The Adventure Alternative

Colin Mortlock is a world authority on outdoor education. This is the major work on the subject. The book is divided into two main sections, the first concerned with establishing a framework of levels of adventure and their quality; the second with a philosophy of their potential value in broadening our minds and bodies.

There is something delightfully simple in a spontaneous decision to go into the outdoor environment and tackle some form of adventure. It would seem reason enough that it was both enjoyable and satisfying. Certainly as a young rock climber these were my reasons, and I felt no compelling urge to enquire further. Mountaineering as a way of life seemed to be a worthy ideal.

It was with this attitude that in 1960 I first taught secondary schoolboys for a period of three months, in order to earn some money to climb in the Himalayas. As a selfish young man I was convinced that I would never be, and did not want to be, a teacher. I was both surprised and pleased therefore, to find young town lads responding with great enthusiasm to my climbing circuits and commando courses in the gymnasium. Official views of what I was doing, as an unqualified temporary teacher, were somewhat confusing. The local Adviser was appalled by my misuse of equipment, while a visiting Inspector was so impressed that he made a film and suggested that I qualify as a teacher! So enjoyable was the physical work with the youngsters that I took them out on gritstone to climb. Their abilities were impressive and matched only by their obvious delight in the sense of freedom and challenge of the activity. Two of them joined me in the Lake District for a week's climbing. It was difficult to believe their performance. At the age of 14 and in shoes, they confidently followed me up many climbs of the Very Severe and Extremely Severe grades. At the end of the week I pointed out the line of a Very Severe route on Castle Rock of Triermain and told them to lead through. I then walked down to the campsite. That week was my first real introduction to the capabilities of the younger generation.

Five years later, in 1965, when leading a schoolboy expedition to Arctic Norway, my awareness of adolescent potential was considerably extended. I had taken a party of 30 boys, sixteen to nineteen years old, from Manchester Grammar School, to a relatively unexplored and rugged mountain area. The specific aims of the expedition were, in the first instance, to climb as many peaks as possible in an area of 100 square miles. The expedition was then to split up and undertake exploratory work ranging from white water canoeing and rock climbing to botanical and geological surveys. The hidden aim of the trip was to find out just how capable were young people in a wilderness environment after a year of progressive training. To this end, the adults with the group were kept to a minimum: myself, my wife (with responsibilities for the scientific work and catering) and a Doctor. With the expedition working for six weeks, in up to seven small groups, and with an environment that was both hazardous and somewhat remote, there was ample scope for accidents. Perhaps there was an element of luck in that the only such incident was a badly sprained ankle which occurred at Base Camp. What was pleasing was that, despite much bad weather, the practical objectives of the expedition were achieved. This included climbing all the peaks within the specified area. I returned to Britain more than ever conviced about young people's capabilities. They had all been in serious outdoor situations and responded as self-reliant young men.