SPU Outdoor Recreation Program

Another reminder that ORP leadership application deadlines are soon approaching! See the link in our bio to be connected to the online applications.

Assistant Applications are due THIS FRIDAY, April 9th at 5pm.

Coordinator applications are also STILL OPEN! So if you’re interested in either position, you still have a chance to apply.

Even if you are a little bit interested in applying, you should send in an application to see where it might lead. If you are interested in a (non-staff) trip leader position, please also reach out to the email below:

Reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions.

Photo Description: Students trek through deep snow between tall snow-covered pine trees with black and white text that reads “ORP Leadership Applications are Live!!!”

ORP Coordinator and Assistant applications are live! Do you love the outdoors and want to get paid to work somewhere you love? Are you passionate about engaging with fellow students and helping grow their adventurous spirit? Well then working for ORP may be the perfect job for you!

If you are even a little bit interested in applying, you should just apply and see where it leads! Share this info with other friends who might be interested. Link to the applications is in our bio. Look out for more information about our (non-staff) trip leader positions coming soon. Also look for some staff bios coming you way about why we love our jobs and feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

Photo Description: Students trek through deep snow between tall snow-covered pine trees with text that reads “ORP Leadership Applications are Live!!!”

Some educational content for your Thursday:

According to the Northwest Avalanche Center (NWAC) the 2020-21 winter season thus far has been one of the most dangerous avalanche seasons in the last century: “although we are only halfway through the winter season, we are approaching our national average for avalanche fatalities.”

ORP wants to provide resources for you to recreate as safely as possible this winter. Here are some of the most basic avalanche safety tips:

1. Learn what causes avalanches and where they happen
2. Take a comprehensive course on avalanche safety
3. Check the weather and avalanche forecast in the location of your excursion
4. Carry necessary safety gear and know how to use it
5. Be on guard for avalanche signs as you recreate
6. Make alternative plans if conditions are hazardous. Let’s normalize cancelling or rearranging plans in the name of safety!

*Learn more about these tips in the links in our bio

If you check out the link in our bio there are a few links to outside resources with more comprehensive information about avalanches and avalanche safety. NWAC even offers several free courses in avalanche safety!

Photo Description: Large avalanche barrels down the side of a mountain scattered with pine trees.

ORP fully affirms and supports the LGBTQ+ community. We reaffirm our commitment as an organization to disrupt structures of oppression and hate in this world and on our campus. This is a reminder that while some spaces may feel unsafe on this campus, ORP welcomes you and wants to do what we can to support you and advocate for policy and cultural changes. We also hope that SPU will take responsibility for injustice against the LGBTQ+ community on campus and make significant and necessary changes, including hiring LGBTQ+ staff and faculty. Please email or DM us if you have any questions, suggestions, criticisms, etc. about our commitment or have any ideas of how we can offer more support.

Photo Description: White text that reads “ORP affirms and supports the LGBTQ+ Community” over a green, pine forest with blue skies in the background.

to our camp-to-climb trip almost two whole years ago!This was an amazing adventure and ORP so wishes we could be out climbing with you all!

ORP is hosting a Netflix Party viewing of Our Planet on Monday, October 19th at 7pm! We would love for you to join us for an opportunity to rest and to connect with fellow lovers of the outdoors!

Please RSVP on our engage event. Check that event or our Instagram on Oct. 19th for the link to the Netflix Party.

I was thinking a fun caption for this one would be “social distancing before it was cool 😎” - Savannah Mather, ORP Programmer

For ORP’s very first ~Educational Wednesday~ we are going to start at the foundation of environmental justice with a concept known as “Intersectional Environmentalism”. The term “intersectionality” was coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, a law professor at Columbia and UCLA. Her theory highlights the overlapping nature of social realities and identities; everyone’s experience of the world is never just determined by one identity, but by the convergence of all of one’s identities.

Intersectionality in environmental justice means that we acknowledge that peoples’ social locations change their relationship with the earth and determine the ways in which and the intensity at which they will be affected by climate change. For example, in a practice known as redlining, certain neighborhoods in cities across the U.S have been deemed unworthy of investment (mostly due to their “undesirable” social demography or less than optimal environmental realities). This means that it is more likely for the BIPOC, those in poverty, those who are disabled, etc. who live in these “undesirable” areas are more often exposed to environmental toxins; this results in differential health outcomes, access to resources, and just general life chances (this is also related to another important concept you maybe know of: “environmental racism”). Someone who is living in a primarily white, wealthy suburb will be protected from these dangers.

Intersectionality also must extend to our justice efforts within outdoor recreation. Access to outdoor recreation is not equal because it is influenced by other social realities such as socio-economic status, race, ability, etc. as well as gatekeeping strategies used by those who uphold status-quo outdoor culture. We must recognize that with our current systems and in our present culture, the outdoors are not for all. Understanding intersectionality is a small but necessary step to ensure that the outdoors become more accessible to everyone.

There is certainly much more to this topic than we can cover so we tagged some great accounts that can help further educate you on this and related issues!

It’s time for obligatory ORP staff introductions! My name is Emma Friesen, I use she/her pronouns, and I am the ORP Coordinator this year. I am a senior Sociology and Social Justice & Cultural Studies student studying what I love even though I’m not sure (at all) what my future will look like. My favorite outdoor activity is lake swimming in the summer with my sisters. Although ORP looks different this year, I am excited to see how we are able to engage with SPUdents through gear rentals and discourse about outdoor recreation and environmental justice!

Photo Description: A smiling Emma stands in front of a rocky lake with a mountain peak and blue skies in the background.

Happy Happy Earth Day! Here are a few pictures of Earth and ORP enjoying it!

Today we celebrate the ways our Earth provides for us, nurtures us, heals us, and connects us. If humans have learned anything from recent events, it is that we can and should be doing a much better job caring for the Earth, others, and ourselves. We hope that in coming seasons, even during this one, you take time to care for the Earth as much as it cares for you! Just as ORP aims to do, get outside and bring others along with you so that you might experience its beauty and diversity and how important it is to protect it.

Our advisor’s cooking skill is what takes ORP overnight Trip to a next level.

Join the ORP team 2020-2021
Apply by April 10th (Friday) thought Forms in Engage
Link in the bio.

Swipe right to see what our current ORP leaders have to say.