The impacts of satellite phone technology on a North Carolina Outward Bound school experience

There is a growing use of cellular and satellite (cell/sat) phones in the backcountry, especially among outdoor adventure programs. A number of positive and negative implications have resulted by incorporating cell/sat phones into the risk management process. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the implications of satellite phone technology on a participant's wilderness and North Carolina Outward Bound School experience.;The study was conducted at the Table Rock and Cedar Rock base camps of the North Carolina Outward Bound School during summer 2003. Respondents (N = 261) completed a 2-page questionnaire which contained scales measuring (1) wilderness and (2) Outward Bound experience items. Participants were divided into control (no knowledge of a satellite phone) and experimental (knowledge of a satellite phone) groups, grouped together by length of course.;Data were analyzed using scale confirmation (reliability and factor analysis), one-way ANOVA, and multivariate GLM. The analyses suggested a statistically significant difference on items addressing the wilderness experience in the scales between participants who had knowledge about the satellite phone and those with no knowledge about the phone. However, there was no statistically significant difference found on items addressing the Outward Bound experience in the scales between participants who knew about the satellite phone and those who did not know about the phone.;To date, this study has been the only research effort conducted concerning communication technology and a participant's experience. By continuing to use pre-existing scales developed by other researchers and developing new scales to measure a participant's experiences separate from the wilderness experience, this study contributes to the knowledge of the adventure recreation field allowing researchers to better understand the impacts of communication devices on the users' experiences. This encourages further study on the impact of communication technology on the user's experience.