Leadership Development

Our Philosophy on Leadership

Aerial Boundaries was founded by veteran mountain guide Christian Santelices to meld his passion for outdoor pursuits and the betterment of mankind. Aerial Boundaries’ instructors combine their many years leading expeditions, instructing students, and managing institutions with their personal academic pursuits to create powerful outdoor leadership programs that create lasting positive change in its participants.

Our programs empower individuals to lead with a sense of community, collaboration, and sustainability. While these leadership tenets seem common sense enough on paper, they often conflict with our culturally-instilled sense of individuality and personal accomplishment – and hence often elude us in stressful situations when we need them most. Through its outdoor leadership adventures, Aerial Boundaries creates a unique platform for participants to explore the relevancy of these leadership principles to their daily lives, and to integrate them seamlessly into their natural leadership style.

The Aerial Boundaries platform consists of treks, climbs, and paddles facilitated by some of the world’s most experienced outdoor guides and expedition leaders. Participants will face physical and mental challenges designed to illustrate the power of collective leadership and the importance of service and environmental stewardship. Intellectual rigor is provided in the form of articles, case studies and service projects. The service project challenges students with a real and immediate opportunity to apply the leadership skills they develop through their outdoor adventure to situations they are more likely to routinely encounter. By reinforcing the Aerial Boundaries leadership principles on a physical and intellectual level, Aerial Boundaries graduates gain an edge in transferring and retaining these skills as a meaningful piece of their leadership repertoire.

Our Philosophy on Leadership

Aerial Boundaries was founded by veteran mountain guide Christian Santelices to meld his passion for outdoor pursuits and the betterment of mankind. Aerial Boundaries’ instructors combine their many years leading expeditions, instructing students, and managing institutions with their personal academic pursuits to create powerful leadership programs that create lasting positive change in its participants.

Our programs empower individuals to lead with a sense of community, collaboration, and sustainability. While these leadership tenets seem common sense enough on paper, they often conflict with our culturally-instilled sense of individuality and personal accomplishment – and hence often elude us in stressful situations when we need them most. Through its outdoor leadership adventures, Aerial Boundaries creates a unique platform for participants to explore the relevancy of these leadership principles to their daily lives, and to integrate them seamlessly into their natural leadership style.

The AB platform consists of treks, climbs, and paddles facilitated by some of the world’s most experienced outdoor guides and expedition leaders. Participants will face physical and mental challenges designed to illustrate the power of collective leadership and the importance of service and environmental stewardship. Intellectual rigor is provided in the form of articles, case studies and service projects. The service project challenges students with a real and immediate opportunity to apply the leadership skills they develop through their outdoor adventure to situations they are more likely to routinely encounter. By reinforcing the AB leadership principles on a physical and intellectual level, Aerial Boundaries graduates gain an edge in transferring and retaining these skills as a meaningful piece of their leadership repertoire.

Positive Change Through Outdoor Leadership and Adventure

Aerial Boundaries’ leadership programs begin in the weeks before with a survey of core competencies for individuals as well as the organization. We are building together a process of Appreciative Inquiry in which you and your organization focus on key strengths to mobilize positive change. Through the course of the program we will come back to this theme of recognizing and utilizing your strengths to motivate staff, foster innovation and imagination, and create a stronger, more dynamic organization.

Field sessions are based on our successful Patagonia outdoor leadership program. Individuals become “leader of the day” and help guide us through climbing, canyoneering, hiking, and kayaking activities. Participants consult with our professional guides about the day’s objective and goals and are responsible for weaving in a discussion based on leadership readings assigned before the field session. During the days we explore our environment while in the evening we discuss the day’s experiences around the campfire or in a comfortable lodge.

Incredible Locations

Aerial Boundaries programs are run in some of the most beautiful and important places on the planet. We are lucky enough to operate in these locations through a combination of our local knowledge, excellent relationships with land managers and operators, and passion for helping to preserve the landscapes and creating opportunities for local peoples. Our leadership programs work with local organizations dedicated to preserving and protecting these unique places by collaborating on service projects designed to create positive impacts.

Trekking & Paddling Patagonia

Our Patagonia programs begin with a visit to the Estancia Rio Verde, a working cattle and sheep ranch with views of the Straights of Magellan. There you will be treated to Chilean ranch hospitality and culture. The trekking and paddling portions of the trip are held in Torres del Paine National Park and its vicinity, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Wild granite spires, giant glaciers, temperate forests, steppe and an abundance of wildlife make the setting unforgettable. It also presents the perfect amount of challenge for perfecting your leadership skills.

Southern Utah Canyons and Towers

The White Canyon area and Indian Creek, Utah provide incredible desert landscapes. In these areas we explore pristine canyons that demand a variety of outdoor skills including navigation, scrambling and rappelling. Tucked away in many of these places are Anasazi ruins dating back 1000 years and more, and an abundance of hearty desert flora and fauna. In Indian Creek the challenge is climbing red rock sandstone walls and towers with the expert instruction of our guides.

Tetons with Exum Mountain Guides

Exum is America’s oldest and most experienced guide service. We work in conjunction with them to test our outdoor leadership skills on the jagged peaks of the Tetons. Courses here include intensive rock climbing instruction and ascents of the 13,770 foot Grand Teton. With our base in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, participants can enjoy comfortable hotels or well developed camping. Evenings include discussions of projects with local non-profits and lectures by some of the leading climbers, naturalists and leadership consultants.

Join Us

Aerial Boundaries’ Leadership Program provides students and corporate executives with experience-based leadership opportunities. This world-class program serves participants well, spanning gaps in education and theory, providing real-life, hands on application.  Aerial Boundaries venues for its programs are in some of the most superb wilderness areas on earth.  Very well organized wilderness experiences provide opportunities for individuals and communities to make real-life decisions that harbor consequences, closely monitored by highly experienced guides.  Problem solving, communication and leadership experiences are facilitated within a solid framework that provides real and direct feedback on an individuals’ or teams performance.  Opportunities to reflect and integrate the experience into one’s own style of leadership abound with open dialogue and structured exercises on leadership and community on a daily basis.

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Naval Academy Leadership Course

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. Over set was for him own gathering for form forth Blessed also shall and, moved together it earth be.

Wharton Leadership Ventures

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. Over set was for him own gathering for form forth Blessed also shall and, moved together it earth be.

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What We Can Do For Your Organization

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. Over set was for him own gathering for form forth Blessed also shall and, moved together it earth be.

What Our Past Client Have to Say