OAL 150 - Outdoor Living Skills

2 Credit(s)

Prerequisite(s): BT 113 or WR 115 or designated placement, and ability to walk with a backpack in the wilderness containing own, personal gear.

Course Description: Introduces students to the art of preparing to camp in front country or back country, presenting skills that are applicable to any environment and activity. Students will develop and apply skills in a range of environmental settings and will be prepared for future classes and experiences in the outdoors. The primary goal of this course is to learn the skills necessary to plan equipment and food for group trips as well as practice the skills of making informed choices in wilderness environments. The class requires two field experiences and an overnight, field-based component in order to demonstrate proficiency in planning for future, extended mountain backpacking, rock climbing, snow-survival camping, hiking, and water-based adventures.

Course Level: Lower Division Collegiate

Course Learning Outcomes:

CLO#1: Develop skills to carefully plan all necessary aspects of a well-planned outdoor adventure, allocating time and materials for all equipment and food.
CLO#2: Develop skills to account for emergency needs and sudden changes in the outdoor environmental circumstances.
CLO#3: Demonstrate ability to set up tents, start camp stoves, find or create shelter, bear-proof food, hike with a group, camp with craft and low impact levels on the environment. (ILO: Communication)
CLO#4: Participate in two field experiences and an overnight outdoor adventure experience to demonstrate proficiency in the various camp-craft requirements for responsible leadership in the outdoor environment.
CLO#5: Participate in two field experiences and one overnight wilderness hiking experience to demonstrate ability to operate as a respectful, responsible, and engaged group member and as a group leader.