Participants' performances of outdoor skills and leadership are interpreted for environmental learning using Ingold's (2000) notion of an "education of attention": the fine-tuning of their perception. The actual tasks and activities of adventure travel have until recently gone largely unquestioned; but the relationship between skills and environmental learning is now hotly debated (Thomas, 2005). Many authors propose "de-skilling" outdoor education on the grounds that technical skills divert participants' focus from nature (Haluza-Delay, 1999; Lugg, 2004; Payne, 2002; Wattchow, 2007). This piece, on the other hand, adds to research suggesting climbers and paddlers cultivate embodied knowledge and senses of belonging through sensual interactions with environments (Lewis, 2000; McCarthy, 2002; Mullins, 2009). Increased social and environmental impacts coupled with calls for sustainability demand adventure industries grasp the functioning and limits of their activities vis-a-vis social and ecological communities. For participants of this study, canoe tripping involved the acquisition, expression, and sharing of environmental knowledge specific to the activity-environment combination. Though further research is needed, the findings also suggest that outdoor leadership required participants to expand their environmental perception. That practical outdoor skills and leadership involve acquiring environmental knowledge may be implicitly understood by practitioners, but opportunities remain to more fully integrate this perspective into theoretical and pedagogical approaches. Implications for place-based education and sustainability are discussed.