Educational Requirements
Careers in adventure education capitalize on a number of educational backgrounds. For example, you may put your degree in geography to good use by working as a tour guide and trip planner for an adventure travel business. Adventure education-related businesses---these might include outdoor outfitters, ecotourism agencies and recreational program providers--may offer on-the-job training for tour leaders, tourist attendants and travel guides. You may also earn a Bachelor of Science degree in adventure education, which prepares you for guidance and educational careers involving rock climbing, rafting, wilderness survival, and mountaineering skills.
Adventure Group Facilitator
Careers in adventure facilitation do not inevitably take you to the backcountry, but might actually keep you in the city. Adventure groups may consist of school children or at-risk youth and also adults participating in a professional development program. Facilitators oversee workshops, lead activities, encourage participation of all group members, and maintain an indoor or outdoor challenge course and associated equipment. An example of this kind of service provider is Project Adventure, which routinely trains adventure group facilitators as part of its internship program.
Adventure Education Consultant
Adventure education consultants design challenge courses based on the specific details they receive from their clients. As a consultant, you may also oversee the construction of challenge courses, inspect them periodically for safety, train challenge course facilitators on equipment use and limitations, and also provide warranty maintenance and repair work. Depending on the size of the employer, you may also make sales calls to prospective adventure workshop providers.
Summer Camp Worker
Adventure education summer camps allow children to live out their hero fantasies through imaginative play in the outdoors. As a summer camp worker, you provide adventure education to youngsters by training them in basic wilderness survival, scouting and exercising. Behind the scenes you also provide mentoring with respect to team building, conflict resolution and confidence building. In many cases this is only seasonal work, although some summer camp operators---such as the Adventure Education Company, for example---also offer their services for special occasions or for birthday parties.
