OP Cooperative Trips
There will be dozens of cooperative trips posted on the OP trip board this
season. Our philosophical format is summed up with these words: egalitar
ian, experiential, low-cost, noncompetitive, self propelled, cooperative, en
vironmentally sound, participant initiated, and open ended. Nothing is more
rewarding than learning experientially among friendly peers and creating
your own outdoor adventure. Rather than the Outdoor Program offering a
series of trip packages, we encourage and help participants create, launch
and fulfill their own adventure desires. If you're not into what you see
posted by others on the board, and you want to get outdoors,
post a trip sheet your- self,
demess ride board,
up a trip idea and off
Equipment Facility
In order to facilitate cooperative trips, the Outdoor Program pur
chases and maintains a variety of recreation equipment which is
available only for OP trips. For details on this equipment call (346
4371) our trip facility, The Bam, located at the 18th & University.
Eugene Wfr Courses 2002-03
Several Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) Wilderness First
Responder ( WFR ) courses have ahead) been scheduled in Eugene;
priees ranee from $465-$495 per course. Here's the details:
March 21-30, 2003
Cit\ of Eugene River House Outdoor Program
April 4-6. 2003
fit) of Eugene River House Outdoor Program
Contact the River House at 541-682-5329
For information on more WMI-W FR and W FR Recertification
Courses check out the Wilderness Medicine Institute's website at:
http://\vmi. hols.edu
The CO Outdoor Pursuits Program (OPP) also instructs Wilderness
First Responder courses, contact Jim Blanchard at 346-3399.
Elements of OP trips:
• Trips must be open. All trip sheets must
be posted on the trip board and be open to
any qualified participant to sign up, and
must be posted a reasonable time before
the trip. When a trip sheet is posted, at least
half the spaces must be open to anyone
able to participate.
• Cost sharing. All group expenses are
shared equally and fully by the group. Be
cause trips share only actual expenses,
trips can be incredibly inexpensive.
• Decision sharing. Everyone is encour
aged to give input in a consensus decision.
Everyone participates in shaping and own
ing decisions. Decisions are often better
and more creative with everyone brain
storming rather than a single “leader.”
• Work sharing. Each trip requires a fair
amount of group work before, during and
after the trip. Every participant is expected
to pitch in and help the group effort.
On November S, 199S, CO students Frank Allard
S Casey, failed to return to camp after a summit atte
Sister on a private outing. 1 he Allard and Casey a
■ was created by the I’O Outdoor Program and the
to this tragic accident. I lie safety library makes a\
safety equipment to l O students and OP Co-Op
equipment is free to use and available for both' OI
Fhe-Outdoor Program is constantly updating the safe
e encourage you to take the time to learn abcTtH-the p
equipment. Here is a sample of some of the equipment we have available for yoitt use.
VHF radios are popular for our sea kayaking expeditions. They typically have a three t
range and can be used to contact other party members or nearby ships. Several of the
cies are monitored by the Coast Guard, so in a bind, these radios can prove quite
addition to VHF radios, the Safety Library also has a land to air radio and an
ment of safety flares.
five mile
uen
useful. In
assort
FRS radios are useful for communicating between members of a party who plan on spreading out
They typically have a range of about two miles and work well in open spaces, but often cut out in
densely forested areas or buildings. The OP is currently in the process of updating our FRS radios,
so keep your eyes open for the new ones.
A necessary part of any winter back country travel is an avalanche beacon. When a victim is buried in an ava
lanche, a beacon can mean the difference between life and death. However, a typical avalanche beacon _ usu
ally sells for around three hundred dollars, making them difficult for students to afford. The
Allard and Casey Memorial Library makes avalanche beacons available free of charge. Last year,
the OP added Back Country Access Digital Tracker Avalanche Beacons to the library. These
beacons are simple to use and extremely accurate. We encourage you to participate in one of our
avalanche clinics before taking one of these into the back country, and remind you that wearing
an avalanche beacon does not mean you should travel into avalanche zones.
Surprisingly enough, cell phones are actually extremely useful on outdoor trips. Although the range is
limited once you get into the back country, cell phones come in handy when the van breaks down, the
shuttle driver doesn’t show up or any number of other things happens before you even get out of
the car. Although the phones are free to take with you, any minutes used will be billed to you
upon return of the phone. The OP is currently looking into a satellite phone that would have
service even in the most remote of locations.
GPS technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last couple of years. Global Positioning
Systems use satellites to pinpoint your location on a map. They can be useful in off-trail travel,
sea kayaking or as an extra safety measure when traveling in unfamiliar areas. Last year, the OP
bought a new e-Trex Summit GPS unit that can download waypoints from a computerized map.
The OP also has three Garmine GPS 12 units available.