Students spend holiday break hiking

by Carla Murray
MUR99010@BYUI.EDU
Scroll Staff

Two BYU-Idaho students head out from camp in North Leigh Canyon in the Tetons to track up the untouched powder. Fifteen students from BYU-I and other universities, spent six days in the mountains practicing their snow skills during Christmas break. Photo courtesy Dana Jensen

It’s at times like this that one looks back in amazement at how far they’ve come, and knows there’s no turning back.

Scott Wood of the Recreation Leadership Department at BYU-Idaho has led Winter Summit for 12 years. He has taught a variety of recreation courses, but this one is his favorite.

Telemark skiing is his passion, and his enthusiasm is contagious.

It’s the kind of enthusiasm that prompted the echo of this phrase throughout the week-long experience: “Life is good.”

Winter Summit 2002 was split into two segments. Before Christmas, participants spent one night at the BYU-Idaho Outdoor Learning Center at Badger Creek where students were introduced to telemark skiing and winter camping. The groomed ski hill and rope tow at the facility provided help for the students. But the rope-tow luxury was not recognized, however, until the back-country segment of the trip.

The course is an alternative to the semester-long Snow Skills II class, designed to teach back-country travel, camping and survival techniques. Emphasis is placed on avalanche safety and telemark skiing, but most participants would agree it teaches much more.

The students spent the first week of their new year up North Leigh Canyon in the Teton Mountain Range, about 50 miles west of Rexburg. There they earned their turns by hiking up the same mountains they skied down.

This was no easy task for the students who participated, especially on days they had to move camp. On the third day of the trip, they moved to high camp, gaining about 1,000 ft. in elevation while wearing full packs and pulling heavy sleds.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything that hard,” Dana Jensen, a junior from Twin Falls, Idaho, said once she reached the top of the mountain.

The difficulty of the trip seemed to be one element that made it so rewarding for the 15 students who participated.

"It's not like other programs where students can fake it. Reality comes out after two days of getting wet and cold," Wood said of the program. "You can't make mistakes; consequences are immediate."

While students may steer clear from any literal edges, they are given the opportunity to face their own edge. Once there, it is hoped they will exceed their personal limitaions.

"The RL Department provides students life enhancing skills and wisdom to make wholesome recreation choices regarding personal and family leisure time. Students receive outstanding leadership training, adventure education," according to the Recreation Leadership Department's mission statement.

"I think I've learned more in that week than in all of last semester, just because of that creative approach in education," Gabe Chariton, a senior from Smithfield, Utah, said.

While the Summit Expeditions are open to all students, space is limited; priority is given to Recreation Leadership majors. Interested students can contact the Recreation Leadership Department to find out registration requirements.

"Spring Summit is a six-week trip including a 10-day Wilderness First Responder course. Three weeks of the trip take place in the Canyonlands of Southern Utah and one week in the Teton Mountain Range. Skills taught are mountaineering, mountain biking, backpacking, etc.," according to the BYUI Catalog.