Outdoor Equipment Rental: Enjoying the Great Outdoors

Jeffrey Downing shares tips on outdoor equipment rental and how to make the most of the great outdoors.
Transcription:

Jeffrey Downing: Hello. My name is Jeffrey Downing. I'm with San Juan Colleges Outdoor Recreation Department. We are located in and around the Health and Human Performance Center where you can find a weightlifting room, dance classes, workout classes, and three basketball courts where they host pickleball and soccer tournaments along with a running track.

Inside the Health and Human Performance Center, you can find our 30-foot indoor climbing wall where you can schedule groups for birthday parties just to come climb or join us during normal hours of operation. At our climbing wall, you can enjoy bouldering, which is climbing without being tied into a rope up to 10 feet high or get set up in a harness, to tie in and go all the way to the top. We have a great team of staff that will help you learn how to put on a harness, tie into the rope, and even teach you how to belay. We do offer an intro to gym climbing class intermittently throughout the year where you can learn what the different types of holds are, how to move on the wall so it's not so tiring, and even how to fall along with an advanced climbing class where you can learn what it takes to climb like the pros.

During the summer, we host climbing classes as part of kids' college for ages five to fifteen. If you're looking for a new challenge for your team, come check out our High Endeavors Challenge course where groups can work on team building exercises, trust experiences, build leadership skills, and gain personal growth. At the Challenge course, we have over 200 activities that we can utilize, including 13 low elements to provide a group the best experience possible. So even if you come see us multiple times, you might still see something you have never seen before. We have elements that will keep you grounded, work on your acrobatic skills or you can climb our 60-foot tower, jump off our 20-foot pamper pole, or take a ride on the breathtaker swing.

We also feature an outdoor equipment rental center where you can find many of your outdoor needs. We have all kinds of paddle sports equipment, including rafts, standup paddle boards, canoes and kayaks. You can find snowshoes, snowboards, and cross-country skis in our winter section. We also have backpacks, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp stoves, mountain bikes, and even volleyball nets.

Based out of the rental center, we also offer some outdoor experiences such as snowshoe trips to Vallecito Lake, day hikes all over the area, including Bisti, Badlands and Engineer Peak. We even offer rafting trips during the spring, summer, and fall. During the warm parts of the year, we will also be hosting standup paddleboard, canoe, and kayak trips out to Farmington Lake.

All over campus, we have a 27 basket disc golf course that can be accessed anytime campus is open with a variety of easy to challenging distances and terrain. You can try it out for the first time with discs from the rental center or challenge yourself to get a hole in one. We are open to the public for anyone to come visit us, whether it's to rent some equipment, try out the climbing wall, or getting a group together to have an experience of the challenge course.

If you or someone you know is interested in any of our services, give us a call at (505) 566-3221 or contact the outdoor recreation coordinator, Roman McCabe, at 505-566-3487. You can also find us on Facebook under San Juan College Outdoor Equipment Rental Center or by going to our website, www.sanjuancollege.edu/hhpc. Thank you for listening and enjoy the rest of your day.