Educational outdoor activities

What you might experience on an OBC course if you accept the challenge and sign up

Nature is a powerful teacher who accepts everyone ready to face a challenge and get out of their comfort zone.

All OBC courses, whether they last for one, five or eight days, are held in the outdoors in which we let the participants immerse to learn more about themselves.

When we take you into the outdoors, we promise to deliver an authentic adventure that encompasses various activities. We use every single activity purposefully to let our participants develop the intended learning outcomes – skills and attitudes you will be able to use in future.

Find out what kind of activities you can take part in on an Outward Bound experiential learning course and what it is that you can take with you to your everyday life.

Team-building and problem-solving games on high & low ropes

We know that learning does not have to be boring and since learning through play is motivating to children, youth and adults, we’ve made sure to include a wide range of team-building and problem-solving games in our courses. These activities usually take place on high & low ropes courses around the OBC educational center.

Most of those activities you’re going to experience at the beginning of the course since we use them to let the participants learn more about each other and take the first steps towards building a high-functioning team.

One of the elements we use for this purpose is the Jacob’s Ladder. The swinging ladder is consists of horizontal wooden beams hanging from alive trees.

The distance between the beams gradually increases, along with the level of challenge, as you climb towards the top. This is a team-building activity that will let you develop self-confidence, communication skills, cooperation, and trust within the group.

The hiking expedition

The hiking expedition is the main and most impactful activity we do on OBC courses since it allows the participants to experience the feeling of adventure and departure into the unknown.

Going on an expedition during an Outward Bound course means hiking from campsite to campsite, while carrying all your personal things, food, and equipment in your backpack and using a map and a compass to navigate in the outdoors.

For the expedition to succeed, you will need to develop some outdoor survival skills. Your instructors will help you gain all the knowledge you need during the preparatory activities in the educational center. They’ll teach you how to tie the right knots for building a bivouac, how to prepare a safe fireplace and cook a warm meal on it, and what it is that you need to take with you in your backpack.

The land expedition will take you out of your comfort zone and into the learning zone, in which you’re able to experience what it means to make decisions for yourself and your group and to collaborate in a team. The instructors will be present at all times during the expedition to ensure the maximum level of safety for everyone.

However, as the course progresses, they will hand more and more responsibility to the participants themselves.

During the expedition, you and your group are going to encounter many challenges, and all of you will need to give your best to overcome them as a group. What makes it easier is that you all share the same goal during the expedition – to find the way to the campsite, set up a camp, light a campfire, cook dinner on it, and stay warm and dry during the night.

To reach that goal, you’ll need to think outside the box and approach the challenges practically, not give up when the first difficulties arise and develop a growth mindset. Mountain hiking lets us develop a range of skills such as adaptability, preservation, resilience, courage, and compassion for others and nature.

Hiking is a physically demanding activity, but the moment you step on top of that mountain, the view that stretches out to the horizon and the feeling of pride that fills you are worth all the effort.

Although you may now find that all of this sounds too challenging, you’ll have your team-members around at all times during the expedition to offer you support. Together, you’ll share all the good but also the tough moments of the course, the laughs on the way to the campsite, and your thoughts in the evening circle around the fire.

Caving

Caves are fragile ecosystems where time seems to have stopped passing. Visiting caves makes us aware that we are just one small part of our ecosystem and that many other species and phenomena have been here for much longer than us humans. Caving answers our feeling of curiosity and our wish to discover the unknown.

During the cave visit, you might get lucky and see some of the animals that live in it – salamanders, bats, spiders, and various insect species. You will also be able to admire the fragile formations of stalactites and stalagmites which have been growing inside the cave for centuries.

Caving teaches us how to take in a new experience without actually taking any souvenirs and endangering the ecosystem. When leaving the cave, it’s only memories that we’re going to take with us. This activity is particularly enjoyable after a challenging expedition since we enter a place of darkness, peace, and silence – which can be a surprisingly calming experience.

Rock climbing and rappelling

Rock climbing is a challenging outdoor activity that will let you test the limits of your capabilities – your physical strength and endurance, but also your self-confidence and trust in your climbing partner. While climbing, you’ll notice the importance of precise and calm communication between the climber and the person belaying him from the ground.

When rock climbing, most of us must face our – completely natural – fear of heights and overcome it. To lessen that fear with knowledge, the instructors are going to explain to you in detail how to correctly use the climbing equipment and how to belay a climber from the ground.

Reaching the top of the rock using only the strength of your arms and legs is a powerful experience that will most certainly place you out of your comfort zone!

If this is not challenging enough for you, there’s another activity on the climbing day – vertically rappelling from the top of the rock using your climbing harness and a rope.

The rocks we use for climbing on our courses are maintained by various alpinism associations and the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, which guarantees a high level of safety for the climbers.

The rocks we use for climbing on our courses are maintained by various alpinism associations and the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, which guarantees a high level of safety for the climbers.

Water activities

Except for land-based activities, on some OBC courses, you might encounter some challenges above, by, and on the water:

A Tyrolean Traverse is an element of the river challenge which serves to cross the river using an improvised bridge. The participants cross the river using a climbing harness and two ropes that connect the different sides of a canyon.

Another dynamic water activity is raft building. The goal of the activity is to use the available materials to build a raft that can fit your whole team and float on water. This activity will show you how well your team can collaborate and how creatively and pragmatically you’re going to use the available resources.

Kayaking is an activity you can do on a river or the sea. Using a kayak and your muscle power, you can reach many beautiful, hidden bays and beaches, and enjoy the untouched nature.

But most importantly, you’ll learn how realistically assess risks, and your capabilities facing the powerful and unpredictable weather conditions on the sea.

Before heading on the water expedition, the instructors will support you in practicing your rowing skills, your balance, safety measures, how to recover a capsized kayak, and emergency exit the water.

It’s just swimming where we expect you to have previous experience.  ?

Finally, we want to know – what activities are you most looking forward to on your next Outward Bound course? ?

If you want to find out more about our courses, take a look at our blog-post where we answer the 7 most common questions you have before taking part in an OBC course.

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