The multi-faceted Outdoor Adventure Program

The Outdoor Adventure Program provides students access to the outdoors. It exposes participants, through outdoor education, to activities like kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking.

These activities reveal Colorado at its finest, while simultaneously providing both physical and mental health benefits.

Bryan Ferguson, outdoor leadership specialist for the recreation center that serves UC-Denver, said that everyone who participates “brings some level of fear.” After all, many of these activities involve extremes, like rapids or heights.

"Sometimes,” Ferguson said, “their fears prevent [them] from participating.”

Part of what has kept Ferguson spearheading this program for the past 15 years, he said, is that he gets to witness people “overcome their reservations.”

This program has been proven, according to Ferguson, to change people’s ideas of their own capabilities.

The rock climbing wall in the campus recreation center is used by participants of the program for training purposes. Dave Lamothe, an intern with the program, said rock climbing provides cardiovascular and muscle-building benefits.

September 2 and 3, there will be introductory classes on how to belay, an essential element to rock climbing. Lamothe described belaying as the ability to “hold the ropes attached to fellow climbers so that their falls can be controlled.”

Belay certification classes are an hour long and cost $5.

The program also offers courses dedicated to educating students through diversity, leadership, and team-building activities.

The Adventure Leadership Program, a part of the Outdoor Adventure Program, provides classes on group-leadership development.

Lamothe says the program is “very dynamic” because the participants in the group are asked to identify “what learning outcome they desire,” and then, with the help of an outdoor adventure specialist, partake in an activity based on that desire in order to attain the particular skills they seek.

Many organizations based on campus, such as UCD’s Graduate School of Public Affairs, have taken advantage of this program as a method to gain common ground between members.

The Outdoor Adventure Program has planned trips, certification classes, and workshops all the way through May of 2010. Their calendar can be found at their website.

Campus Recreation at Auraria Website: www.ucdenver.edu/life/services/campus-rec.