Peak Pursuits
Why Peak Pursuits Exists
Building resilience, leadership, and opportunity through purposeful outdoor experience — designed for young people and for the long-term future of our region.
In Short (Why This Matters)
Peak Pursuits was created in response to a growing reality: young people are safer than ever — and less prepared than ever. By combining outdoor challenge, environmental education, leadership development, and entrepreneurship, we help young people build confidence and real-world skills while strengthening the social and economic future of the Skagit Valley and the North Cascades region.
A Question We Couldn’t Ignore
At what point did protecting kids from harm start preventing them from growing? Over the last several decades, childhood has changed dramatically. Risk has been minimized. Failure has been avoided. Physical challenge has been reduced. Unstructured exploration has nearly disappeared.
At the same time, screen-based engagement has exploded — quietly replacing real-world interaction, movement, and skill-building. The result is rising anxiety, disengagement, and lack of confidence — especially among adolescents and young adults.
What have we unintentionally taken away — and how do we give it back responsibly?
Research Gave Language to What We Were Already Seeing
Our thinking was informed and sharpened by the work of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, particularly The Coddling of the American Mind and The Anxious Generation. These frameworks highlight how a culture of “safetyism,” the decline of real-world challenge, and the rise of screen-based socialization can combine to weaken the very capacities young people need to thrive.
Peak Pursuits did not emerge because of a single book — it emerged because years of working alongside young people made the patterns impossible to ignore.
What We Were Seeing Locally
Across Skagit County and neighboring communities, consistent patterns emerged: young people hesitant to take initiative, fear of failure outweighing curiosity, difficulty navigating real environments without adult intervention, and a growing disconnection from place, land, and community.
Yet when young people were given opportunities to learn practical skills, work as a team, navigate uncertainty in supported environments, and take ownership of real projects — confidence grew and engagement changed.
A Model Rooted in Place and Possibility
Peak Pursuits is intentionally place-based — grounded in the geography, culture, and future potential of the Skagit Valley and the North Cascades. Our region has world-class outdoor recreation assets and enormous opportunity to expand outdoor recreation tourism in ways that can benefit communities, especially upriver.
A Regional Economic Question
What would the economic impact be if North Cascades National Park were no longer the least visited national park in the U.S. — but even somewhere in the middle? Increased visitation would ripple outward: supporting businesses in Concrete and Marblemount, increasing demand for guiding and hospitality, and creating new opportunities for locally owned enterprises across the Skagit Valley and neighboring communities.
Peak Pursuits prepares young people not just to participate in this future — but to help shape it as leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs.
Four Interwoven Layers of Development
We think about Peak Pursuits as four models woven together through purposeful activity and program creation: Outdoor Club meets Environmental Education meets FBLA meets Key Club — all integrated into one coherent pathway.
Outdoor Club
Hands-on engagement with the natural world builds confidence, competence, and connection to place through real experience.
Environmental Education
Young people learn stewardship, systems thinking, and how decisions impact land, water, and communities over time.
Leadership & Service (Key Club–inspired)
Participants build teamwork, responsibility, and a commitment to contributing beyond themselves — in ways that matter locally.
Entrepreneurship & Career Readiness (FBLA–inspired)
Young people explore how skills and passion become real pathways — including guiding, hospitality, outdoor services, and local enterprise.
Growing the Next Generation of Local Leaders and Entrepreneurs
We believe the next generation of outdoor guides, small business owners, environmental professionals, and community leaders should come from this region — with deep roots and a long-term commitment to place.
By investing in young people now, we help build the human infrastructure that supports economic vitality, environmental stewardship, and community wellbeing for decades to come.
An Invitation
What if the path to stronger young people — and stronger communities — isn’t removing every challenge, but teaching young people how to meet challenge well, right where they live?
