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 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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What Our Past Client Have to Say

“Christian Santelices is an extraordinary guide. He has been my teacher and my mentor in the world of climbing, and he has become one of my closest friends. We have climbed in the Tetons, in Patagonia, in the Pyrenees in Spain, in the Alps in France and Switzerland, in the Dolomites in Italy, in South Africa--literally all over the world. I can give Christian absolutely the highest recommendation.”
Richard Mithoff - Attorney and Philanthropist
"Thanks so much for the lesson today. I loved it! I actually have not stopped smiling. I am so excited; I even stopped at Yostmark on my way home to look at ice tools.”
Seychelle Hicks - Evergreen, Colorado
“As officers, we will be required to make tough decisions and lead our subordinates by example. I feel that this course provides the perfect ratio of risk and safety to develop us in both areas. “It is one of the first times we are able to put into practice the leadership techniques and concepts we learn in a classroom environment. Training like this should be required.” “This was the best leadership experience, it taught me about myself and how leaders should act in the field.”
Midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy - Annapolis, Maryland
"The choice of Christian as our instructor was an excellent one. We enjoyed his instruction style and the gentle, yet firm way he encouraged us to push beyond our limits and fears. Overall we would rate this weekend as one of those peak experiences that one will remember for life."
Michael and Sandy, Sunnyvale, CA
"I believed I received something special - Christian's patience, insight, and instruction made this a memorable experience."
Bill, Boston
"I learned so much about myself and the spirituality of hiking/climbing on the Grand Teton experience. You made it fun, careful, insightful, and engaging. I was floored by the challenge and comforted by your special attention to my specific needs as delicate as they were at 13,000 + feet. Thank you for being friendly, professional, and most of all, keeping us safe."
Jason, Salt Lake City, UT
"In every dimension - technical climbing and safety skills, teaching abilities, people management, strong leadership, individual and group psychology, and in terms of evoking a pure sense of adventure, Mr. Santelices was absolutely exemplary."
Jerry, Chappaqua, NY
“Christian is a top notch instructor and educator. Clearly VERY experienced and VERY enthusiastic about teaching. He has some of the best educational and communication skills that I have seen (and I have been to many trainings through NOLS, Outward Bound, LNT, National Park Service, and Association of Outdoor Rec and Education). Christian is a fantastic ambassador for AMGA, has strong ethics, and is clearly invested in his students and the future of climbing guiding and education.”
Kate McHugh, AZ
"Christian was a great instructor. He's clearly been doing this long enough to have refined aspects of his lessons and be superbly comfortable with all the material making him very adaptable. His lighthearted, fun and humble nature seems hard to come by in our industry especially at his elite level and was greatly appreciated by everyone in the course. He was always encouraging, caring and understanding even able to own his own slip ups. Above all Christian was patient. He always took the time to make sure everyone was grasping the material and was happy to answer questions. A joy to learn from overall!"
Azissa Singh, NC