist town
to buy souvenirs or ice cream. Stops are also planned
for showers, laundry, and mail pick-ups.
Our leaders are all knowledgeable of the areas we travel
through and there are frequent informal discussions
dealing with each area’s particular history, economy,
and geography. Each expedition also carries a mobile
library. Our evening programs are always fun and informative
as we share Indian legends, sing, and play the instruments
we have brought with us.
How You’ll Communicate
Between activity destinations, you’ll have an
opportunity to periodically call home, but we encourage
you to write and mail your letters at our mail pick
up sites.
How Your Safety Will Be Managed
Safety is a central focus of every expedition, and
we are proud that our impeccable safety record is unmatched.
After thirty-five years, with over fifteen thousand students,
we have never experienced a serious injury requiring
extended hospitalization. This record is the result
of our strict staff selection process, our thorough
pre-summer training, our highly detailed procedures
for conducting safe activities, as well as our very
low student-to-staff ratios.
In the unlikely event that a student becomes sick or
injured while in the backcountry, we can usually treat
the majority of ailments. In addition to their many
other qualifications, all our staff members are fully
trained in first aid and emergency evacuation procedures.
Most of our staff have over 120 hours of wilderness
first aid training, and many are emergency medical technicians.
While extensive formal first aid training is helpful,
it can never take the place of highly experienced and
trained leaders who make appropriate and safe decisions.
Our carefully selected staff members, and our high standards,
are responsible for our enviable safety record which
exceeds that of all other adventure travel programs
and outdoor leadership schools. No one has had more
experience conducting safe outdoor expeditions than
Wilderness Ventures.
How You’ll Sleep
Every night of your expedition will be spent sleeping
outside alongside a mountain stream or lake, on a coastal
beach, or by a whitewater river. We provide lightweight
tents for all our students. We assign tents by gender
and you will always have the opportunity to sleep out
under the stars.
What We Expect From You
We expect you to carefully read this catalog so you
understand Wilderness Ventures fully. Our expeditions
are of varying lengths and challenges, so you will need
to select the expedition most appropriate for you. If
you can’t make up your mind, we’ll be happy
to help you make your decision for that perfect summer
experience.
We expect you to come on your trip both mentally and
physically prepared. For preparation, we strongly suggest
you schedule an exercise program of jogging, bicycling,
or swimming. How much you enjoy your experience will
be directly related to how well conditioned you are.
Lastly, we expect you to arrive with an enthusiastic
and positive attitude. You must be prepared to share
and contribute to your fellow tripmates unselfishly,
be excited about participating in all your group activities,
and be ready to make great new friends. The most important
aspect of a Wilderness Ventures expedition is the group
experience. We have wonderful group experiences because
we have students who come prepared to put their own
personal needs behind those of their group. If you come
with this same attitude, you will likely have the finest
summer of your life.
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