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WCU summer outdoor leadership course takes snowy twist
Being snowed on twice is not typically associated with taking a summer school course, but that was part of the experience for a group of Western Carolina University students who enrolled in an outdoor leadership course offered earlier this summer by the university’s Division of Distance and Continuing Education.
In addition to encountering cold and snowy weather, the group from Western also had a close encounter with a moose during the 16-day Wilderness Education Association course in the Teton Mountains on the Wyoming-Idaho border, said Maurice Phipps, professor in Western’s department of health and human performance.
The WCU group celebrates after a 2,000-foot climb to the top of 11,000-foot Table Mountain. The summit provides impressive views of the monarch of the Teton range, the Grand Teton, shown in the background.
Phipps taught the Teton Steward Course along with Aya Hayashi, a doctorial student in outdoor education from Indiana University.
The student contingent included six Western parks and recreation majors – Ryan Barnes, Ted Bost, Mark Cain, Adam Carver, Anne Fox and Brad Pastir – plus Kim Costano, an adjunct professor of psychology at the university.
About half of the backpacking adventure was spent on snow. “The snow revealed much of the wildlife as travel often meant that the group crossed bear and cougar tracks,” Phipps said. “One night at a high camp, a black bear and cub walked by the tents, leaving their prints for us to find the following morning. And the group did face up to a moose on the trail on the third day.”
The training received by the students focused on outdoor leadership techniques and environmentally-sound travel and camping practices. The snow cover provided an opportunity for the students to learn basic spring mountaineering techniques, including how to use ice axes, snow pickets and ropes.
The course will be offered again in summer 2006, Phipps said. For more information, contact Phipps at 227-3844.
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