Critical outdoor education seeks to promote improved human to nature relationships. As academics and teachers strive to develop theory and practice appropriate for such outcomes, the traditional role of adventure activities is being scrutinized. This paper draws on a two year qualitative study which traced changes in human/nature relationships reported by a group of university students as a consequence of involvement in an outdoor education programme. From the many outcomes of the study, the following discussion extracts and concentrates on the role outdoor adventure activities can play in shaping connectedness to nature within outdoor education. Results suggest that adventure can be a very powerful tool for green outdoor education and that deskilling activities as a means of enhancing environmental outcomes may be counterproductive for some students.