Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Spectrum
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

Outdoor recreation no longer being offered for credit

Athletics Department to drop popular backpacking course

UB students will no longer be able to take an outdoor backpacking class for credit. The class allowed students to explore Buffalo’s wilderness and take overnight camping trips to places like Zoar Valley, where a previous class is pictured in this photo. Courtesy of Russell Crispell
UB students will no longer be able to take an outdoor backpacking class for credit. The class allowed students to explore Buffalo’s wilderness and take overnight camping trips to places like Zoar Valley, where a previous class is pictured in this photo. Courtesy of Russell Crispell

Students are losing a way to explore Buffalo’s wilderness, as UB will no longer host its outdoor backpack class.

Through the class, students can explore Western New York’s landscape while learning about the environment around them and receive class credits. Russ Crispell, director of Outdoor Pursuits for Student Life, teaches classes through the Athletics Department that include backpacking and canoeing. After this semester, however, UB’s Recreation services in the Athletics will no longer be offering these outdoor classes.

Sharon Sanford, the associate athletic director for recreation and sport management, said with the expansion of programs at Lake LaSalle, Student Life decided to add Outdoor Pursuits to its programs.

“With this expansion, a decision was also made to transition the current Outdoor Pursuits programming with the opportunity to offer backpacking, outdoor leadership programming and outdoor winter activities through a variety of programming styles to be determined by Student Life,” she said.

She said if Student Life had not added Outdoor Pursuits to its office, the classes would have continued to be offered through Recreation and Intramurals it had previously.

With the expansion of programming at Lake LaSalle and opportunities that could be offered there, Sanford said Student Life added Outdoor Pursuits to their programming model.

Crispell said the change is disappointing, but he will do what he can to make up for it in the new programs. Crispell said there will soon be a new Outdoor Pursuits office in the Student Union that will schedule similar activities like the ones through his classes.

“It was a mind blower to me,” Crispell said on UB’s decision to cut the classes. “My classes are always full, and I have students write to me on how much they love the [backpacking] class.”

Thomas Tiberi, Student Life director, said the transition of Outdoor Pursuits to Student Life was easy because it enhances students’ experiences, which ties into Student Life’s goals. The program will include Life and Learning workshops that will offer backpacking trips and more.

Crispell sees this change as a chance to move forward with his Outdoor Pursuits program and to tie it together with Student Life. He hopes to strengthen the Outdoor Adventure Club, which Crispell is a faculty advisor of and develop new innovative programs for student to enjoy.

Crispell began teaching outdoor pursuit courses at UB in 1996 and introduced backpacking in the fall of 1996.

From the small Nature View Park just down the road from UB to the 65,000-acre Allegany State Park, the greater Buffalo area has plenty of wilderness and parks for students to learn about and explore.

One of the outdoor courses he currently teaches is a backpacking class that is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-9 p.m.

The course, ATH 168, brings students on trips through parks such as Nature View Park, Hunter’s Creek, Chestnut Ridge State Park, the Eternal Flame, Glenn Falls Park, Tift Nature Preserve and others.

Christian Farah, a junior psychology major, said the news that his favorite class is no longer being offered is disappointing.

“I’ve learned so much more in backpacking than other classes,” Farah said. “Some life skills can’t be taught through tests, but being in places around Buffalo that some students may never see has taught me invaluable real world skills.”

Farah’s favorite hike the class took was to the Eternal Flame, which he said looks amazing at night.

Farah is disappointed other students in the future won’t be able to receive credit for the athletic course.

“Some students don’t want a weight training course,” Crispell said. “Not all people are fitness people, some may want something like hiking.”

One trip students took was a hike through Chestnut Ridge State Park, located 30 minutes from North Campus in Orchard Park. Students learned about orienteering, the skill of navigating through unfamiliar territory using only a compass and map. They then used the skill to find various markers that lead them to a finish line on the trail.

Students that embarked on a winter hike through Hunter’s Creek were able to partake in building quinzee huts. Hunter’s Creek is located in East Aurora, New York a 35-minute drive from North Campus. These huts are made completely of snow and allow any hiker to construct a quick shelter, safeguarding them from the weather.

On scavenger hunts through Glenn Falls Park – a 10-minute drive from North Campus – students discovered what the environment around them offers. Crispell has students go out into the park and snap pictures of birds’ nests, cottonwood, acorns and more.

The final for the course, which happens at the end of each half semester, includes either a long day hike through Zoar Valley or County Forest. At the end of the fall and spring semesters, Crispell guides the class on an overnight excursion through either Allegany State Park or Adirondack State Park.

The overnight trip tests students on the skills they should have learned throughout the course – whether it’s using knot skills to tie a bear bag up a tree or orienteering through the forest.

Crispell said the culmination of his backpacking trips is a yearly trip to Alaska. The Alaska trip has been running for 14 years and will remain at UB through Student Life.

email: news@ubspectrum.com

Comments


Popular









Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Spectrum