Both participate in all stages of trip planning and preparation. A participant must be able to select trips and activities according to his interest and ability. This is the crux of the program. People must have the option to choose outings that correspond to their interest and ability level. The outdoor program must teach basic skills.
Many activities are potentially dangerous and require some knowledge on everyone's part.
By offering teaching sessions in activities such as rock climbing mountaineering, camping, kayaking, canoeing, rubber boating, survival, and ski touring, the program is assured that participants have had the opportunity to learn at least the basic skills and safety precautions necessary for a pleasant outing, People tend to pass on their newly acquired skills to other interested newcomers. This revolving instruction perpetuates itself and leaders emerge naturally. It is not an objective of the outdoor program to structure situations where people are forced to pit themselves against nature. Ideally, participants will gradually learn skills to help them surmount problems they confront in the wilderness. When a participant learns in this fashion the confrontations are usually positive, the adventures highly exciting, and the experiences ecstatic.