It’s 4 a.m. and clouds have been building over the summit of Mt. Shasta all night. Winds are up, there’s a hard, ice-like snow falling, and visibility is poor. Camped on a rocky outcropping at 10,500 feet on the northwest flank of the mountain, a group from Stanford debates whether to attempt the summit via the East Bolam Glacier. The trip, planned to introduce instructors in the Outdoor Education Program to the basics of glacier travel and crevasse rescue, quickly turns into an exercise in weather prediction, communication and group dynamics.
In the end, they agree to ski up to the glacier, rope up and practice glacier travel rather than try for the summit. The deciding factors? Apart from the poor weather, one team member is having trouble acclimatizing. No one says anything about having to make the summit or else.
Long seen as a motivational tool for underperforming youth, outdoor education has lessons for Stanford students, too. “There is a growing sense that going beyond lectures is important and being successful requires more than pure intellectual ability,” says Sarah Rubinfeld, MS ’02, a PhD candidate in environmental engineering who helped start Stanford Pre-Orientation Trips. The program is one of eight Stanford outdoor organizations, along with the Outdoor Education Program, Redwood Outdoors Club, the Kayak Club, the Outing Club, the Climbing Wall, the Outdoor Outreach Program and the Alpine Club.
Bryan Palmintier, MS ’00, Engr. ’04, who resurrected the long-defunct Stanford Alpine Club in 2002, wants to dispel the idea that outdoor activities are simply recreation. “Maybe at its heart it’s a fun activity, and that’s why people are drawn to it, but there is so much more that people learn and take with them for the rest of their lives,” he says. Because the groups are run by students, who also serve as instructors, they offer opportunities to develop leadership, problem solving and interpersonal skills as well as a sense of community. Some 2,000 undergrads and graduate students participate each year in more than 750 trips, classes such as Wilderness First Aid and Wilderness First Responder, and other activities.
Although each group has a slightly different focus, their underlying emphasis is teaching people how to get around competently and safely in the great outdoors. Given that common ground and growing interest on campus, it made sense to join forces. Supported by the administration and the athletics department, several group leaders formed the umbrella organization Stanford Outdoors last year, and a full-time coordinator of outdoor education, Andy Fields, was hired. “Universities are places of exploring ideas and learning, and [outdoor education] is an extremely powerful tool,” says Fields.
The outdoor groups will continue to be student-run, and Fields will advise them and provide continuity. Hopes are high for a center that would house all gear, gear-drying space, a classroom and a library, and provide a web server, expedition-length trips and centralized risk management. As it stands, the groups are scattered across campus with duplicate classroom space, gear, storage space and library materials.
As Stanford Outdoors addresses the practical aspects of bringing campus groups together, Professor Dennis Bird sums up their value. “It’s not like being on AstroTurf or playing basketball,” says Bird, a professor of geological and environmental sciences who has been involved with the outdoor community at Stanford since 1992. “It’s adventure; it’s exploration; you don’t know what’s going to be around the next corner or the next outcrop. . . . You can get exercise and learn leadership skills and teaching skills in athletics and intramural sports, but there’s nothing to compare with the excitement of adventure and exploration in the out of doors with your best friends.”
- CLARE BALDWIN, ’05
