#outdoorpursuits

[unique-sportswear]

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http://stores.ebay.co.uk/uniquesportswearshop

[uncbears]

Trips and Workshops for the Month of April

It is getting to the end of the semester and upcoming finals may have you stressed out; however, there are some trips and workshops you can attend to relieve some stress! Outdoor Pursuits will be having four trips and two workshops. The trips and workshops have great deals and will get you going on an adventure. The following are the trips and workshops for this month:

Trips:

Sports Climbing-April 21: Sports Climbing will be a full day trip. The trip is great for you to use your climbing skills or learn new ones! The cost of the trip is $20 and it includes transportation, park fees, and equipment. Belay orientations are also required and you can complete the orientation at the Campus Rec. 

RMNP Service Project-April 21: RMNP will be a full day where you will go out to the Rocky Mountains and work on projects such as fire reduction trail mitigation and more. The trip is free and it is a great opportunity to give back and enjoy!

Sky Diving-April 2: Sky Diving is a full day event and is for everyone! We will travel 18,000 ft. above sea level and jump off a plane to view Colorado’s beauty. The cost is $200. 

Advanced Climbing-April 28: This trip is for advanced climbers who are prepared to challenge themselves and learn new skills on how to lead a climb. The cost of the trip is $25 and it includes transportation and equipment.

Workshops:

Kayak Roll Clinic-April 8: This course will focus on self-rescue using the “eskimo roll.” Once the course is completed you will be able to rent an Outdoor Pursuits Kayak with a spray skirt. The cost of this workshop is $5. 

S’mores Clinic-April 25: Hang out with Outdoor Pursuits and enjoy a handful of s’mores and more! There will be a fire and some really crazy creek chairs!

COES Conference April 13-15: It is the fifth annual Colorado Outdoor Educators Symposium, the conference will have a keynote speaker, educational sessions that will help you build new skills and learn new knowledge. The cost is $55-$75. 

You don’t want to miss the end of the semester trips/workshops. For more information or to register for a workshop/trip visit Outdoor Pursuits or check out their website.

[uncbears]

A recap with Outdoor Pursuits

The climbing wall has been busy with several special events this spring. The annual Spring Cling Climbing Competition took place on March 2nd and it was another successful event with over 20 competitors from beginner to advanced open climbers. The Outdoor Pursuits staff closed the wall for an entire week leading up to the event setting over 40 new bouldering problems. Competition routes are still up on the wall for anyone to try.  Outdoor Pursuits also hosted two campus groups from the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center and campus connections climbing night with over 50 people in attendance.

Outdoor Pursuits has been busy taking students and staff up to the mountains every weekend this spring taking over 130 people to Copper Mountain, A-Basin, Eldora, Nordic Skiing in Breckenridge, Snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain and night skiing at Keystone.

The Gear Shop is also staying busing renting out snowshoes, snowboards, helmets, goggles, ski vouchers and selling discounted lift tickets to students, faculty, and staff. This year we have provided over 700 discounted lift tickets to our campus community to Winter Park and Copper Mountain.

Whats happening during Spring Break? 

It’s already Spring Break! This Spring Break we will be taking students to California and Utah. One trip will be camping in MOAB, Utah where they will be climbing at Wall Street and touring Arches and Canyonlands National Park. Our other Spring Break trip will be making the drive to the West Coast stopping in Zion National Park and continuing on to San Diego, California for four days of Surfing lessons. Both trips are filled to capacity and eager to hit the road! Students not participating in one Outdoor Pursuits trips are creating their own adventure and have nearly every piece of Outdoor Pursuits 1,200 piece gear inventory checked out for the week. We are so proud to we get to serve such an adventurous campus!

[emmagordonlondon]

Last walkies of 2017 - here’s to many more outdoor escapades next year! 🌲🌿🐶 . . . . . . #walkies #dogwalking #winterwalks #december #thegreatoutdoors #trees #walking #hiking #nature #outdoorpursuits #freshair #sundayfunday #sundaywalks #bettythedachrussell #elvastoncastle #scenery #picturesque #mansbestfriend #walkingthedog #newyearseve

[garyeason]

Boat house in the woods. #canoes #forestry #outdoorpursuits

[buggyexplorer-blog]

Lower Rosedale Hike

Hi everyone and welcome to Buggy Adventures.  In this blog I get to share with you one of my favourite walks. It is a favourite of mine for a few reasons.  One, because it holds sentimental value as a walk I have completed a number of times growing up with my parents. Two, because of the stunning setting of Rosedale and three, it features two wonderful North Yorkshire pubs, one of which recently held the title of Yorkshire’s best pub. At just over eight and a half miles it is certainly worth donning your hiking boots but not overly stretching most people’s walking capabilities.

