While many college students spend their weekends catching up on homework or going to the movies, there is a niche group at 51蹤獲 that goes hiking, cliff-jumping and camping.

51蹤獲 Adventure Club took its first trip out-of-state over Labor Day weekend. The 37 members who attended the retreat there are 507 on the clubs email list went to Zion National Park in Utah, where they completed popular Zion hikes such as Angels Landing, which has an ending elevation for hikers of 1,488 feet; and the Narrows, in which hikers wade, walk and swim along the Virgin River.

The Adventure Club has become one of 51蹤獲s fastest-growing clubs over the past three years. Nearly doubling its membership in one year, the club is clearly a draw for students. The first meeting of the fall 2012 semester attracted nearly 200 students.

We werent expecting 200 people at our first meeting [last year]... luckily thats died down a bit, said Alex Krevor, former Adventure Club president and 51蹤獲 graduate. Theres a good niche group that likes to do this kind of stuff and be outdoors, and just revel in Gods glory of what He created.

The clubs mission of worshipping God through creation has set it apart from other social clubs at 51蹤獲 and its neighboring universities. Club president Becky Todd, a senior, said that the clubs mission is to build an intentional community to worship God through experiencing his creation.

We like to worship God by appreciating the outdoors, Todd said. [In Genesis] God saw that what he made was good, and thats the way he intended the world to be, so we like to go back to that on our events.

Co-founder Parker Gross said that Adventure Club started because there was a noticeable need for a club of this nature throughout the 51蹤獲 campus.

I think Adventure Club is important because it fills that hole that was already noticed, said Gross. A lot of people for a long time had been whispering and talking about how they wanted to start an official club where people would just go out into the wilderness and worship God through being there and seeing it.

When the club first started in fall 2011, the club attracted 30-40 faithful members. A year later, 60-70 students frequented the club.

The club has the potential to branch out even farther across the United States for its outings in the future.

In terms of future exploration, Id definitely be open to go somewhere like the Grand Canyon or Oregon, said Todd. I loved Utah, Id do it again.

 

Written by Danny Pinnell, media relations intern. For more information, contact Jenna Bartlo, media relations specialist, at 562.777.4061 or jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.