Adventure Risk Challenge (ARC) uses environmental education, literacy coursework and wilderness experiences to help disadvantaged teens from California’s Central Valley develop an appreciation for the outdoors while charting a course toward success. Recent data show that more than 99 percent of alumni have finished high school on time, and 81 percent have gone on to college.

Conservancy donors have helped hundreds of ARC participants develop valuable skills through academic-year programming, mentorships and an immersive 40-day Yosemite summer course that includes activities ranging from backpacking expeditions to public-speaking exercises. In 2018, your gifts helped ARC serve more than 190 high school students from Fresno and Merced counties, giving underrepresented Yosemite-area teens the chance to connect with their nearby national park.

Your gift helped ARC empower teens to transform their trajectories by developing confidence, core skills and a love for the natural world.

Completed in partnership with Yosemite National Park and Adventure Risk Challenge.

Will Fassett

Program Director, Adventure Risk Challenge

Project Notes

ARC works with local high school students who wouldn't otherwise have opportunities to go on summer adventures.