So Leela and I strapped Thomas in his car seat and we set off to Rosedale.  We had arranged to meet Maggie and Joe at the car park of the White Horse Inn at Rosedale at 10.30am. 

Perhaps I should take this opportunity to introduce you to Maggie and Joe.  Joe and I have been friends ever since we were at Prior Pursglove College in Guisborough together back in the midd 1990′s.  Through Joe I also became very good friends with Joe’s slightly older brother Jamie and their younger sister Lucy.  I sort of became the other brother really and we all shared a common interest in outdoor activities such as mountain biking, camping and hiking along with drinking beer and nights out! Joe, Jamie and I would often pile into one of our cars and head over the A66 to the Lake District to take on some hiking, climbing and camping.  Sometimes we would wild camp in our tents, find a remote bothy to spend the night or a camp site around the Keswick and Borrowdale area.  Usually beer would be involved as we would stop off at a supermarket en route to stock up on cans of Boddingtons or Tetley Smooth Bitter and our rucksacks would be crammed full of cans for the outward trip.  The return trip would be so much lighter with the empty cans squashed up!  There were a few other occasions where we would set off in the direction of Keswick with the best of intentions to camp and hike only to be distracted by the many pubs in Keswick and the most hiking we ended up doing was walking up and down the high street calling into pubs.  When Leela and I married in 2012 Joe was my best man, so safe to say we are good mates.  Maggie and Joe met around 2010 and with Maggie’s own passion for the outdoors it was obvious that they were a perfect match for each other and they married last summer.  Now we all try to meet up as often as we can for walks or camp trips.

Right back to the present day.  Maggie and Joe arrived shortly after we did and after popping into the White Horse to check that we were ok to park our cars in their car park we set off.  The walk begins by following the farm track from the pub’s car park in a South Easterly direction towards Lastingham, our halfway point.  It was a warm sunny day so Leela ensured that Thomas was well lathered in sun cream and I made sure that the buggy’s hood was up sheltering the little man from the North Yorkshire sun.  The track is home to a few houses on the right hand side of the track all with stunning views over the very pretty dale.  One of the houses has an art studio which is sometimes open to the passing walkers to call in.  As we chatted together the walk seemed to be going by with ease.  We soon found ourselves at the end of the farm track and at this point the path becomes a single tracked moorland path.  There a number of paths to choose from here but it is the path that hugs the wall on the left hand side that needs to be followed.  Now the terrain became more challenging for the three wheeled buggy but as it a “go anywhere buggy” I was determined that the buggy would prevail and prevail it did.  The path twists and turns, goes up and down, over rocks, boulders and ruts with relative ease.  Or perhaps it is down to the awsome driving!  At times Joe offered to help carry the buggy but I am determined that the buggy driving can be done by one person as much as possible.  By picking the two back wheels off the ground and using the fixed front wheel as the only contact with the path I was easily able to guide the buggy along the single track and over any obstacles.  This part of the path continues over for at least a couple of miles giving wonderful views as a reward. Once again Thomas spent most of this section asleep, so he certainly didn’t mind the bumps and rocking incurred.

We stopped at the end of the single track where we met a farm on the left and a remote tarmac road named Askew Rigg Lane.  We took on some water and one of our cheese and salami ciabatta buns, we really must think of some new sandwich fillings!  Maggie and Joe delved into their packed lunch too and I felt a little envious of their choice of beef or ham and pickle buns!

After resting a little while under the shade of some trees we set off along Askew Rigg Lane which then becomes Bents Lane.  At the end of the tree lined lane we came to a “T” junction and turned right onto Syke Brow and followed this road for about a mile into the “chocolate box” village of Lastingham, our halfway point of the walk.

At Lastingham we called into the wonderful Blacksmiths Arms.  Opposite the pub is the church of St Mary’s which is a stunning church.  There is an ancient crypt under the church which is well worth a visit.  The crypt was built by Stephen of Whitby when he refounded the Saxon monastery in 1078 and the crypt was built over where it is thought that St Cedd is said to be buried.  St Cedd was a missionary from Lindesfarne who founded the orginal wooden monastery around AD 654. The massive church was never finished though, probably owing to William the Conqueror’s ‘Harrying of the North’ and for a number of centuries the partly erected church fell into decay.  Between the 13th and 17th Centuries the church was again in use but was rebuilt in the 17th Century.  The huge Norman pillars in the crypt are surviving evidence of the scale of just how big a monastery was planned before being abandoned all those centuries ago.

