ORC Adventures

Sledding on Valentines!

2009-02-18T15:04:00.001-08:00

We refuse to let this recession and budget trimming get us down. At the ORC we're all about having fun while watching how much you spend. Good example: our recent Valentine's sledding trip to the North Sinks.

Given the day, we offered a special, cheaper rate for couples. People paid $8 and followed us up to the North Sinks in Logan Canyon just past Beaver Mountain to get some sweet runs in on our airboards.

Everyone had a great time (which is good since we haven't had a trip in a while since our snowshoe hike got axed due to weather). We even built a small jump in the fresh pow and sent a few crazy people off it. Afterwards, we heated up some water and passed out fresh hot cocoa and jello mix (sounds peculiar but it's just like drinking a warm gatorade).

Seems like we have fun on every trip we have. We'll keep you posted on our schedule of events in March.

Backcountry Ski Expedition!

2009-01-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since anything happened, but I'm just going pretend like nothing's wrong....

If you had a keen eye this past week you might have noticed our (not so) subtle advertising all over campus. Whenever it wasn't being taken down, that is. In addition to our upcoming snowshoe hike in Franklin Basin during the next full moon (which you can still sign up on) we had a backcountry skiing/snowboarding trip that went down January 24th. The cost was a meager $15 for students and it was well worth it for the few people that signed up!

At first, the trip looked to be a little in doubt since it was raining at the ORC when we left Saturday morning. It looked miserable but we decided to make the call at the trailhead.

When we arrived at the UDOT state sheds the sloppy rain turned into a heavy snow. We geared up and started breaking trail northward towards the top of Garden City Canyon, a readily accessible backcountry area that has a great variety of safe terrain. The avalanche danger was somewhat of a concern with the heavier snowfall, so we picked a safe route up. After a quick lunch and determining that everyone had the legs for a run, we dropped into a safe aspect and enjoyed twenty to thirty turns on new snow. It was kinda slow and heavy but it was backcountry skiing. In fact it was the first time in the backcountry for everyone in our group. What a way to learn how to ski!

It was about a twenty minute hike back up to the ridge and a quick jaunt down the west face to our cars. The whole trip took about three to four hours. We turned a few people into backcountry enthusiasts in the process and maybe they'll bring some friends along on our next ski/board trip. We may try President's day for our next one.

See you on February 9th at 5:30 pm at the ORC for our Full Moon Snowshoe Hike!

No time for spell check

2008-11-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

I am NOT going to change Power Whore to Powder Whore, Liz! Mistakes are awesome!

Also, All ya'll ought to check out some of the sweet announcements and updates on our homepage. You'll also be able to catch a glimpse of me, your mistery blogger.

totally....

Power Whore

2008-10-31T09:54:00.000-07:00

Oh man what a totally SICK movie! The extra crowds and lack of chairs was worth it in my opinion. We had about twice as many people show up as we originally predicted; sorry to those that had to stand! The food was great, at least. In fact it was AMAZING! Chase whipped up some tasty au gratin potatoes in the Dutch ovens and we also managed to throw together an apple cobbler for dessert, which went pretty well with the Aggie Ice cream.

Well, that's out of our hair. Now it's time to focus on Warren Miller before that creeps up on us. Show times are November 5th and 6th around 7:oo pm-ish at the Kent Concert Hall. Buy your tickets there or beforehand at the Kent box office, the TSC ticket office, or Al's Sporting Goods!

Happy Halloween! Do EVERYTHING you wouldn't normally do!

Seriously, that last blizzard? Weak!

2008-10-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

After a long (and cold!) week of laying out our plans to get the Green Canyon Yurt up and running, we've finally got time to preview some of trips and events for this last stretch of seasonable weather.

You've probably seen our flyers somewhere on campus since we basically paper any blank wall we can find with ORC stuff. Keep an eye out for these in order to find out where we're going on trips and when we're having events. A recent example was the Logan Canyon Freeway Clean-up that happened this past Saturday. Yeah sure it was snowing, but that doesn't exonerate your from your debt to nature! We walked around for about an hour in the blizzard picking up empty beer cans, cigarette packets and fast food wrappers. Kinda tells you a lot about the kinds of people that leave the trash and the kinds of people that come pick it up... I'm not sure exactly but I do know that I dumped some greenish looking chunky liquid onto my foot.

If you haven't seen our flyers for the Tony Grove Fall Trip then keep your eyes pealed or stop by the shop. The cost will be $25 for two nights worth of fun camping and canoeing this Friday to Sunday.

We also have flyers out for our semester long photo contest. Prizes are given out monthly and one grand prize winner will get to go to Southern California on our Spring Break Trip for FREE! Check out our website for more details.

Lastly, if you've seen the large posters for Black Diamonds Powder Whore telemark movie come on by the shop or look for our ORC campus displays for a chance to buy tickets to this sweet event. The cost for students in $5 and includes food as well. What better way is there to kick off the long, agonizingly cold wait for snow?

PRAY FOR SNOW!!! PRAY FOR SNOW!!! PRAY FOR SNOW!!!

ORC Hiking Trip: Naomi Peak NRT

2008-10-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

We don't mess around. When it comes to getting our butts into the wilds of Northern Utah we here at the ORC like to go all out. This being the case, I could think of no better venue for our inaugural hike of Fall 2008 than the Naomi Peak National Recreation Trail. Then again, I do have this problem where my ambition is larger than my actual appetite.

