Outdoor adventures for teens of all abilities.

The Adventure Leadership Program (ALP) is an inclusive, outdoor-based program for youth of all abilities and backgrounds. ALP combines fun and exciting outdoor adventures with opportunities to learn inclusive leadership techniques and outdoor skills to make new friends.

We get youth “unplugged” and outdoors where they experience the beauty of the natural world, the benefits of being active, and the importance of community. We do this through 3-10 day wilderness adventures in places like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers, Apostle Islands, northern Manitoba, Mississippi River, Yellowstone National Park and more!

An additional goal of ALP is to help youth discover vocational and educational options in the outdoors. We do this by helping to develop their connection to the environment, and then introducing them to Wilderness Inquiry’s many partner agencies, such as the National Park Service, the MN DNR, REI, and many other service providers, manufacturers, and retailers. We also introduce them to academic opportunities at the University of MN, Northland College, and other institutions of higher learning.

Patterned afte Wilderness Inquiry's staff training curriculum ALP is founded in Servant Leadership, a concept originally developed by Robert Greenleaf. In brief, servant leaders seek to enrich the lives of others by modeling and engaging in practices that celebrate people and empower them to realize their full potential as a person.

ALP also includes instruciton and practice of outdoor "hard skills" such as canoeing, camp crafts and cooking, as well as higher function "meta-skills" such as judgment and decision-making, group management, and situational leadership. Finally, all of this is set in the context of inclusion–an attitude and approach that seeks to ensure that every person, regardless of ability or background, can meaningfully participate in all aspects of life.

Welcome to ALP!

Benefits for youth:

• Meet new friends and have fun!
• Learn kayaking, canoeing, backpacking, and other outdoor skills in fantastic outdoor locations
• Develop understanding and appreciation of youth who are different from each other
• Exposure to and training for career opportunities in the outdoors
   

There are three levels of ALP, beginner, intermediate and advanced.  In keeping with a theme of mountaineering, we call these levels:

Base Camp: Beginners, ages 12 - 14

Vista: Intermediate, ages 14 - 17

Summit: Advanced, ages 17 - 19