Outward Bound did not come into Mike Stanley’s life as a 14-year-old middle school student or during a gap year in college. Mike found Outward Bound, and ultimately himself, as a 54-year-old.
It was 1987 and Mike knew he needed and wanted more. As a 29-year Wall Street veteran, Mike was leading a life commuting for an hour and a half to and from New York City every day. His weekends were his escape when he and his family would spend them whitewater canoeing, sailing, or skiing.
By 1988 he knew he needed a change. He enrolled on a cross-country skiing and dog sledding Outward Bound course in January in Minnesota. Through the negative 40-degree temperatures and the physical challenge of plunging into an ice hole in frigid temperatures, Mike’s experience proved life-changing.
At the end of his course, Mike applied to three Outward Bound Schools to be an