Back in the rear garden of the Blacksmiths Arms we enjoyed a very refreshing drink and packet of crisps to re-energise us.  We enjoyed the break and Thomas got the chance to leave the buggy and certainly enjoyed the attention he received from Aunty Maggie and Uncle Joe.

Now rested and having polished off a rather nice pint of Saltaire Blonde it was time to get moving.  It is worth noting that the Blacksmiths Arms does not have any baby changing facilities, so you may need to do a nappy change alfresco, as we did! Thomas took his place back in the buggy and we headed back through the village and turned left onto the High Street which heads steeply uphill and passes the Lastingham Grange Hotel at the top of the hill. Joe offered to do some buggy driving and I must say, he appeared very much at home at this.

At this point the tarmac ends and we entered through a gate onto the moor where there is a bench with lovely panoramic views.  As we hadn’t been going for too long after our pub break we carried on and took the path going straight over the moor signposted for Rosedale.  Joe carried on with the buggy driving and shortly after we passed a walker who complimented Joe on pushing the buggy so far.  He had only been driving for 20 minutes but took the praise modestly!  It is actually surprising that this path continues at a slight gradient all the way from the top of Lastingham High Street to the ancient Ana Cross which we were aiming for as our final sandwich stop.

Ana (Ainhowe) Cross is one of the 37 crosses and ancient markers that are found on the moorland.  In fact, Ana Cross is often regarded as the finest example.  I have visited this cross on many occasion with my parents at various times in my life, so it is quite fitting that I am now able to visit with my own family.  Ana Cross is hugely exposed and at three metres high has often required repair work to ensure it stands to this day and beyond.  It is hard to believe that it was once eight metres high.  What a sight that must have been. We all took the time to rest at the base of the cross and ate the remainder of our packed lunches knowing that it is all down hill from here to the finish.

Now we headed along the last few hundred yards of the the moorland path to reach the Hutton-le-Hole to Rosedale road at the top of the famous Rosedale Chimney Bank, which we were about to head down.  At this point I made sure I had the safety strap attached from the buggy to my wrist and ensured that Thomas was well strapped in his seat.  Why? Because this is the steepest road in the country.  It is named “Chimney Bank” as there was once a tall stone chimney here, part of the remains of the ironstone mining that took place at Rosedale.  The chimney was dismantled in the 1970′s when a local land owner convinced the authorities that it had become unsafe but many of the locals were sceptical of this and insist that the landowner wanted the valuable stone to use on his land.  It is such a shame that it no longer stands but many of the ironwork kilns are still visible now.  However I will save this information for a future blog as the “Upper Rosedale” walk takes in much of this history and it is one that we will include in a future Buggy Adventure.

We headed down the one in three gradient road passing some very remote terraced cottages on our left, again left over from a bygone industrial era for this very tranquil dale.  As we descended towards the White Horse Farm Inn we passed Rosedale’s nine hole golf course on our left and opposite the road to the hamlet of Thorgill we turned right into the car park of the pub with the last quarter of the bank remaining untouched which heads into the village of Rosedale Abbey.  Again more information of this lovely village to come in a future adventure.

Just under 8.5 miles and 1,060 feet of elevation gain, mainly in warm sunshine apart from the last few miles, made for an enjoyable and slightly testing walk, especially the single track which really tested the buggy’s “go anywhere” capabilities.  Time for a refreshment stop outside the White Horse Inn, which in 2012 was voted as Yorkshire’s best pub and an opportuity to soak in probably one of the best beer garden views you are likely to find.  Even Thomas found the walk thirsty work as he was trying to reach for Mummy’s cider!

Next time Buggy Adventures goes on tour as we head to Northumberland.

Boldy going where no buggy has gone before……….

[dacsurf]

Let's go to work #donegaladventurecentre #discoverbundoran #schooltours #surfcapital #discoverdonegal #surf #outdoorpursuits (at Donegal Adventure Centre Bundoran)

[dacsurf]

It's Saturday and there's surfing to be done. Let's go to work #donegaladventurecentre #discoverbundoran #thingstodo #surfcapital #climbing #outdoorpursuits (at Donegal Adventure Centre Bundoran)