Although Mike Beiser began his career at the University of Idaho on April Fool’s Day, it was no joke. Beiser has been at UI for 31 years now, and will keep with the holiday tradition as he retires from his position as coordinator of the Outdoor Program on Halloween.
Beiser played a major role over the years in making the UI Student Recreation Center what it is today. One of his most notable feats was helping design the $1.5 million Climbing Center, the tallest of its kind west of the Mississippi at the time.
“Part of his biggest individual success was just building the outdoor program. He was here in its infancy when Jim Rennie was the director and started the program,” said Greg Tatham, assistant vice provost for student affairs. “Mike had a hand in the design of what was needed in the Rec Center to have a first class outdoor program operation that included what you see today.”
Tatham said while outdoor programs are fairly common now, 40 years ago they were practically unheard of. He said UI was one of the first campuses to have one, largely because of Beiser’s input, and many outdoor programs have popped up since.
Beiser said when faculty left UI to work for North Idaho College, Portland State University, Boise State University, Northern Arizona University, Washington State University and other colleges across the nation, they brought UI’s commitment to the outdoors with them.
“That’s something I’m really proud of, to have so many people leave our program and start or get hired by other programs. We have a pretty good reputation nationally,” Beiser said.
An adventurer at heart, Beiser has climbed mountains, rafted rivers and even took a 6,000-mile sailing trip with his wife and daughter from 1991 to 1992.
Beiser said he made a career out of teaching others the lessons he learned in his experiences, both in and out of the classroom. He has taught classes about rock climbing, mountaineering, wilderness first aid, kayaking and navigating.
One of Beiser’s responsibilities as the coordinator of the Outdoor Progam is to organize trips, ranging from Mexican volcano discoveries to Alaskan mountain hikes.
Beiser said he’s happy to have led an outdoor program in Idaho, as daring students don’t have to leave the state to experience the outdoors.
“We were probably the first university to do a self-guided, self-run Mount McKinley expedition,” Beiser said. “On my first climb, I saw a guided group on the mountains. They had just met their guide, some of them were just learning to tie into a harness. I was thinking, ‘Certainly if these guys are learning basic skills before they go on this heavily crevassed mountain, I could take a group of students on a series of trips and we could be far better prepared to climb a serious mountain.'”
Beiser took groups of 10 to 12 students on several international trips to Chile, Peru and Ecuador. He also took students on hundreds of smaller, weekend and Christmas trips to places like Mount Rainier and the San Juan Islands.
“I think his legacy is going to be through all the students he’s impacted throughout the years,” Tatham said. “When you think of the number of students in a 30 year period who’ve gone on some type of adventure with Mike leading it, and had personal interactions with him, it just can’t be overstated.”
Tatham said the SRC is known across the nation for its programs and faculty, including Beiser’s efforts in the Outdoor Program. In 2012, UI was awarded the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education (AORE) David J. Webb Program Excellence Award.
“AORE honored our program a couple of years ago for the most outstanding program in the nation, and part of that is (Beiser’s) legacy, his and Steve’s and Trevor’s and some of the other folks who work there,” Tatham said.
Beiser said he plans to continue traveling after retirement, and invest more time in his photography business, Mike Beiser Photography, to supplement his pension while doing what he enjoys most.
Alyssa Baugh can be reached at [email protected]