Central is only a few hours drive from a number of outdoor pursuits, providing students an advantage over other universities in the country. The newly formed Adventure Club aims to capitalize on Washington’s geographical diversity through numerous outdoor treks.

Adventure Club first formed in the fall of 2015 when a group of friends decided to plan various outdoor trips.

“It was built on the premise of a whole bunch of friends being able to get together and go on trips”, said sophomore Recreation and Tourism major, Shalin Wulf.

While none of the founding members were available for comment, Wulf credits the club’s founding to a number of Recreation and Tourism majors here at Central.

Adventure Club plans outdoor trips ranging from local hikes to more thrill-seeking activities like whitewater rafting.

“In fall, we did a hiking trip to the Ape Caves, Mt. St. Helens, and that was a lot of fun”, Wulf said.

The Adventure Club plans trips in all forms of weather.

“In winter, we did a snowshoeing trip up at Blewett Pass, and that was really cool because we had a lot of people who hadn’t done it before” said sophomore Marketing major Lucy Mathews.

Activities like whitewater rafting may seem challenging to most students, but Adventure Club stresses that people of all outdoor experience levels are welcome.

“[It] doesn’t matter the level you are going on our trips, we have a lot of people who have never done any of the activities,” Wulf said.

Adventure Club is still in the early stages of development, so it suffers from a lack of membership.

“I think there’s a lot of interest in the doing the events, but not coming to meetings,” said sophomore Recreation and Tourism major, Erik Skamser.

Many of the club members agree that the club has had difficulties transitioning from planning trips to having regular agenda-led meetings. They hope to develop their regular weekly meetings into group hangouts or even local area hikes.

“At this point we mostly just have officer meetings to do all the planning, brainstorming, figuring out the events, funding,” Wulf said. “We don’t have very many member meetings lately, only if we have an event coming up.”

Many clubs on campus require membership dues in order to join. Mathews comments that Adventure Club does not incur such fees.

Incoming first-years have the option of joining Beck Hall’s “Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Sustainability Theme Community.” This theme community also hosts outdoor trips but Skamser comments that these can require a longer planning process within university housing. For Adventure Club, any trip can be planned and implemented sooner as long as members have vehicles to reach their trip destinations.

Adventure Club hopes to plan a ski-trip this coming winter, but funding may pose an issue. Wulf, Skamser, and Mathews believe more club interest and a social media campaign could boost interest and help members to approach Club Senate for funding.

“The most important thing is just getting the word out and letting people know that they can be a part of this club without just going on the trips,” Mathews said.

If any students are interested in joining, Adventure Club welcomes them to come to their weekly meetings every Wednesday at 6pm in the first floor lounge of Michaelson Hall; or, email the faculty advisor, Robert Perkins, at [email protected].