 Contact Us:
admissions@alaskapacific.edu 907.561.1266 4101 University Drive Anchorage, AK 99508 Request Information Advanced Search Site Map Log In |
 Outdoor Studies DepartmentOutdoor Skill CoursesThe Outdoor Activity core curriculum consists of summer and winter wilderness travel skills and basic fitness courses such as nordic skiing. Students then develop skills in either mountaineering and/or sea kayaking. The Core outdoor Skills classes are: OS 101 Beginning Climbing offered every Fall Session Topics are taken from classes such as Introduction to Outdoor Studies and Recreation Program Design and Leadership and applied in the field courses, topics such as:
Each student then can specialize in one or both of our areas of emphasis: Sea KayakingOur sea kayaking program offers students the opportunity to learn from the most experienced kayak instructors in the most challenging waters of the world. The program integrates knowledge learned in the classroom into field classes.  The first course of the kayaking curriculum is our Sea Kayaking course. This course prepares novices by introducing the fundamentals of sea kayaking including equipment, rescues, paddling technique, wind/weather/waves, seamanship, and coastal minimum impact camping. This course has also been offered in conjunction with our spring break OP Baja trip and our January Block Oceanography course. Students can enhance their kayaking and instructional skills by participating in and helping instruct our extra-curricular Outdoor Program, which offers pool sessions, weekend trips, spring break trips, and summer programs. Also the Alaska Sea Kayaking Symposium, founded by Assistant Professor Paul Twardock, is held at APU every May and is a great place to pick up instructional experience. After the intro class and getting personal experience with the Outdoor Program trips students can participate in our Expedition Sea Kayaking class. This class helps organize and then participates in a two week expedition. In the past the class has gone to Kodiak Island, crossed Prince William Sound, and paddled from Whittier, Alaska along the North Gulf Coast to Seward. The class learns about advanced, open ocean kayaking skills, leadership, and judgement. Topics include navigation, cold water rescues, hazard evaluation, and leadership. Once having completed the Expedition class a student may be eligible to have a Practicum with one of the many Sea Kayaking guide/outfitters in Alaska. Practicums have been at businesses such as Sunny Cove Sea Kayaking, Alaska Outdoor Adventures, and Alaska Kayakers. MountaineeringLike our Mountaineering program offers students the opportunity to learn from the most experienced instructors in the most spectacular geography of the world. The program integrates knowledge learned in the classroom into field classes.  Students take a sequence of courses, starting with our Intro to Wilderness Skills, Intro to Winter Wilderness Skills, and Beginning Climbing. Our Search and Rescue Courses teach students skills in land search theory and technique, low and high angle rescues. The next class in our mountaineering sequence is our Expedition Glacier Travel course. The Glacier Travel course covers skills needed to safely travel on Alaska's world renown glaciers. The course spends the first few days learning crevasse rescue and ice climbing techniques. Then the group travels for two to three weeks on one of Alaska's many immense glaciers, learning route finding skills, camping skills, and honing their rescue and climbing skills. Between courses students are encouraged to build their personal experience through trips with friends and the extracurricular Outdoor Program. The last course in the Mountaineering sequence is the Expedition Mountaineering course. This course takes all the experience a student has accumulated to plan and execute an expedition to one of Alaska's many remote, large mountain ranges with the intent to climb. A select few students have gone on to do practicums with guide services such as Alaska Denali Guiding, Alaska Mountaineering School, and St. Elias Mountain Guides. |
 Employment APU News |
 |
||
| Copyright © Alaska Pacific University website-related comments | disclaimer | print-friendly | ||