I've done this trail before--about a month earlier, in fact--but I wanted to take the opportunity to check out the fall colors in some of Utah's most scenic vistas. Our mapping software paces the trail length out to be about 8.56 miles; manageable in half a day with a small group. The trailhead marker proclaimed the trail to be 9.5 miles; longer, but still doable. After all the uphill grinds and several rests, the trail felt to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 miles, according to the group's sore legs. Judging by our pace and how long it took, that's probably right. I'm guessing we hiked close to a mile an hour and the whole ordeal took ten hours from start to finish.

Regardless, it was still some of the most stunning scenery I've seen in Utah. Without fail I always end up experiencing something new and amazing whenever I go out. So don't be shy, our future trips will be less daunting. Come on out with us next time!

Check out the photos from this hike in the slideshow in the top right of the blog page.

It's good to be BACK!

2008-10-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

'Sup Aggies?

Man, look at the amount of down time between this post and our last... We're sorry, we've neglected you and we feel bad for it. How 'bout we make it up to you?

For the time being--until we get our new e-mail address up--I'll be your Blog-a-dero. My name's Pete and this is my fifth year at USU. In those five years I've had my share of adventures in the local wilds and am hoping to include you all in them too. So come on down and see us or check out our trip board for cool hikes and such!

Visit us at usu.edu/orc. Check out our trips at usu.edu/orc/trips and check out how you can participate in our awesome new photo contest while you're there.

Coming soon... A post and pics from our recent hike to Naomi Peak!

Tubing Tuesday

2008-07-16T12:21:00.001-07:00

We had another Tubing Tuesday. This week we had a ton of fun floating down the Onidea Narrows. The water was high and a lot of fun. Most of us stayed right side up but a couple of us did flip over, Including me.

MAKE SURE YOU SIGN UP FOR A TRIP BEFORE SUMMER IS OVER!!!!!!

Golden Adventures/ Snake River Trip

2008-07-16T12:07:00.001-07:00

This past Friday we took a group of the Summer Citizens up to Jackson Wyoming to take a trip down the Snake River. We as an ORC staff had such a good time. Everyone was really good sports and we had a blast. Even those that had to endure Chases singing for a while seemed to enjoy themselves. . Here are some pictures from our adventure. Enjoy.

June 13, 2008: Snake River Trip

2008-06-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th was a great day to have a river trip down the Snake RiverGroup picture at 6:30 am.

Group Picture getting ready to float!

Shoveing off! Here we go!

Thanks to Jenny our great photographer.

Boat #2 following us down the river

WE are sooooo happy to be here.

The first rapid.. Great picture!!

We made it through lunch counter with keeping our lunch down!!

Everyone having Lunch waiting for run #2

The fearless guide: SPENCER

We had a great trip and had dinner at the Cheeseburger Factory!!! Thanks to everyone that came on the float and hopefully see you in August.

The Golden Adventures

2008-06-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

The ORC's Golden Adventures program is in full swing thanks to Cami and Holly.

Golden Adventures is weekly activities that are planned by the ORC for the Summer Citizens of USU. These are some pictures of the first activity. They went for a hike up Green Canyon.

Cami is giving instruction right before starting the hike. The hike is about 3 miles round trip and is great just for getting out and getting some exercise.
Thanks to Cliff for some amazing pictures that truly capture the beauty of Green Canyon.
Just taking a break for a picture

The Whole Group. Thanks everyone that came, we look forward to spending more time and playing.

Fruita Colorado and Moab Trip

2008-05-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

We are all packed and ready to leave for a week long trip to Fruita Colorado and Moab Utah.

At the beginning of our trip down south we had to stop for lunch at IKEA, for our good friend Sverker. IKEA was founded in Sweden where he is from. As you can see he really enjoys Swedish Meatballs!!!!

Fruita Colorado is home to the Headless Mike Festival. It is all about a rooster that got his head lobbed off but still lived. Check out the hyper link for more about Headless Mike.
This is his statue that we are sitting in front of.
This is an original picture of Mike after Farmer Loyd Lobbed of his head.

We were able to camp about 15 miles outside of Fruita right against the hills. This was a beautiful area and had plenty of mountain bike trails to please everyone.

This is the ORC crew taking a break after riding "Chutes and Ladders". This was a great single track trail that had many ups and fast downhills.

No trip is complete with out blood being shed. That is as long as it is only a little bit.

Fruita Colorado is a great place for those that are serious about mountain biking and those that may just be new to the sport. After Fruita it was on to do some rafting down the Colorado.

As we arrived in Moab we needed to make a stop at the Indian Ladder and do some exploring.

Spencer gazes up the ladder wondering "Is it worth it"

As we get ready to inflate the raft for our float. Paul thinks to himself "what have I gotten myself into".

Chase is ready for what the river has to bring!!

Holly and Cami are excited to be ridden in the front of the raft. The river was cold but was high and alot of fun.

This is the video of the largest part of the rapids.

Sverker is all tired and ready to go home!!

This was an awsome trip and we can provide anyone with details on the places we went. Just come and ask.

The ORC jumps on the blogging bandwagon!

2008-05-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hello to all of our outdoor friends. This blog is for people to see past and future adventures that the ORC provides.

Upcoming Events:

Float Tuesdays: Starting May 27, 2008 we are going to be floating a different canal/river each week. Cost is $5 per person(includes tube, PFD, and paddle.)
Snake River Trip: On June 13, 2008 we will be taking the first 12 people that sign up rafting down the Snake River. This river has class 2-4 rapids. Participants must know how to swim. Cost is $25 and includes transportation, snacks, and the essential rafting equipment.

Space is Limited so call and sign up today! (435) 797-3264