Living on the edge in Logan
With all the outdoor opportunities in Cache Valley, some of the more adrenaline-pumping sports get left behind. Here’s a list for the daring recreationalist:
Rock Climbing
For some, climbing up a vertical wall with only a few jagged edges here and there to cling to would be terrifying. Not for junior animation major Savannah Jensen. For Jensen, the idea of being hundreds of feet off the ground, suspended by a rope and sheer body strength, is exhilarating.
“Not only is it such a satisfying feeling when you make it to the top of a hard climb,” Jensen said, “but it is also a super fast way to get in shape.”
Jensen said she has only been climbing for a year but that it is so addicting that she goes at least two or three times a week. She said she originally decided to try it out with her roommate as a way to “meet cute boys” and that it slowly became something for her to do in her spare time that she really loved.
“It’s not like any other sport,” Jensen said, “there’s competitions and everything, but there’s no other way to train your body and muscles other then practice and to continue to climb all the time.”
Jensen admitted that it tends to be a rather expensive sport but said she felt it was worth it because in her mind, “any sport that’s worth doing is going to have its costs.”
For the most part, students can try rock climbing fairly inexpensively. The Rock Haus has student day passes at a discounted price at $13 with day shoe rentals for $3 with harnesses and ropes that can be used for free. Also, students can rent rock climbing shoes from the ORP for four to 10 dollars depending on how long you want to rent them for, and climb at the field house bouldering wall for free.
SlackLining
Rock climbing is the ancestor of another sporting style that evolved into what we now call “slacklining.” Slack lining was originally used when a group of rock climbers needed to get across a large crevasse. One person would go to the other side, climb up the rock wall, and once they got to the top, they would have the slack line, tie it down, and allow the others to send their packs over as well as hooking themselves to the line and then walking or sliding across.
Now, it is not uncommon to be walking through campus in the spring or fall and see students slacklining and trying out their balancing skills between two trees. Mark Elliot, a freshman in electrical engineering, said he started slacklining a few years ago with some rock climbing friends, as a source of leisure and a social activity.
“It’s the ultimate balance test,” Elliot said. “It just wobbles around so much that you wouldn’t be able to do things you might be able to do on a tight rope like ride a bike or something like that.”
Elliot said all you need to do in order to start slacklining is procure webbing approximately 10 feet long, similar to what would be used to tie things down on a truck or on the back of a trailer. Then, he said, you use clamps to tighten the rope and set it up between two trees that are close together. For students interested in taking up the sport, webbing can be found at any local hardware or sporting goods store.
Spelunking
Exploration and being the first person to discover something new has been a human attribute throughout time. Many may assume the days of exploration and discovery are over, but Neil Morrison, a senior in general studies technology and business, knows otherwise. Morrison has been spelunking, or cave exploring, for years, and said the reason he goes spelunking is because the exploration factor is so great and satisfying, it makes the whole trip worth it.
“It terrifies me,” Morrison said. “I do it because you get down there and realize that you’re one of the few people in the world that’s seen what you’re seeing.”
Morrison said it is one of the most dangerous sports out there because people can get stuck and many have died during caving exploration. He said before exploring a cave, people need to make sure they have the proper equipment to lift themselves back out of the cave, as well as having an experienced guide who’s been through the cave and knows where you should and should not explore.
The equipment that is needed, such as warm thermal body suits, ascender devices that bring people back to the surface and the rope that becomes your lifeline in the cave, are expensive, but Morrison said the equipment is worth it when you realize how much your life depends on that equipment while you’re down there.
“One thing to keep in mind,” Morrison said, “is it may take you only four hours to go down a cave, but it will take you six hours to get back up.”
Skydiving
Usually the idea of jumping out of a plane 16,500 miles off the ground isn’t something that ends up in the same sentence as the word “fun.” For Chase Hicken, a freshman in biological engineering, going skydiving was the biggest adrenaline rush of his life, and one that he plans on experiencing again.
Hicken first went skydiving for his 18th birthday in 2007 with two of his friends. They went to the Ogden Skydiving Center and suited up in their full body suits with all the hook ups for the tandem rider that would help them make the fall safely. Hicken also said they had to go to training to be taught the proper way to fall and the proper way to land, and everything else was taken care of by the tandem rider.
“It’s really cool because you don’t get the jerky feeling you get when you just fall or trip,” Hicken said, “you’re already going as fast as the plane is so when you jump, you feel just like you’re floating.”
For students interested in trying this alternative way of getting “high” both on adrenaline and altitude, tandem skydiving at the Ogden center is $189 per fall. Hicken said it was completely worth it and he plans on doing it again in the future.
– jessica.black@aggiemail.usu.edu