As the temperature drops so does the amount of outdoor activities one can do.
Summer is long gone, as is the warm weather. The days of going to the river, the park and playing outside are no longer with the cold times ahead.
However, there are two winter exclusive sports that are more accessible than you may think — skiing and snowboarding. These snow riding activities are only available for a few months of the year, but you will be wanting more once it’s over.
Having our own mountains and Bogus Basin so close, after just a short drive you and your friends are ready to spend a day at the mountain. From the anticipation riddled drive up, to hitting the slopes, watching your friends fall down and sitting in the lodge sipping on hot cocoa, you are sure to always enjoy your trips to Bogus.
For those who have never been before because you feel as if it is too expensive to rent or buy gear, or if you have no one to go with and learn from, all of these needs can be met through Boise State’s Rec. Center.
The Boise State outdoor rental facility is able to loan out gear for a flat rate of $30 a trip. However, if you are a part of the gym, meaning you have done the free sign up with the Rec Center, you will get 20% off each time you rent.
The rentals include skis or a snowboard, boots, a helmet and ski poles. With the discount, the cost comes out to roughly $25. If you were to rent from Bogus Basin, you would be paying twice as much for a day rental..
Student manager of the outdoor rental center, Cole Hathaway, has personally seen people fall in love with the sport. Just last year, Hathway had a coworker at the rental center who used the rental center as a “cheap introduction” into the sport.
He went snowboarding twice on a rental, [then] he bought his own board,” said Hathaway.
This is just one of many examples of how quickly people can become infatuated with this sport, and The Rec Center provides a cheap way to try these new adventures.
As of now, The Rec is only able to do rentals on a daily basis and do not have any long term rental options for the season. However, due to the increase in year long rental requests, Hathway is using his managerial position to pitch the idea of season long rentals to his higher ups in order to provide more opportunities for beginners.
Not only does the facility do rentals, they also have trips you can sign up for. This way you can go with a large group of people with a wide variety of experience.
The trips tend to be catered to getting new people to get into the sport. They provide all the gear, transportation and have more experienced riders tag along in order to help people learn.
But this doesn’t mean you need to have no experience to go on these trips. For those who already have experience, it is still a great opportunity to head up to the mountain and make friends who share this interest.
In the past, The Rec Center has hosted trips to not just Bogus Basin, but also nearby mountains like Tamarack, and even all the way to Utah. While they might not be doing those trips for this season that doesn’t mean they are over.
The center plans their trips based on how popular they were the previous year. This means everyone is encouraged to go this year, get familiar with the program, make some great friends and learn more about this great seasonal sport. That way this program will be able to flourish and give students these opportunities to go explore nearby mountains in the future.
These trips don’t just pertain to skiing and snowboarding as well. They have backpacking trips in the snow and one of their most popular ones is their snowshoe hot springs trip — and these are just the winter trips. During other seasons they offer camping, white water rafting, mountain biking and rock climbing.
While the facility itself might just be a small area tucked into a corner of The Rec Center, the experiences they provide are anything but. The rental facility is here to help people try these new experiences and to “Just go for it,” as Hathway says.
