A Basecamp for Bold Leadership: Wharton MBA Students Head Into the Backcountry
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business turned Flagstaff Lake Hut into a backcountry basecamp this summer. They arrived not for a typical retreat, but as part of Wharton’s McNulty Leadership Ventures Program, and for one week, our lakeside lodge became their basecamp for growth, challenge, and discovery.
More Than a Wilderness Retreat
Leadership Ventures aren’t your average outdoor excursion. The program is built around self-discovery, character development, and hands-on leadership experience, which is the kind that can’t be taught from a case study or classroom. By design, participants are pushed outside their comfort zones and asked to navigate real uncertainty, real challenge, and real teamwork, with the backcountry as their classroom.
A Week in Western Maine
Based out of Flagstaff Lake Hut, the group’s days were packed with hiking, camping, rock climbing, and boating across the lakes and peaks of Western Maine. Our hut’s location made it an ideal launch point: within easy reach of the Appalachian Trail, the rugged Bigelow Mountain Range, and a scattering of remote lakeside campsites and islands perfect for testing new skills and pushing limits. Whether they were hiking through an alpine zone, navigating open water, or setting up camp as the sun dropped behind the Bigelows, the group found no shortage of opportunities to lead, follow, and grow together.
Welcoming the World to Our Backcountry
Hosting this international group of future business leaders was a genuine privilege. Connecting people to nature sits at the heart of our nonprofit’s mission, and there’s a special kind of reward in introducing first-time visitors, especially those coming from across the globe, to our hut and trail system for the very first time. Watching a group discover what our huts and the surrounding wilderness have to offer, often for the first time in their lives, is exactly why we do this work.
Bring Your Group to the Backcountry
Our huts are ready to become the setting for your next educational outing, corporate retreat, or leadership program. Think of them as a blank slate, where we’ll help you shape the experience, whether you’re planning a single overnight stay or a full week-long adventure.
Reach out to our Program Manager Sam Shirley to start planning a visit your group won’t forget.
