ASHEVILLE - The best way Dave Genova knows to get teenagers to look inward -- deep within, where prejudices and insecurities lurk -- is to take them outside.

Climbing rocks, hiking for miles, building camp in the woods and preparing food over a fire have a way of clearing the mind, Genova says. In the wilderness, away from the noise of video toys, away from their regular circle of friends, artifice is stripped away like extra weight from a backpack, and teenagers can see what they believe about themselves and others.

"Nature is a great teacher," says Genova, 65. "It really simplifies life."

Nature has taught Genova a lot in his nearly three decades of working with Outward Bound, a program that uses outdoor challenges to encourage character development. But about 10 years ago, during an excursion for North Carolina Outward Bound's Asheville office, where he is based, Genova realized that the organization that had worked so hard to help people find common ground was actually perpetuating one of the most powerful social barriers: racial segregation.

Like so many realizations that come during the Outward Bound experience, it happened in the woods. Genova was hiking with a group of students -- called a crew -- when they came across another group in the Pisgah National Forest. After the brief encounter, a white girl noted the racial makeup of the other crew and said she was glad there were no black people in her group.

Part of the power of Outward Bound is that it encourages its students to be honest by letting them know it's safe to express what they feel and believe. But its programs are also designed to get students to examine those beliefs and consider whether they have any basis in reality.

Outward Bound was started by a German Jew named Kurt Hahn, headmaster of a school who was jailed for opposing Hitler. He got out of jail and made it to England. By then, World War II was on, and England was losing legions of sailors. The Germans were torpedoing their ships, and only 20 to 30 of the most experienced sailors were making it to the life boats. The younger, presumably stronger men were perishing.

Hahn thought it was because the younger men had never faced a challenge. He started a seaside school to train them, improving their physical fitness and putting them through ropes courses and rock climbing. He called it Outward Bound, the term for a ship headed to sea.

Outward Bound now operates in 22 countries, offering courses that run from four to 85 days, incorporating backpacking and wilderness camping, dog sledding, skiing, whatever the geography allows. Almost every course includes a solo component, in which students spend several hours to several days alone.

By 1996, when Genova overheard his crew member's slur, Outward Bound was essentially running segregated courses, populated by students who often knew each other before the course, came from similar backgrounds and looked a lot alike.

When he got back to Asheville, Genova began talking to colleagues in the organization and others outside. Trained as an educator and counselor and married to a middle school teacher, Genova sought advice and support from people who understood the importance of helping kids expand their view of the world. It wasn't easy at first.

"It's hard when you work for a place and you tell them, we're a part of this big problem," Genova says. "It's really hard to hear something like that. You don't want to believe that you're part of this bigotry and ignorance."

From bigotry to unity

But the next year, he was ready for his first Unity Project crew. The goal was to find a dozen teenagers from schools with diverse populations who were viewed as leaders by their peers -- whether as troublemakers or role models -- then bring them together for nine days in the wilderness.

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