High Adventure with the Alpine Club
There aren't a lot of schools where you can be clinging to a sheer cliff wall on Sunday and be back in the chem lab on Monday, but you can do it at DU.
DU has loads of students who love climbing, skiing, hiking and being outdoors. Together they make up the Alpine Club, the oldest and largest of the student-run clubs at DU.
Get some fresh air
The Alpine Club mostly focuses on organizing trips that take students into the mountains, to the Utah desert, and to all the other beautiful places within a day's drive of Denver. Every year, more than 400 DU students go on one or more of the 20-25 trips organized by the club.
In the fall and spring, trips include backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, and whitewater rafting. In the winter, the club turns to skiing and snowboarding, ice climbing, and snowshoeing by moonlight. Occasionally trips include more exotic sports like spelunking and kayaking.
If all this sounds intimidating, don't worry. The club does everything it can to make their outings welcoming to newbies. They loan equipment to members, use professional guides on challenging trips, and organize safety courses.
Founded in 1928, the Alpine Club is the oldest student-run organization on campus. This 1950s-era photo shows students hiking in the mountains.
"We always get a very wide range of skills on our trips," says Paige Powers, a sophomore from Indianapolis, Ind., majoring in psychology and journalism studies. "We have people who've never done it, and people who do it every weekend."
Make connections
On top of affordable, exhilarating trips, the Alpine Club offers members a social atmosphere they say they can't find anywhere else.
Trips are organized at a discount. Participants pay a single fee that covers transportation, housing, food, guide services and other trip requirements.
"All the trips are great deals," Paige says. "They're less than half the cost of what you would pay if you went on your own."
When Scott Miller, a senior finance major from Mound, Minn., went on his first trip as a first-year student, he didn't know anyone else there. "But by the end I knew an additional 15 people that I could go up and talk to," he says. "That was really important as a freshman."
If you'd rather stick around Denver, the club offers events like ski and snowboard movies, trips to climbing gyms, and shows by local bands.
No matter what your skills and interests, if you want to get outside and get active, the Alpine Club can make your college experience a one-of-a-kind adventure.
Published on Dec. 11, 2006