Women Outward Bound

 Fifty years ago, girls were not allowed to participate in the rigorous U.S outward bound wilderness school until 24 women broke that barrier. Find out how one month of surviving in the woods changed them…and history…forever

a documentary by Maxine W. Davis
  Distributed nationally by
American Public Television

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT: MAXINE W. DAVIS

We each had our reasons for signing on, but none of us knew how those weeks would change our lives.  Fifty years ago, we boarded a bus that took us to the edge of a wilderness backcountry covering 2 million acres of lakes, rivers, granite outcroppings, bogs, rivers, and waterfalls.   We didn’t realize back then that we were changing history. 

 We soon learned that we’d get dirty and wet – but could also clean up and dry out. We paddled white water. We climbed rocks and ropes and plunged into very cold water. We gained the physical strength and mental tenacity to travel safely in "brigades" through the wilderness for the next 16 days. 

 We came to Outward Bound with such different backgrounds, abilities, and weaknesses. And when we left, many of us took something with us that we didn't realize we'd found – what I call “grit.” 

 It was 1965 and 24 teenage girls…including me…were having an experience that would change our lives forever.

 “Women Outward Bound,” is a documentary about those girls, what happened to them, and how 30 days in the wilderness taught us that we could do more than we ever thought possible.