Outward Bound Reviews

My son was expelled from Outward Bound along with six other students of a group of 12 for smoking pot. They were 8 days into the semester leadership course and apparently there was not adequate supervision or oversight. There was very little communication with the parents, all I received was a one minute phone call from staff member indicating that my son has been expelled - All over 21, and at night. While I don't approve of pot, it should have been handled better. For $14,000 I would expect more engaging process. There are seven very angry sets of parents.

I sent my daughter on a 22-day mountaineering course with Colorado Outward Bound. During that time she injured her ankle and had to be taken to an ER to be examined. Communication from her instructors to me was questionable; they were unable to give me a clear understanding of what was going on - I only knew my daughter was in the ER, with no clue whether or not she was okay. It was 2 days before I was able to gather from them that it was a mere sprain. According to my daughter, the students on the course were often mean to her, in verbally abusive and sexually harassing manners. Despite bringing this to her instructor's attention, nothing was done to resolve the problem. She reported feeling uncomfortable within her group and unsupported by the staff who were working with her. She stuck it out for the entire course, but was unhappy with her experience. She has been emotionally impacted by the cruelty she suffered and we would not recommend Colorado Outward Bound for you or your children.

My son also recently attended an Instructor Development course with Colorado Outward Bound School. After 20 days on course he voluntarily left on his own after he encountered problems with the instructional staff. One particular female instructor that had issues with lack of professionalism and adherence to the stated Outward Bound core values. My son came back from this nightmare of a course - experience much worse than when he went so instead of improving him they broke him down and tore him apart. Due to the issues with the horrible instructor that he had I tried to work something out with, the director of the school however my attempts fell on deaf ears and now I am out over 7000.00. Once again I would not waste my time or money with this organization. They are a rip off and will steal it from you if you let them. There are much better similar organizations to Outward Bound out there and you will get a whole lot more for your money than this outfit.