Get Outside!

Walk into the University of Idaho Outdoor Program and you’ll be greeted by floor-to-ceiling azure rafts, friendly and outdoorsy-looking people (usually wearing Blundstones, Birkenstocks or Chacos) and old-fashioned wooden skis and snowshoes adorning the walls.  

UI was one of the first universities nationwide to launch a student-led outdoor program in 1973. Fifty years later at the UI Outdoor Program (OP) office, now located in the UI Student Recreation Center, people can rent outdoor recreation equipment ranging from skis to rafts to camping gear—at a discount for students. The OP also leads trips and activities and can help students plan their own trips. 

Peter Hunter, a UI senior and trip leader at the OP, says that while he has always been involved in the outdoors, working at the OP has taught him valuable outdoor skills like repairing rafts and tuning skis. 

“My experience working at the outdoor program has been fantastic! The Outdoor Program has given me many opportunities to try new things.” Hunter loves to get outside through whitewater rafting, fly fishing, backpacking and skiing. 

“My favorite part of being a trip leader is seeing participants gain confidence in the outdoors.”

Hunter says, “My favorite part of being a trip leader is seeing participants gain confidence in the outdoors.” He recounts a memory of a trip participant who was initially anxious about whitewater rafting, yet after the trip leaders guided her through her first rapid, she “had a blast the rest of the day.” 

To ensure participants have a fun yet safe experience, Hunter notes, “The University of Idaho Outdoor Program is very good at risk management.”  

All trip leaders maintain a Wilderness First Responder Certification. “In the event of a medical emergency, trip leaders can understand what has happened and make the correct decision on what to do in that situation. They will also have their trip leader manuals on all trips, which helps with what to do in the case of an emergency,” Hunter says. 

Another UI senior and fellow trip leader, Gabe Brandt, has been working at the OP since 2021. Brandt loves skiing, mountain biking, hiking, backpacking and peak bagging (climbing a particular list of mountain summits).  

Brandt is also an avid photographer. He says, “I love being able to capture all of the beautiful places I’ve been lucky enough to see. I want to share those experiences with my friends, family, and anyone who can’t make it there with me.” 

“I love being able to capture all of the beautiful places I’ve been lucky enough to see. I want to share those experiences with my friends, family, and anyone who can’t make it there with me.”

Upon reflecting on his experience leading OP trips, Brandt says, “The most rewarding aspect is seeing people on your trips go on their own trips. On backpacking trips, often the people who are going are going backpacking for
the first time. Becoming friends with them and them showing you pictures from their last trip gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.” 

Director of the OP, Sandra Townsend, loves to interact with people in the outdoors. “It gives real instant feedback. You cannot hide your abilities from others. I think it’s one of the best ways to see who a person is,” she says.  

Townsend has been working at the OP for seven years and finds that watching the growth of student employees and participants on trips is the most rewarding aspect of her job. 

When asked about safety on trips, Townsend says that she doesn’t use the word “safe” anymore. “If you want to be completely ‘safe’— just stay in your dorm room. But then what is the point if you are not experiencing new and exciting things?” The OP weighs and manages the objective risk of the activity, plans for trips considerably, and takes appropriate measures from there.  

Both Brandt and Hunter also strongly emphasize doing research and planning before a trip. Brandt says, “Before I go into the backcountry, I always extensively map a location, look up the weather, find camping places, backup camp options, places to filter water, and the elevation and profiles of the routes.”  

Hunter adds, “Before the trip, the trip leaders meet to discuss any potential hazards that might happen on the trip, whether that be weather-related, trail conditions or something else.” 

Yet Townsend, Brandt and Hunter all agree that there is no substitute to just getting outside, however someone is able to. When asked about how a reader could embark on their own journeys, Townsend says, “Just do it! The biggest hurdle is the internal voice saying ‘no.’ Once you overcome that, come to our office.”