Curriculum

RISK MANAGEMENT AND PROBLEM SOLVING

The most important part about traveling into the wilderness is making sure you return home. The objective of each course is not to eliminate or avoid risks entirely but instead, identify and manage them. Our most crucial curriculum element at Origin Expeditions, risk management, ensures that each expedition is conducted safely by assessing risks and proper judgment. Each program will focus on four different aspects:

  • Identifying subjective and objective hazards

  • The relationship between risks and consequences

  • Backcountry skills and communication used to manage hazards

  • Managing medical emergencies

 
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Leadership

Origin Expeditions aims to precipitate each client’s journey towards becoming the best they can be. Our goal is to equip each individual with the skills to plan and lead excursions of their own beyond Origin. After an initial phase of developing familiarity in backcountry skills, we empower clients to use their new skill set to lead their expedition. Each individual will:

  • Identify their team’s needs and how to fulfill them in creative and innovative ways

  • Accomplish objectives while building a tolerance for adversity and uncertainty

  • Direct their group by delegating tasks, developing routes and pacing their team

  • Build confidence and learn how to be a responsible and empathetic leader

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Wilderness Skills

Mastery of wilderness skills is what makes spending time in the outdoors fun and comfortable. We orient each Origin Expeditions course around knowledge of activities ranging from backpacking to canoeing and ski mountaineering. Students will also learn the skills that are fundamental to all expedition-style travel, including:

  • Pre-trip planning using mapping software and online resources

  • Gear management, layering, and organized packing

  • Navigation using topographic map and compass

  • Terrain management and travel on land, water and snow

  • Backcountry cooking, water purification, and tactful camp design

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace (commonly referred to as LNT) is a code of ethics created to guide individuals in an environmentally sustainable way. LNT was founded on seven principles, all of which will be mastered by Origin students during their course:

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  • Plan ahead and prepare

  • Travel and camp on durable surfaces

  • Dispose of waste properly

  • Leave what you find

  • Minimize campfire impacts

  • Respect wildlife

  • Be considerate of other visitors

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Community and Conflict Resolution

Origin Expeditions aspires to cultivate individuals who are productive members of their community. Throughout of their expedition, students will learn to be self-sufficient members of a team and grow as leaders. Related curriculum elements featured on each expedition will focus on:

  • Conflict resolution and emotional self-awareness

  • Direct, assertive, and tactful communication

  • Ownership of one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions

  • Respect for oneself, one’s environment, and one’s community

Wellness

First on Maslow’s Hierarchy of human needs is essential to human function: physical and mental health. An escape from the hustle and bustle of the developed world and an opportunity to drop into a slower-paced lifestyle is one of the most incredible things Origin Expeditions has to offer its students. Each course focuses on fostering self-care through:

  • Daily exercise and adequate amounts of sleep

  • Awareness around one’s dietary needs and proper rationing of food

  • Stretching, good foot care and pacing during hikes

  • Backcountry hygiene, hydration, adequate use of sunscreen and insect repellent

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