Climbing
- Our climbing wall is the highest in the City.
- Our students learn to be resilient & resourceful.
- Our students learn from success & failure.
Three Places to Climb!
60' Wall at Our Headquarters in Long Island City, Queens
Climbing has been used by Outward Bound as a medium to educate students for over 60 years. Climbing teaches a set of skills that can be applied long after the experience is completed. Through balancing on steep faces, pulling through overhangs, or belaying the rope for a partner,students discover the importance of focus, commitment, tenacity, and trust. Students learn knots, rope systems, belaying, and movement techniques so that they can rely on their own skills and those of their partners. They are also taught to support and encourage each other so that each is able to put forth his or her best effort. Participants may also complete a dramatic rappel from the top of the wall that offers lessons in commitment and builds self-reliance as each participant controls the descent down the rock face.
Alpine Tower Climbing at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, NY
Utilizing Outward Bound's 55-foot Alpine Climbing Tower, NYC Outward Bound offers participants a truly unique urban experience in Gateway National Recreation Area, which straddles the Brooklyn and Queens border. Climbing on the tower offers an appropriate physical and mental challenge for participants of every age and physical ability. It builds confidence, perseverance, compassion and trust. After being taught to keep each other safe with a belay system, students are encouraged and supported to climb as high up on the tower as they can possibly go.
Rock Climbing at Minnewaska State Park, NY
Placing climbing in a beautiful natural setting on real rock enhances the powerful lessons learned on our wall or at the Alpine Tower. Situated along the Shawangunk ridge 80 miles north of NYC, this program offers participants some of the best climbing on the east coast.
Typical Learning Targets
- I can participate in the activities today, try new things and have fun!
- I can be a good leader by offering my own ideas and listening respectfully to the ideas of others
- I can show how to safely belay and lower others
- I can demonstrate climbing techniques
- I can trust today by relying on my peers, teachers and instructors during trust-building activities and by belaying others Through my respectful and safe behavior,
- I will give others reason to trust me
- I can set a goal for myself about what I’d like to achieve at the climbing wall. I can give others permission to encourage me to go farther
- I can reflect on my climbing experience and think critically about how it applies to my everyday life at school or home
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: HUMANITIES PREP SUMMER CLIMBING
PROGRAM
“To support one another and understand and distinguish between personal zones of risk, comfort and danger. To distinguish between social/emotional, intellectual and physical risks, while also exploring their interconnectedness. To reflect upon the kinds of risks we face in our daily lives, how we confront them and what that means for our growth and flourishing. Teambuilding activities that emphasize effective communication and mutual support. An opportunity for students to set their own climbing goals and support each other to reach them. Emphasizing cooperation over competition, paying attention to the process/experience as well as the outcome. Help students understand the specific muscle groups they are working with, how to prevent injury, how their body is working to support them in their climbing.”
—Chin-a Panaccione, Teacher, Humanities Prep
