By Nicholas Slepnikoff
The mountain gleamed in the sun, a white behemoth on a blue horizon. Skiers and snowboarders cut through valleys covered in feet of snow, while students from Outdoor Pursuits Program ventured up the steep crunchy slopes of Mt. Hood.
This past Saturday, a handful of students joined OPP employees in one of their two snowshoe trips in 2010.
"My favorite part is when we actually went up to Mt. Hood," senior Joseph Hanson-Hirt said.
"That is what I woke up to do - to be on the mountain within sight of the summit - it was great."
Venturing to Mirror Lake and Timberline Lodge, the group spent seven hours trudging through snow, dodging barrages of snowballs and climbing the foothills on and surrounding Mt. Hood.
Complete with snowshoe angels and a Subway-sponsored lunch, the group snowshoed the Mirror Lake Trail.
Later in the day, after the snowballs began to settle back into the white hills, the group went to Mt. Hood.
Sliding down 60-degree slopes with little more than their waterproof jackets, the group of eight hiked with the aide of aluminum snowshoes through the crunchy snow.
Although trips before had been equally awe-inspiring, sophomore OPP trip leader Dallas Lund said this was by far one of the more fun trips he has had.
"Yesterday was one of the best trips I've done so far, the kids really meshed together really well," Lund said.
Outdoor Pursuits, a program of Recreational Services, has been doing this for students since its inception.
Taking students out of their normal hum-drum lives replete with labs, clinicals and a seemingly endless tide of school work, Outdoor Pursuits encourages students to try other outdoor forms of recreation besides the occasional walk or jog on The Bluff.
"Even though some people complain about the 20 bucks, it's really worth it," Lund said.
"Not everyone has a car, or the gear, or the knowledge necessary to go out and be safe. For a reasonable price, we can get you out, hike some fun trails," he said. "And the best part is meeting new people."
Although the program has received more funding and been able to hold more trips, a car accident - resulting in a totaled van - last year has set the program back in funding, according to Lund and senior OPP employee Chris Clem. Despite the tight funding, senior OPP employee Clem still hopes that the program can improve.
"I feel even the best programs have room to improve," Clem said. "One thing I'm hoping to work on this semester is actually teaming up with different departments in the school."
By teaming up with the university science departments and doing a geological history of the Columbia River Gorge, Clem wants to put more of an educational component to OPP.
Additionally, Clem feels this will increase both awareness of the program itself and the natural environment surrounding UP.
"What we're doing now is getting people off campus and outdoors, so they can experience a healthy lifestyle especially for those who can't get out and do it themselves," Clem said. "There are so many opportunities and other schools are doing this so I'd like to get our program to that point."
