Beauty abounds in the Yukon. Photo: Sarah Manwaring-Jones

This action-packed, semester-long learning adventure begins and ends in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, and is one of our most unique wilderness leadership semesters. It takes place entirely in Canada’s North Country, where remote, wild land stands unparalleled.

For 76 days your expedition will explore the wilds of the Yukon with a backpack, canoe and mountaineering gear, seeing few people along the way. In fact, with a population of only 30,000, six caribou and one moose to every Yukon resident, and a grizzly bear to every Yukon family of four, you’re more likely to share this vast wilderness with animals than with humans.

Along your route, you and your coursemates will fish, cross unnamed rivers, summit unnamed peaks, and explore the same areas that historic gold seekers traveled over 100 years ago. After a semester in this beautiful wilderness, you’ll be a comfortable traveler in the backcountry with unmatched technical expeditionary skills in whitewater canoeing and glacier, snow and ice mountaineering.

Backpacking
From our base in Whitehorse, you’ll embark on the first phase of your adventure: a backpacking section through the river valleys, alpine tundra and boreal forests of the Yukon Territory. You’ll move up remote mountain valleys, planning routes and choosing campsites.

You’ll learn camping and travel skills pertaining to grizzly bear country—and a ton about being comfortable outdoors—while traveling through meadows and tundra and bushwhacking through trees and over passes in all kinds of weather.

Mountaineering
What you learn about mountain weather, leadership and route finding on the backpacking section will prepare you to face the high glaciers on the mountaineering section.

The Yukon’s mountains are an ideal classroom for learning technical mountaineering skills such as negotiating rocky mountain passes, icefalls and glaciers. You’ll climb stunning peaks while learning rope team, crampon and other techniques to move over snow, ice and rock terrain.

Whitewater Canoeing

Yukon Semester canoeing north of 60 degrees latitude. Photo: Pascal Beauvais

You’ll finish the semester with over three weeks on the Hess River (not far from the Northwest Territories). The Yukon provides some of the best, little-known whitewater in the world, and you’ll not only learn the skills to run rapids successfully, but also travel through them without leaving a trace. As your technical maneuvers improve, you’ll be polishing your backcountry and leadership skills while you explore and live under the midnight sun.

Semester in the Yukon Features world-famous Orvis™ fly fishing curriculum and gear. Duration: 76 days Age: 17 and Over (Average Age: 22) Tuition: $9,450 Dates: June 12-Aug. 26, 2008 Backpacking, Mountaineering, Canoeing College Credit: (Optional) 16 Semester Credit Hours 2 Hours Biology 2 Hours Environmental Ethics 4 Hours Leadership Techniques 4 Hours Skills Practicum 4 Hours Risk Assessment Course start/end: Whitehorse, Yukon Equipment Deposit: $700 Fly in/out: Whitehorse, Yukon Downloads: Course Description (pdf) Equipment List (pdf) Next Steps Apply Now Request Catalog Contact Us Related Courses Semester in the Rockies Semester in the Southwest Semester in the Pacific Northwest