CAP Week in Review – January 27, 28, and 30, 2004

This week the CAP was in full swing, with the mound of paperwork and course logistics behind us. On Tuesday, we spent the class learning about the Community Action Project we will take on during this class. Our class will work together to tackle an outdoor or environmental issue affecting our community and actually doing something about it. We learned about last quarter’s project and read the article they wrote about the aesthetic and environmental impact of dog poop on trails. We also learned about Earth Force projects around the country that other schools have taken on in order to help inspire our class.

Wednesday was jam-packed. In the morning, we had a Jeopardy-style quiz on a book called Snow Sense, which serves as our text in this course and we learned about the different types of avalanches and avalanche statistics. Jesse, Corbin, and Tom won the “get out of journal free” cards because they answered the most questions correctly. We also participated in a sense of place writing activity where we picked a place in the outdoors from our past and wrote about everything we could think of from describing the landscape, to recalling how that place made us feel when we were there. On Wednesday afternoon, we were fortunate to have Leave No Trace (LNT) Master, Ford Craven, enlighten us about how to leave no trace in the winter environment. Thanks for volunteering your time Ford!

On Friday, we conducted a Socratic Seminar about land access issues in the winter. Specifically, we discussed whether or not access to our public lands should be limited to outdoor recreationalists and whether or not snowmobiles should be allowed in backcountry areas. While we did not come up with any answers to this complex problem, the discussion was rich.

CAP Week in Review

This week the CAP was in full swing, with the mound of paperwork and course logistics behind us. On Tuesday, we spent the class learning about the Community Action Project we will take on during this class. Our class will work together to tackle an outdoor or environmental issue affecting our community and actually doing something about it. We learned about last quarter’s project and read the article they wrote about the aesthetic and environmental impact of dog poop on trails. We also learned about Earth Force projects around the country that other schools have taken on in order to help inspire our class.

Wednesday was jam-packed. In the morning, we had a Jeopardy-style quiz on a book called Snow Sense, which serves as our text in this course and we learned about the different types of avalanches and avalanche statistics. Jesse, Corbin, and Tom won the “get out of journal free” cards because they answered the most questions correctly. We also participated in a sense of place writing activity where we picked a place in the outdoors from our past and wrote about everything we could think of from describing the landscape, to recalling how that place made us feel when we were there. On Wednesday afternoon, we were fortunate to have Leave No Trace (LNT) Master, Ford Craven, enlighten us about how to leave no trace in the winter environment. Thanks for volunteering your time Ford!

On Friday, we conducted a Socratic Seminar about land access issues in the winter. Specifically, we discussed whether or not access to our public lands should be limited to outdoor recreationalists and whether or not snowmobiles should be allowed in backcountry areas. While we did not come up with any answers to this complex problem, the discussion was rich.

Quote for January 30, 2004

“The people who get on in this world are the ones who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can

Quote for January 28, 2004

“This is about a stretch of mountain country that started out as just a place. It is only an uncivilized piece of country, but something is there that can touch a person. Those summer days somehow brought me closer to an earth that was real and good. I began to discover a few simple goods that satisfied more than all the entertaining gadgets and conveniences a factory could turn out. I discovered self-dependence and time that flowed without calibrations, and a kind of beauty that appeared in the absence of invented things. I met people. The days were not loaded in advance, but the sun would come up and there would be, and by dusk it had proved its worth.”

Quote for January 27, 2004

“There are three categories of people in industry: the few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen, and the overwhelming majority who have no idea what happened.”

Weekly Outdoor Clinic Calendar – January 26 – February 1, 2004

CAP students are expected to broaden their outdoor knowledge and skill base by tapping into the rich educational resources in their community. In order to accomplish this goal, students will take advantage of the free outdoor skills clinics, workshops, and slide shows offered by outdoor retail stores in Boulder. Below are some of the hot events going in the community this week:

Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - Skiing and Climbing in the European Alps, Mountain Sports, Boulder, 7pm.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - Snowshoeing Essentials, REI, Boulder, 7pm.

Thursday, January 29, 2004 - Waxing Social, Mountain Sports, Boulder, 7pm.

Thursday, January 29, 2004 - The World’s Worst Ski Tour, Neptune Mountaineering, Boulder, 7pm.

Weekly Outdoor Clinic Calendar

CAP students are expected to broaden their outdoor knowledge and skill base by tapping into the rich educational resources in their community. In order to accomplish this goal, students will take advantage of the free outdoor skills clinics, workshops, and slide shows offered by outdoor retail stores in Boulder. Below are some of the hot events going in the community this week:

Tuesday, January 27, 2004 - Skiing and Climbing in the European Alps, Mountain Sports, Boulder, 7pm.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - Snowshoeing Essentials, REI, Boulder, 7pm.

Thursday, January 29, 2004 - Waxing Social, Mountain Sports, Boulder, 7pm.

Thursday, January 29, 2004 - The World

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CAP Week in Review - January 20, 21, and 23, 2004

After a successful pilot program last quarter, the Community Adventure Program Winter Addition is underway with a brand new class of 13 students. This Tuesday, we painstakingly went through the syllabus and took care of all the paperwork and logistics to launch into another exciting quarter.

On Wednesday, we spent the morning learning each other

Quote for January 23, 2004

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

Student Journal Entry, by Noah Theeman-Lindberg

The first day was both exciting and dull for me. On one hand, I pretty much knew what the class was going to be about, and was bored by reading the syllabus. On the other hand, though, I was excited to see all the new faces in the class, and also to have some, old, familiar ones. I am looking forward to meeting many of them. I remember being exited and impressed with the class on my first day, and I wondered if the new students were feeling the smae thing. I was also exited to that Ford had made some changes with the class, (though I didn’t really care too much for the final project idea.)

Wednesday was just plain good fun for me. I really enjoyed getting a sense for everyone else in the class during the name game. I thought that we had a great, and unbeatable group last quarter, but I was really impressed with the looks of this group. I thought the interview thing was a good idea, and had a good time with it. I felt there was something missing with the council, though, and I had a hard time getting into it. What I enjoyed most of all was the hike. I thought that, though the name game was good, community just builds naturally, and I thought it was bulding quickly during the hike. I really enjoyed the hike myself, because I got to share a trail that I frequently use and love. I often feel like there is nothing better than a good intellectual conversation, and I was having a great one the whole time. I basically just really enjoyed the hike, and want to do it more often.

I really enjoyed Friday, just because we were doing my thing. I really enjoy socratic seminars, and was glad we had one. It was great sharing my opinions and hearing others.

I think this was all pretty applicable to my future. I plan on continuing to hike, and will take more people to that spot. I also plan on continuing to have more conversations like I had on the hike, and in the socratic seminar. Most of all, I really like the earth charter, and plan on taking in its principles.

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