In the Student Life and Wellness Center lies the Outdoor Adventure Center (OAC, SL-216). At first glance, it’s an outdoor gear shop. However, taking a closer look reveals that it is more, with goals of helping students enjoy the great outdoors being key to their purpose.
The organization is nonprofit. “We’re happy if we just break even,” said UVU exercise science major and employee, SJ Ferrin.
Just because the OAC is nonprofit, however, doesn’t mean that good activities are not planned. According to Ferrin, the OAC hosts an activity roughly once a week.
Noah Robinson, a host for some of the trips that the center offers, shared some of their upcoming plans. “We’ve got an overnight skiing trip on the 17th,” he explained.“I’ll [also] be showing a slacklining clinic.”
“My last trip was in December,” Robinson remembered. “We were able to explore Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. It was quiet; the national parks in Utah are … well traveled … but [December is] the one month that they take a breath, and it’s super quiet.”
“We had a diverse group,” he noted. “We had exchange students from China [and] Brazil. We had a lot of cultural diversity, and some people had never gotten to see red sandstone before. … Utah is one of the most landscape-diverse places you can go,” he concluded.
While some of the adventures may sound pricey, the Outdoor Adventure Center offers ways for students to keep up. For example, anybody signed up for the overnight skiing trip will receive 50% off all ski rentals.
Outside of formally organized activities, the OAC has made it easy to go skiing or snowboarding through a special partnership with Sundance Resort, whose tickets can be purchased from the Outdoor Adventure Center. Additionally, single day rentals for new skiers and snowboarders are also 50% off.
Getting out and into the sun may seem daunting, but the Outdoor Adventure Center is designed to help make trips possible for students. With discounts on gear and scheduled trips to fun places, the center offers many ways to help kickstart healthy behaviors and interests in Utah’s great outdoors.
