Morris Wong had been working for Outward Bound for 7 months when he had this crazy idea. He is an adventure cyclist who has taken quite a few cycling expeditions in Asia such as Japan, Taiwan, and the longest one so far, from Bangkok all the way back through Cambodia, Vietnam, China and to Hong Kong all on his own. When starting he only had a few hours of mountain biking experience in Hong Kong. So this time, he was really stepping out of his comfort zone, to put himself into unfamiliar mountainous area in Nepal. He was going to ride round the famous trekking route - Annapurna Circuit. He took 7 days from 800 meters altitude at “Besisahar” and carried his own bike with his heavy backpack up through the 5600 meter “Thorong La Pass”. Unsupported and suffering from high altitude sickness made it a big challenge for him. After reaching the top it finally paid off, he could enjoy his 3 days non-stop downhill back down to Pokhra. He has not only achieved one of the most challenging mountain biking routes in the world, but also learned from local people from different cultures, religions and from the nature of Nepal.
Outward Bound Hong Kong instructors Alex and Ping attended the first Adventure Learning Conference in Taiwan in May 2009. Professional and experienced adventure and experiential learning facilitators were invited to join this conference. Michael Gass, Simon Priest, Greg Farrell, John Hasell and Pam McPhee were some of the speakers of the Conference. The objective was to discuss the future of Adventure learning as well as information and experience sharing. The various workshops of the Conference included: High Risk Groups, Youths Education, Special Needs, Family Education etc.
Alex and Ping were selected to represent Outward Bound Hong Kong to share the Experiential Learning situation in Hong Kong as well as to bring some good ideas back to Outward Bound Hong Kong. After the conference, they have shared what they have learned and achieved in Taiwan with the other OBHK staff. This sharing also encourage our staff to discuss in order to make Outward Bound Hong Kong to be a better place to live and learn.
Due to the impact of typhoon, the race areas in the hill regions of central Vietnam were destroyed and it changed my first multi-stage ultramarathon from a trail running race to a road running race. Yet, doing 90km in 3 days with elements like long uphill and downhill sections and beach run made the race retain as much as a real challenge. On the first day, the course started in Danang city before leading to an agonising 10-km climb through Son Tra, which included terrain more suited to mountain goats than humans, before a long downhill session returning to the city. The run on the second day was of a similar format. After some flat concrete road comes another 10-km climb up the Hai Van Pass. After reaching the summit, clouds rolled away to reveal curving roads of a little under 15 km going down to the town of Lang Co. After the big ups and downs, the last day was a relatively flat course leading to edge of the picturesque town of Hoi An with some stairs climbing at the Marble Mountain and a final 2.5-km stretch of beach run with roaring waves of the South China Sea to your side. It was really an invaluable experience to run in this event as it was not only about running. Apart from the physical challenge, I become more determined and self-motivated when I have to run day after day. Also, recovery is an important part in multi-stage events and I learn more about careful planning and strategies as I need to know myself more to decide when to push harder and how I should fully utilize my resources. Most importantly, thanks Outward Bound Hong Kong for supporting me and giving me this opportunity to me to realize that I have got real potential inside and I would definitely further explore it to push further my limit.
Outward Bound instructors Carl, Stephen and Morris went on an 11 day expedition to Peak 3 of mountain Four Sisters in Sichuan, China. “If you never try, you will never know if you can do it. We planned to put ourselves out of our comfort zone and we did. From the first day of climbing the headache and vomiting due to the high altitude sickness really put us down after a long hiking day with 12 km distance and 1200m ascending from 3200m to base camp around 4200m. Needless to say it’s really different from hiking in Hong Kong. Having dinner that night we did not eat much, and some would not stay down. We could not sleep well and the negative signals seemed to be a big red flag to us." "The picture of the summit and positive thinking become the only things that helped us during that long night. After we came back from the summit of 300m, we were glad that we did keep on our expedition without giving up even though we did think of this. Positive & smiling team mates can help to pull you through even the biggest and most difficult seeming tasks. What is next? we are still planning !”.
This year we had five of our staff attend the staff symposium in Finland. The idea of the event was to provide the participants with real learning experiences, real help and bring nature close the event. In Finland, the year 2009 is a Kalevala-celebration year, which is why they chose Kalevala as the theme of Staff Symposium.
The program showcased the depth and diversity of Outward Bound activities.Performers all had extensive experience.
Nature was present on many levels. The Hyvärilä youth center is located on a very beautiful place, on the shores of lake Pielinen (one of Finlands largest lakes, Pielinen stretches over a 100 kilometers). In this area there are large forests and mountainous views. The program consisted of many nature-based workshops: wilderness-skills, orienteering-skills and experiencing the nature. Autumn is one of the richest seasons in Finland , and participants were able to pick berries and mushrooms literally right around the corner while enjoying the colors of autumn at the same time.
There was an exhibition area where Outward Bound schools showcased their organization and activities. The idea was to make the world of Outward Bound visible for everyone. This also created a good opportunity for different schools to share information concerning their own activities and culture.
This ultimate Japan Winter Programme takes place at Outward Bound Japan located in the Nagano area. OBJ base camp and its surroundings are all covered with much snow. It sometimes piles up to 3 meters high. The temperature often goes below 0 degree. In that kind of tough and frozen situation, both as individual and as group, people challenge themselves, face themselves, and go as further as they can and beyond.
This year the Ultimate Japan Winter Programme will be held on
17-24 February,2010.
This once-in-a lifetime opportunity is your chance to be adventurous, to meet exotic people, and to explore your inner strength.
