Expedition Essential Eligibility Criteria 

VOBS Essential Eligibility Criteria - EXPEDITIONS
All OE & Group Expeditions (non-Intercept) 

Voyageur Outward Bound School (VOBS) backcountry wilderness expeditions range from six days in length to two-month semester programs, designed to change lives through challenge and discovery. The wilderness environments in which our expedition-based programs take place are challenging, remote, and exposed.

The health and safety of our students and staff are a top priority, along with the educational quality of the course experience for all participants. To achieve essential group goals, the individuals on each course must be fully capable of and committed to learning and using wilderness skills, meeting physical and social challenges, and taking care of themselves and each other.

VOBS values diversity, equity, and Inclusion and strives to provide culturally responsive programming in a positive learning environment for all participants but, does not specialize in experiences for people with disabilities or with significant mental, emotional, or behavioral challenges. VOBS instructors are not therapists and are not trained in adaptive wilderness or integrative teaching skills.

The Essential Eligibility Criteria (EEC) is applied to all students on VOBS wilderness expeditions that take place in a backcountry environment. A qualified person meets the general EEC for VOBS and the EEC for the specific program activities and program areas. If an applicant does not meet specific criteria, VOBS might be able to accommodate an applicant, but will not do so if it significantly alters the fundamental nature of the course activity, jeopardizes the health and safety of VOBS students or staff, or places an undue administrative or financial burden on VOBS.

General Eligibility Criteria

•  Able to adapt to the physical, emotional, and social demands of the expedition—traveling each day, sleeping on the ground, living and working 24/7 with others; able to be flexible in ways of living. 
• Able to consistently follow instructions and refrain from self-injurious behaviors, violence, threats, and aggressive or intimidating outbursts. 
• Able to recognize safety hazards and communicate danger, distress, or medical and/or mental health issues to staff in a timely manner. 
•  Able to perform essential age-appropriate self-care, including maintaining adequate nutrition and hydration, dressing appropriately for environmental conditions, maintaining personal hygiene, and managing known medical conditions. 
• Able to refrain from the use of alcohol, nicotine, and all unapproved substances, and misuse of prescription or non-prescription drugs. 
• Able to be respectful of the various identities (such as race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and nationality) of others; refrain from behavior that is discriminatory to other’s identities, socially exclusive behavior, and language that is derogatory or harmful to others. 
• Able to contribute to a safe, inclusive social and learning environment; maintain appropriate relationships with other group members and instructors; refrain from sexual activity, harassment and bullying, and all other behavior that disrupts the learning of others or the cohesion of the group.
• Able to understand verbal and visual instructions individually and in a group setting, and follow such instructions whether supervised or not.
• Able to identify and recognize hazards posed by the environment (e.g., steep or uneven terrain, moving water, sun, wind, cold, etc.) and other participants (e.g., fatigue, state of mind, and other influencers of judgment and decision-making).
• Able to adapt to the physical and emotional rigors of the expedition, and live in primitive conditions for weeks at a time, often more than a day from advanced medical care.
• Resupplies of food may occur depending on course type, route, and pre-arranged logistics, thus students need to be able to carry gear, food, and personal items or personal medications, (such as insulin) needed for that ration period
• Arrive at course-start neither experiencing nor presenting any signs or symptoms of communicable disease. 
• Able to wear a face cover (such as a mask) when instructed to do so - masks must cover both the nose and mouth and fasten either at the back of the head or behind the ears.
• Able to learn the skills necessary to withstand the temperature extremes of the location and season:
• June - October courses: 32 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit
• November - March courses: -40 - 45 degrees Fahrenheit
• Texas Big Bend courses: 20 - 110 degrees Fahrenheit

Activity-Specific Eligibility Criteria

Backpacking Courses

• Able to wear a Backpack correctly (measurement are the circumference around the hips across the top of the hip bones. About 2" lower than belly button)
  • Minimum hip circumference: 27 inches (or 68 centimeters)
  • Maximum hip circumference: 56 inches (or 142 centimeters)  
• Able to carry a backpack weighing 50-60 pounds, that will include personal clothing, group food, and equipment.
• Able to travel each day wearing a loaded backpack over steep and uneven terrain, on and off trail, for over six hours, over six miles, and an elevation gain or loss of over 1500 feet, including sections of scrambling (use of upper extremities for balance and progress), and crossing rivers and streams that do not have bridges.

Canoeing Courses

• Able to wear a personal flotation device (PFD or “life jacket”) correctly, Chest measurements; 25 inches minimum up to 56 inches maximum or 63 centimeters minimum up to 142 centimeters maximum. 
•  Able to maintain a face-up position in water while wearing a PFD, and make progress through the water to shore or a rescue boat. 
• Able to follow instructions immediately upon sudden immersion into cold water, whether the instructions have already been taught or are communicated in the moment
• Able to sit and kneel in a canoe and maintain stability
• Able to control a paddle and pull it through the water to steer and move the canoe forward
• Able to re-enter a canoe from the water with minimal assistance from others
• Able to help carry a 75-pound canoe with or without another person on or off a trail
• Able to travel over uneven terrain on and off trail

Rock Climbing/High Ropes Elements in Courses

• Able to wear a helmet correctly.
• Minimum head circumference is 21 inches (or 53 centimeters)
• Maximum head circumference is 25 inches (or 63 centimeters). 
• Able to wear a climbing harness correctly.
• Maximum waist measurements(circumference around belly button): 56 inches (or 142 centimeters).  
• Maximum thigh measurements: 36 inches or (91 centimeters). 
• Able to participate in climbing activities. This includes being able to ascend a steep or vertical natural cliff or human-made obstacle.

Sea Kayaking

• Able to wear a Personal Flotation Device (PFD or “life jacket”) correctly.  
• Minimum chest measurements: 25 inches (or 63 centimeters).
• Maximum chest measurements: 56 inches (or 142 centimeters). 
• Able to maintain a face-up position in the water while wearing a PFD, and make progress through the water to shore or a rescue boat
• Able to follow instructions immediately upon sudden immersion into cold water, whether the instructions have already been taught or are communicated in the moment
• Able to enter and exit a kayak cockpit easily, and execute a wet exit in the event of a capsize
• Able to sit in a kayak and maintain stability. 
• Maximum hip measurements: 56 inches (or 137 centimeters)
• Maximum leg length (heel to back of butt while sitting): 52 inches (or 137 centimeters). 
• Able to control a paddle and pull it through the water to steer and move the kayak forward
• Able to re-enter a kayak from the water with minimal assistance from others
• Able to carry a 60-pound kayak with another person

Dogsledding & Winter Skills

• Able to move on cross-country skis or snowshoes over unpacked snow on uneven terrain and ice-covered lakes or rivers
• Able to move a load of gear weighing at minimum 50 pounds utilizing sled, backpack, or some combination thereof
• Able to maneuver in deep snow without skis in five-pound boots (each) over uneven terrain
• Able to travel from camp to camp, which may take all day (8+ hours)
• Able to perform camp chores such as sawing logs, splitting wood, and chopping through the ice to locate water
• Able to participate in rescues where people have fallen through the ice
• Able to balance on one runner of a dogsled holding onto the handlebar over rough terrain maintaining control of the slide, while issuing verbal commands as taught by the instructors to direct the dog team. 
• Able to handle dogs, and perform daily dog care responsibilities which include feeding, cleaning up sled dog feces, and daily check-ins for injuries.