NIC program offers outdoor adventures
Fall’s a great time to be in North Idaho’s great outdoors, and if you don’t have the right gear you can probably rent it from North Idaho College’s Outdoor Pursuits program.
“You don’t have to be a student or alumni to utilize our program,” said Paul Chivvis, program coordinator.
Available rental equipment includes almost anything you’d need for lake, river and wilderness adventures – life jackets, backpacks and all camping supplies, snowboard, cross country and telemark gear, snowshoes, and rock climbing and mountaineering equipment.
In addition to inexpensive rental gear, Outdoor Pursuits offers a full schedule of outdoor trips and activities, including rafting, kayaking, mountain bike rides, backpacking and hiking. Participants pay only their share of the price of gas and van rental.
Upcoming activities include a Utah desert hiking/camping trip over Thanksgiving break, backpacking and skiing in Oregon’s backcountry, indoor rock climbing, movie presentations and avalanche-awareness clinics.
“Our program philosophy relates to cooperative experiences,” Chivvis said. “We do not compete with guide services. Everybody pays the same.”
However, Chivvis noted, NIC students do get a discount on some of the rental gear. And although many activities are open to virtually any age, Chivvis noted that overnight trips are limited to people at least age 17, accompanied by a parent or guardian. Some local one-day activities have lower age limits, down to age 6. Call the department for details and activity listings.
Another upcoming event is the annual Halloween Bike Festival on Oct. 29.
“We team with Vertical Earth bike shop, who hosts a sanctioned standings ‘cyclocross’ race which is open to public entrants,” Chivvis said. “Afterward the course is used for fun races, and then there is a bike cruise on the Centennial Trail to the eastern side of Coeur d’Alene. Prizes will be awarded for the best-costumed rider.”
Chivvis said it’s mostly NIC students who take part in Outdoor Pursuits trips, but it’s mostly members of the general public who rent equipment, particularly in the summer, when sailboats and kayaks are available from the NIC docks on Lake Coeur d’Alene.
“Our rental program has grown 50 percent every year in the last four years,” he said. “We strive to keep up with demand, and usually buy a few new pieces of equipment each year.”
Chivvis said he would like to set up trips to even more exotic locales, such as surfing in Ecuador and climbing in Peru. If you have any outdoor interest, contact the staff at Outdoor Pursuits to see if it would be possible.