Venture Outdoors

Background

• http://www.VentureOutdoors.org

Insights

• Letter of support for Play.CLOH.org. http://play.cloh.org/2016/03/18/venture-outdoors-offers-a-letter-of-support-for-the-play-cloh-org-grant-application/

Used in events at Venture Outdoors for geocaching.

Merger with Kayak group

Venture Outdoors is in the process of merging with Paddle Without Pollution in 2017 and new stewardship programs are expected in 2017. An expand adaptive kayaking program is possible for more people with Kayak Pittsburgh.

Killing Outdoors Festival in 2017

The annual Venture Outdoors Festival held in the month of May at Point State Park ended in 2016. We are proud of all it has accomplished in the 15 years since its inception. The number of people getting outside in this region has grown significantly, and we believe the Festival has played a big part in that growth. In fact, we believe the event has achieved its original purpose – introducing people in the Pittsburgh area to the endless ways they can enjoy the green spaces, trails, and waterways that are all around us. Over 15 years we’ve had close to 75,000 join us for the annual Festival and appreciate all that you’ve done to make it an awesome experience for everyone.

Colab

We are always looking for opportunities to collaborate with like-minded organizations and hope that the relationships we have developed with so many of you will continue to grow and evolve. We believe the opportunities for outdoor recreation are endless and look forward to working with you over the next 15 years to build on what we have achieved together.

Joey-Linn Ulrich Executive Director in 2017

XPs

Early Ideas

• Digital XP: Geocaching Guru - Students will use Global Positions System (GPS) units to complete a set geocaching course. After they have learned the basics, they will create their own geocaching course using a mapping program, such as Google Earth. They will hand off their designed course to their peers to complete the geocaching course, in order to promote competition in a fun and collaborative way. This digital XP can be tied to GTech’s mapping digital XP.

• Local XP: Waterways Warrior - Interested students can participate on a guided kayaking or Stand Up Paddleboarding outing, in which they will learn about the history and ecology of Pittsburgh’s local waterways.

• Local XP: Fishing Conservationist - Students will visit the North Shore’s Three Rivers Heritage Trail to learn the basics of fishing while incorporating Leave No Trace principles.

• Local XP: Climbing Wall Event - Venture Outdoors can bring their 24’ climbing wall to a "kick off" or "culminating" event; the wall has four different routes, and is a great challenge to help build confidence in participating youth.