ORP doesn’t freeze over in winter

Water is freezing in Cache Valley, which means Utah State University’s Outdoor Recreation Program switches its focus to frozen sports.

“We’re definitely still open,” said Dan Galliher, rental shop coordinator for the ORP. “There is still water sports in the winter; they are just frozen-water sports.”

However, with the equipment switching surfaces comes a slight slowdown in rentals.

“I think summer is definitely our busiest time,” Galliher said. “I mean, we stay pretty busy in the winter, but canoes and things like that go out a lot more than a lot of the ski stuff that we have.”

Galliher said rentals at the ORP are less utilized in the winter than they are in the summer. Becky Fuyse, a student who works at the ORP, said she doesn’t think people know enough about it.

“A lot of people, I think, don’t hear about us because they don’t know we’re here, like, in this little corner,” she said.

The ORP will move to the Student Recreation & Wellness Center when it opens in the fall semester of 2015.

“I’m always surprised at the amount of people that are like, ‘I didn’t even know this was a thing. I’m a senior, and I’m graduating, and I didn’t even know,’” said Analyse Barker, a student who works for the ORP. “So I think once we move it will especially be (more prominent).”

Information on what is provided from the ORP is available. Freshmen and first-year undergraduate and graduate students receive $10 credit toward rentals, and all students get a 35 percent discount on rentals.

“We have a PR guy that hits all the social media with everything, so that’s really done a lot, I think, for us,” Galliher said.

He said, winter doesn’t slow down completely for the ORP. Certain times are busy.

“Snowshoes are huge,”Galliher said. “Whenever it snows, those things go out like crazy, and we have a whole bunch of them.”

That was something that Barker echoed.

“Once it snows for real, we should be busy,” Barker said.

— dahdahjm@gmail.com

Twitter: @dahdahUSU