Getting out there with Outdoor Programs

Utah State University Outdoor Programs is gearing up for spring as student trip leaders prepare to lead all-inclusive outdoor trips that cut costs dramatically for participants.

Anna Rupper works for OP and has both participated in and led various trips.

“We’ve got a lot of overnight trips coming up,” Rupper said. “We’re kind of transitioning to more springtime trips.”

A few upcoming trips towards the end of March and the beginning of April include cross-country skiing, Capital Reef camping and hiking and Lake Powell kayaking.

Rupper emphasized the benefits of using outdoor trips as a way to learn new things which are difficult to learn alone and require a level of safety knowledge.

“I’m leading the backcountry ski trip,” Rupper said. “Those are really awesome for people who know how to ski and have wanted to get into the backcountry but might not have the know-how or the gear.”

Student leaders are in charge of planning what to bring and keeping everyone safe. OP provides everything a participant needs on the trip, like gear, food and transportation.

“That’s usually camping gear and then whatever specific gear you would need for the activity, like a mountain bike or climbing harness ropes and everything,” Rupper said.

Outdoor trips are a great way to meet new people and form new connections, according to Rupper. She described seeing friendships form and last over the years through her experiences on outdoor trips.

“If you’re afraid to try something new, or if you don’t have a way to get into a new sport, they’re all very beginner-oriented,” Rupper said. “If you’re trying to learn how to climb, you have people that are there and are trained and can teach you how and then a group of people that are probably around the same level as you that you can become friends with and form that community with.”

Clayton Shaw is the OP climbing student manager and an outdoor trip leader.

“We have a backcountry skiing trip to a yurt, we have a canoeing trip to Labyrinth Canyon and we have two trips to Moab — one is mountain biking, and one is rock climbing,” Shaw said.

Outdoor trips are a great way for students to experience something new and meet people who have similar interests, according to Shaw.

“I have been on trips where nobody knew each other going into the trip,” Shaw said. “Coming home from the trip, everybody all of a sudden had a climbing partner that they could go climbing with.”

Shaw emphasized how outdoor trips are a great resource for students, not only because of the low costs but because it grants them access to new knowledge and skills that would be more difficult to acquire on their own.

“These trips lower that barrier of entry because we operate them on a break-even basis, which means we make them as cheap for the students as we possibly can, and then they also get the instruction on how to do so safely versus if you were to do it by yourself,” Shaw said.

The location and dates for many of the scheduled outdoor trips are recurring each year, but each trip is implemented differently by the student trip leader team.

Rupper and Shaw emphasized the importance of students seizing the opportunities these outdoor trips provide.

“It’s a super good resource for the school,” Shaw said. “I didn’t know very much about it until I started working here, and so I didn’t take advantage of it as a student. I’ve just been kind of benefitting from it as an employee. If I had known more about it as a student, I for sure would have signed up for some trips.”

Details and more information about these trips can be found at usu.edu/campusrec/outdoor/.