To answer calls for an ecological approach to outdoor adventure that can respond to the crisis of sustainability, this paper suggests greater theoretical and empirical attention to skill and skill development as shaping participant interactions with and experiences of environments, landscapes, places, and inhabitants. The paper reviews calls for ecological approaches as well as phenomenological analyses of outdoor adventure. The paper then outlines a heuristic perspective that positions humanity as belonging within environments and highlights the performative and movement orientation of outdoor adventure. Ingold's work is outlined as an informative ecological ontology and, integrating it with the literature reviewed, alternative conceptualizations of skill, activity, and outdoor adventure are provided. These understandings enable a first step in formulating and researching a participatory ecological approach to outdoor adventure education, recreation, and tourism.