Fall Rock Climbing Class

The Beginning Rock Climbing class got out for their second day this past Friday. It was a nice sunny day out on the Limestone, can't ask for much more. We set up two 5.8 routes. One was a class limestone route, pretty steep and filled with pockets, the other was a bit of an addity for limestone, it climbed through a crack in a roof, and continued up the crack most of the way to the top.

The second route also made accessible a 5.11 route for anyone that was willing to give it a try. It climbed a hard line through the same roof with an awkward move that put your hands behind your head and then into a horizontal lieback. But once over that, it was nice cruising up 5.8 to the top.

It was a great day for everyone, and good job to all! You can see some more photos on the outdoor website.

windy Peak album 2

more pics, enjoy

Justin

Windy Peak

Enjoy these pics from Windy Peak.

more caving pics

Spirit Mountain Cave

Caving

Pics from caving at Spirit Mountain Cave.

News and Info

RIVER MADNESS
So it has been a little while since I have been able to post information, but I wanted to pass along a few highlights of the recent. Over spring break, a group of 16 students and 2 instructors took a trip down to the San Juan River in southern UT. The River Guide Skills course spent 4 days on the river learning about rafting, river dynamics, multi-day river programming, and more. It was a great trip, combining a little bit of everything from sun and warm weather to cold and rowing through the snow. There will be photos posted on www.northwestcollege.edu/outdoor soon, check them out!

Wilderness and Remote First Aid
We are also currently in the process of creating a new course: Wilderness and Remote First Aid and CPR. This course will replace the standard first aid and CPR course that is currently required for Outdoor Education students, and be offered to anyone that will be travelling in the backcountry as an option to learn more about handling emergency situation that arrise when you are not close to advanced medical help. Upon successful completion, students will receive certification through the American Red Cross. The course was developed in conjunction with the new Boy Scouts of America wilderness protocols, which were developed working with the Wilderness Medicine Instute of NOLS in Lander, WY. This will be a big step for out students as the wilderness certification is a requirement for employment in the outdoor field.

We are anticipating this course to be taught during a three-day weekend at our mountain field station campus where students will be immersed in the "wilderness" for a variety of practical hands-on scenarios.

Advising Day
Advising day will be Tuesday, April 20th. If you are not scheduled, please stop by your advisors office to schedule a time to register for classes. This summer we will be offering beginning kayaking and rock climbing again, as well as Introduction to Mountaineering. The mountaineering course is in the spring schedule for the end of July, but has changed to meet in June. We will also be offering a three day Standard First Aid and CPR class that will be offered at the Cody Center in June.

Please contact the Outdoor Office if you have any questions regarding upcoming courses or interest in information pertaining to the DELTA Challenge Course program or upcoming DELTA facilitator trainings.

NWC River Guide Skills San Juan River Trip

We took a rafting trip on the San Juan River in Southern Utah starting at Mexican Hat and ending at Clay Hills. It was especially awesome for me as it was my first rafting trip and Im not experienced on water. Here are several epic pics from the trip. Enjoy.

adventure and fun

misc. outdoor adventures

Winter Outdoor Survival

The past couple of weekends, students have been building skills to assist in the unfortunate event of being stranded in the mountains in the wintertime, a potentially deadly turn of events. However, the likelihood of disaster can be lessened dramatically if the person(s) is able to stay calm, keep clear thoughts, and do everything possible to assist in their own rescue and survival. The course is designed to teach students the basics of survival, but also to teach basic winter techniques to keep them out of the survival situation in the first place.

The highlight of the class is the weekend spent at the A.L. Mickelson Field Station where students are sent out Saturday morning into the woods, where they are left stranded until Sunday morning. The students are grades on the construction of a proper, efficient and effective shelter, fire building skills (the ability to start a fire with one match) and whether they stay out all night or not. This year was one of the few where every student was able to stay outside all night long.

Students are allowed to bring with them a sleeping bag/pad, tart, rope, matches, and light source. While it is encouraged to build snow shelters when there is enough snow on the ground, most students decide to construct a shelter from wood and tarps. Typically, the next morning, most students gain a full understanding of what worked and what did not, and the first comments about their shelters are the need for more snow and insulation. There is nothing like learning from first hand experience, especially when it can be in a controlled and safe environment. Below are some images of shelters and students during the two weekends in the field.

The first group had the hardest weekend for certain. It was snowing the entire weekend, high temps were in the low to mid 20's while the low was about -4 that night. The second weekend was a bit nicer, more like being stranded in spring as the high was near 50 and the low that night was barely at the freezing mark. However, I think all of the students were able to gain a good understanding of what is needed in the event they are truly stranded. The necessity of a good fire for warmth (some students took the challenge to go without sleeping bags to make a more realistic scenario and relied heavily on a quality fire) and the need to collect as much of the supplies needed while it was still light out.

DELTA- The Building of a Whale

This past week we have been working on the construction of a new low ropes course/initiative problem for DELTA called the Whale Watch. The challenge is that the group is to get onto an 8' x 12' platform that is balanced on a log. The entire group must get onto the platform and divide themselves without the platform tilting down and touch the ground on either side. Given the success of the group, it can also be arranged that once the group is entirely on the platform, they must split half and half, then change sides. A number of variations can be used like that in order to create additional challenges.

The Whale Watch will be located at the A.L. Mickelson Field Station course, and will be transported up as soon as the snows melt, which might take a couple more months!

Ice Climbing

This past weekend, the PEAC 1600 Ice Climbing class took to Shell Canyon to try out climbing on some real ice (not the 2x10 wood on the climbing wall any longer). Sunday we spent getting aqcuainted with the equipment and movement on ice climbing on the Shroud, a low angle WI2 slab. The benefits to this style of climbing is that it give the climber the chance to really understand climbing ice using your feet.

Sunday we headed back up the canyon to the climbs above the Post Creek Trailhead. After a long uphill hike, we found our desination to be occupied by a pair from Casper (so it goes when you go climbing) so we headed to the left and found "Skinny Sister", an 80' WI3+. The climbing was great on vertical chandeliered ice, and gave the students the oppertunity to try out some harder climbing.

Below are some photos from Sunday, courtesy of David Leinen.



"Skinny Sister" WI3+

"V-Thread" Lesson and Practice