Rookie or not, Aggies looking for adventure can get started at Texas A&M’s Student Recreation Center with Outdoor Adventures.
A&M’s Outdoor Adventures provides skill clinics, gear and organized trips to bring people closer to nature. Fly fishing, climbing and kayaking classes begin Sept. 18 and advance registration is required at recconnect.tamu.edu. From beginner to advanced skill levels, all clinics, rentals and trips are open to students, faculty, staff and the general public. Fees range from $21 to $40, according to their website.
Skills classes are held at the West Campus Recreation Center, while day trips and extended outings to San Marcos, Dripping Springs and even out-of-state backpacking trips are scheduled for fall, said Cameron Fuentes, a trip leader for the program run by A&M Recreational Sports, a division of Student Affairs.
“Our main programs are the indoor climbing facility, the bouldering walls and the rental centers,” Fuentes said. “We also have trips and clinics, which is a third section of our program.”
No previous experience is required for any clinic or trip, Fuentes said. Specialized clinics for beginners are offered for rock wall climbing and kayak paddle. Trips and clinics for more experienced adventurers are also offered, and anyone can rent required equipment, she said.
“We have a beginner backpacking program,” Fuentes said. “The expectation on that is that no one has been backpacking before, so we are going to cover from start to finish.”
The Outdoor Adventures program hosts multiple weekly classes each semester to give students a break from books and to make nature accessible, Fuentes said.
“We have about 15 trips based around climbing, paddling, hiking, camping,” Fuentes said. “We have a wet-water kayaking clinic, a kayak basics clinic or a fly fishing clinic.”
This semester, rock climbing trips will be hosted to Reimers Ranch near Austin, along with paddling on the San Marcos River and an intro to backpacking trip planned for Lake Georgetown in Arkansas, Fuentes said.
“We do things locally, and then we also do things that are around Texas, and then we also do a program out of state, as well,” Fuentes said.
Outdoor Adventure was created to bring people a step closer to nature through new experiences and adventure. A&M’s program has been recognized at the national level for program quality and innovation, with more than 50,000 student, campus and community members utilizing programs every year, according to recsports.tamu.edu.
“Getting involved in the outdoors is a lot more accessible than we think,” Fuentes said. “There’s a lot we want [participants] to take away like the accessibility of the outdoors, the community that outdoor recreation creates and outdoor development.”