Winona State Common Adventures: March 2010

Friday, March 26, 2010

HAPPY SPRING!!!

Spring is here and that means that its time to start up the outings once again! If you're starting to feel the stress mount from the impending doom also known as finals, come join us for some natural fun. Geocaching, rock climbing, mountain biking, disc golfing and paddling are a few of the outings and trips on the docket for the next few weeks. If you have experience in any of these areas stop by memorial 128 or email Eric @ ebarnard@winona.edu to initiate a trip or let us know what YOU want to do! To start things off next Tuesday will be bouldering at castle mound state forest. If you've never tried the sport of bouldering- its the most simple form of rock climbing- all you need are shoes. If you don't have any we have some you can borrow. Sign up asap as spots will be going fast!!

What Is Common Adventures?

Common Adventures is a Student Based outdoor recreation, adventure and education program which offers outings, trips and workshops throughout the year. It is also a great way to learn new skills, meet new people and gain outdoor leadership experience in a number of outdoor recreation and educational settings. All trips and activities are organized under the common adventure philosophy, where all trip members share responibilities and costs. (learn more about the common adventure philosophy below)

Common adventure?

A Common Adventure trip is two or more individuals working cooperatively to acheive common goals and sharing the expenses and responsibilities of a trip as equitably as possible.

Shared responsibilities include: helping to plan and organize the trip, cooking, washing dishes, loading and unloading vehicles, buying food, cleaning up the equipment after the trip, etc.
There are no paid guides. Any instruction or advice provided by any member of the group is given gratuitously in a spirit of cooperation.
There is no designated "leader" who makes all of the decisions; instead, leadership remains fluid and the group makes the decisions democratically among themselves.
Members of the group do not hold one another, or anyone else, liable for accidents.

The Process of Common Adventure Trips

Initiating Trip:
The person who developes the idea for a trip is known as the trip initiator. (He/she is not the leader of the trip and will contribute their share of the responsibilities and costs of the trip.) The trip initiator will put together information on their trip such as equipment needed, experience needed, estimated cost, location, pre-trip meeting time, etc.

Posting Trip:
The trip will then be posted on the Common Adventures trip board, calendar, and other appropriate forms of advertisement.

Sign-ups: Once the trip is posted, people who are interested in the trip can sign up.

Pre-trip meeting:
A few days before the trip, a pre-trip meeting is held. In the meeting, everyone that will be participating on the trip comes together to discuss all aspects of the trip and to make final decisions on location, activities, food, vehicles, etc. Individuals interested in the trip will also have the chance to find out what the trip is really about and can decide if the trip is for them or not. The meeting helps the trip participants learn what clothing and equipment are appropriate for that particular trip. Liability and risk forms are also read over and signed by participants at the pre-trip meeting.

Trip Leadership:
During the trip, different members of the group may take the leadership role as some occurrence on the trip requires their individual experience in the matter. Major decisions are made democratically as a group. Everyone's opinion is heard, although persons with specialized knowledge will have some precedence on the particular subject.

Trip Safety:
Common Adventure trips are safer than other forms of trips because everyone is working for the common good of the group. One of the shared responsibilities of the trip is keeping an eye out for each other. Because of the democratic nature of the trip, any participant can feel comfortable about vocalizing their concerns for potential problems.

Learning on the trip:
Common Adventure trips create an ideal environment for experiential learning. There are, of course, no designated teachers, but those on the trip with more experience can share their knowledge and skills with those who have less experience.

Trip Follow-up:
The group continues to be involved in the trip even when it's over. If equipment needs to be unloaded, or money divided up evenly between participants, the participants will stick around and continue to share responsibilities.