Outdoor Nation, a national initiative that connects college students and their communities to the outdoors, has officially opened its 2015 Campus Challenge registration.
Colleges and universities across the U.S. are invited to participate in the competition to see which school can get the most people recreating outdoors. In September, a six-week, head-to-head competition will determine the National Outdoor Champion in a Mother-Nature-Meets-March-Madness-style contest. The North Face and REI Foundation are presenting partners of the challenge.
The 2015 Campus Challenge hopes to engage fifty colleges, each of which will log outdoor activities and participation by people in their campus network (students, faculty, alumni and local community). The school with the greatest number of participants and outdoor activities will be named the National Outdoor Champion. In addition, the overall top individuals will be recognized as the Outsiders of the Year.
Last year in a pilot program, the Campus Challenge engaged ten colleges and universities. In just eight weeks 8,390 participants logged almost 44,000 outdoor activities, with many schools reporting a major surge in campus-wide interest in outdoor recreation. Many outdoor programs and outing club members served as organizers for the challenge, planning school-wide activities, promoting individual participation and introducing new outdoor activities to spark interest.
The winner of the 2014 competition was the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University (CSB/SJU) in Collegeville, Minnesota. The university was awarded a gear bank that included technical packs, tents, sleeping bags and more. A campus-wide celebration honored the school’s accomplishment.
Last year, the challenge had five individual winners who logged the most outdoor activities and were named the Outsiders of the Year. We asked the winners to describe their favorite part or activity of the challenge. Here’s what they said:
Emma from Appalachian State University
Group and experiential education trips are my favorite. I love overnight trips such as rock climbing, backpacking and caving. Group outdoor trips have a way of bringing a small community together, something that we lose today in a society that is always concentrating on technology and social media.
Vincent from Michigan Technological University
Rock climbing has been my sport ever since I started seven years ago. Anytime I got out rock climbing was my favorite activity.
Nathan from Michigan Technological University
Building a stronger connection to Tech’s Outdoor Adventure Program.
Pearce from College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University
My favorite part of the activity was actually taking photos and logging them onto the site as it allowed my family and friends to see the different activities I was doing each day. Another part of the challenge that I also enjoyed was doing five different activities each day; sometimes I had to think about the different things that I could do outside rather than just going for a run or walk.
James from California State University, Long Beach
One of my biggest motivations to get outdoors is that it gives me a sense of escape from my day-to-day schedule, something that doesn’t revolve around work and school. Being outdoors, whether in an urban or wilderness setting, gives me an uplifting feeling; it makes me feel in control of my day instead of my day dictating what I should do.
Register your college or university for the 2015 Campus Challenge today.