Outdoor adventure education programs may offer opportunities for improving overall wellness beyond the realm of physical fitness. A hypothetical framework is presented as follows: (1) outdoor adventure experiences provide individuals with opportunities to be truly challenged; (2) success in challenging situations builds self-efficacy and self-esteem and provides experiences of joy; (3) self-efficacy contributes significantly to psychological well-being and mood, and thereby to health; (4) therefore, because outdoor adventure experiences are especially well suited to enhance positive affect, they make valuable contributions to an individual's health. Evidence in support of this theoretical framework includes psychosocial theories of optimal arousal, self-efficacy, and competence-effectance; information on strengthening the immune system; and physiological and affective data collected during outdoor challenge courses and 9-day adventure trips. These physiological data cover heart rates, plasma catecholamines, urinary catecholamine, and stress-related plasma epinephrine. Affect data include self-reports of anxiety, happiness, and positive affect. (Contains 23 references.) (SV)