Planning outdoor adventures can be difficult, the cost of the trip plays a factor for many students and staff as we get into the second half of the semester. The Outdoor Program at the University of Idaho offered a do-it-yourself (DIY) guide on how to plan outdoor trips through a Zoom webinar on Oct. 14.
The purpose of the Zoom webinar was to provide individuals with a guide on how to plan an outdoor trip outside of the program and give them insight and ideas on some activities that could be done within two hours of Moscow. They also provided information on areas that need permits to go to, weather considerations and where to find weather equipment along with what to wear depending on the weather. They also mentioned the Leave No Trace principles for outdoor trips. Leave No Trace is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife areas and preserving public land. These principles were made to direct people to “leave how they found it” in order to prevent site alternations and keep nature intact.
Graduate assistant Boomer Vuori and trip leader Brock Browning co-hosted the event. Vuori manages social media for the program and puts out all trips/activities that the Outdoor Program provides along with running a few trips himself.
“It’s hard during this pandemic to run all the trips we want,” Vuori said. “There are people who still might not feel comfortable going on trips, but at the same time there are still people who are still going on trips and recreating. That’s how this came to be, because we wanted people to have the tools and the resources they need to be able to plan their own adventures and get outdoors.”
Only one person attended the webinar, making it difficult for Vuori and Browning to inform more individuals about how to plan an outdoor adventure. Vuori hopes that recording the webinar and posting it on Facebook will lead to more engagement so their goal of teaching people about trip planning will be seen.
“I think people from a university standpoint are just tired of going to things online,” Browning said. “I also think that since we planned to put it as a resource online, that more people will be reluctant to look at it when they actually need it rather than taking an hour of their day to attend.”
Vuori and Browning planned a mock trip to Big Creek Cabin, detailing all the steps needed to make the trip come about.
“That was the goal,” Vuori said. “To show how to plan a trip and give people resources that they need to actually be able to go on and do it.”
DIY outdoor adventures have become more popular in the social sphere as many people on the web offer trip planning guides as a resource for other individuals to be more creative with their trip planning. These DIY outdoor adventures will only continue to increase as they save more time and money for individuals who want to find other things to do.
DIY outdoor adventures have become more popular in the social sphere as many people on the web offer trip planning guides as a resource for other individuals to be more creative with their trip planning. These DIY outdoor adventures will only continue to increase as they save more time and money for individuals who want to find other things to do.
“This is why we’re doing these webinars, because so many new people are getting into new things and doing them on their own without knowing what they’re getting themselves into,” Browning said. “It’s causing a lot of problems with general safety, and if people aren’t educated enough they could cause more harm. Now as trip leaders, we need to put more effort into educating people interested in outdoor recreation so we can provide them with more information.”
Vuori said that more Zoom webinars will be offered after UI plans to go online after fall break, and Vuori hopes to see more people attend those webinars. The Outdoor Program’s upcoming Zoom webinars include the skeet shooting clinic, the ski and snowboard tuning clinic and an avalanche awareness clinic for anyone who is interested in avalanche awareness and recreating in the backcountry.
Armin Mesinoviccan be reached at [email protected] on Twitter @arminmesinovic.