This, indeed, is the time of year when most of us are spending way too much focus seeking the perfect gift for a loved one. In a mountain climbing analogy, the experience can be compared to ascending a 20,000-foot peak without oxygen. Good luck making a sound decision under those conditions.

But if we were gamblers, which we’re not — we’re very bullish on wilderness risk management — we would bet you’re someone who either loves human-powered outdoor adventures, is looking to go on such an adventure yourself, or knows someone ready for a wilderness or backcountry adventure. Not hedging our bets or anything, but if we’re wrong, why are you perusing this particular blog and this exact blog post?

Anyway, if you’re looking for gift suggestions, what we offer below are a half dozen reasons why you should consider giving the gift of adventure through The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE).

Reason No. 1: An NCOAE Course is actually a gift that gives over and over again. When you give the gift of an Outdoor Educator Instructor Course or a Semester Course or Gap Year Course in Patagonia, it will be appreciated more than once. First, your recipient opens an envelope containing the course details, which we’ll gladly custom design for you (the gift certificate, that is). Nice start! Then the gift recipient finds themselves looking forward to the experience almost every day until their departure. Then there’s the 

How would you like to spend three weeks in windswept Patagonia, summiting a 19,000-foot-high peak in the Andes, taking on Class III and IV rapids alongside a volcano — and picking up six college credits for adding this adventure to your academic experience?

The University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNCW) is offering this 24-day course (EVS 485/592) during the upcoming winter 2018 break, and the classroom is as described above — Patagonia, a nearly 300,000-square-mile area shared by Chile and Argentina that features the imposing Andes mountain range, deserts, plains, rocky coastlines and ice fields. This pristine real estate is enormous, yet only 5 percent of the populations of both countries live there.

And it’s available to adventure-seeking Seahawks as the result of an academic partnership between UNCW and us — the Wilmington-based National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE). Our renowned center promotes critical thinking, environmental stewardship, and the acquisition of technical outdoor skills through accredited outdoor and adventure-based experiential education courses.

It’s long been an objective of ours to partner with a college or university to offer college level credits for National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education training. Now, just a year or so after commencing the search for a higher education partner, we’re just weeks away from being able to announce that we’ll soon be offering college credits for select NCOAE backcountry experiences.

This forthcoming news means we’ll soon offer both high school and college level credit, placing our values-based outdoor education curriculum into a class of its own. Specifically, we expect to be able to offer college level credit for the following NCOAE experiences:

Outdoor Educator Training Blocks
Wilderness First Responder Training
Advanced Outdoor Educator Training
19-Day ‘Intensive’ EMT-Basic Training

So how exactly are we able to offer college credit for our trainings?

One of the hallmarks of a great outdoor education program provider is its ability to become accredited by the leading trade group for the industry. Another sign of a top-notch outdoor education organization is a willingness to align its courses and trainings such that when students successfully complete a course or training, they can apply to receive college credit for their efforts.

Late last year, the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) bestowed upon us a three-year accreditation for The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education’s (NCOAE) wilderness and adventure programs. Now, as we enter 2016, we’re pleased to announce that Keystone College — a private liberal arts and sciences college located in Northeastern Pennsylvania — has found an alignment of course competencies with NCOAE’s experiences and specific coursework offered through the college.

As a result, starting spring ‘16, NCOAE students who complete very specific requirements associated with select NCOAE courses and/or trainings (see below) may apply for and be considered for college credits through assessment by Keystone College. What this essentially means is, the time you spend on the following NCOAE courses or trainings may earn you credits toward your college degree:

Spring & Fall NCOAE Semester courses include: