At NC State, there is a club that regularly goes surfing, skiing, caving, hiking, camping and kayaking. Anyone with any amount of outdoor activity experience can join, they just ask that you pay your $5 dues first.
The Adventure Club at NC State is a network of students dedicated to doing something fun and interesting as often as possible. Operating largely through the group’s Facebook page, members organize trips based on interest and availability.
“Usually every weekend, someone is doing something,” said Jennifer Rilley, the club’s current president and a senior studying fashion and textile design. “Anyone can lead a trip. If you’re going surfing, you can just post on the club page, ‘Hey I’m going surfing this weekend, does anyone want to come with? This is how much it costs, this is what you need to bring. Meet at this location at this day.’”
Riley said that trips generally only last a weekend and that the club generally stays in North Carolina but will occasionally venture out into adjacent states like Tennessee. In addition to smaller trips like day hikes and beach weekends, the club will attempt more strenuous trips. Riley said these more advanced trips usually occur around five times a semester.
“My very first trip with the club was a backpacking trip to Linville Gorge. It was really fun and I just sort of went from there,” Riley said. “Last year we took a very delightful beach trip. We were supposed to go shipwreck diving, but because there was a hurricane the week before, we couldn’t see anything so we ended up just hanging out on the beach and exploring the sand dunes. We do very low-key trips like that and also more technical trips like caving.”
Adventure Club has only been operating as an official NC State club for one year, but was operating unofficially for several years before that. The club replaced a defunct former club called the Outing Club, and was founded to fill the hole caused by this club’s absence.
“I grew up in the mountains hiking, fishing and whitewater kayaking, so when I came to NCSU I looked pretty hard for the type of club that would facilitate my interest in the outdoors,” said Lucas Dillard, a recent graduate and former president of Adventure Club. “The Outing Club had a Facebook page that was still alive enough that I found a few other students who were interested in restarting the club. Initially, I expected that at the end of the first year we would have around five or six members, but at the very first meetings we had to meet two separate days in the library because otherwise we would not have had enough room.”
Dillard said the club continued to grow from there to the point that they had to split their first meeting last year into two days.
“All in all, I think the Adventure Club isn’t really about one-off trips that other clubs or organizations might do but we are more about just being a collective friend group,” said Ryan Taylor, a senior studying engineering and the vice president of Adventure Club. “Right now, though we have over 250 members in the Facebook page, only 30 to 40 people regularly come to meetings and have an effect on what we do. This next school year, we hope to reach more people and invite them to join any trip that we have or host one of their own. It can range from a picnic, a meeting at the rock wall, hiking Grandfather Mountain or going to South Carolina to see lots of impressive waterfalls. Besides that, we have a few ideas to retain the interest in our club and hope that we can have a larger impact here at NC State.”
Riley said that the trips are generally free, with attendees only asked to chip in for gas and secure whatever equipment the trip requires. Riley said that borrowing equipment from other club members is sometimes possible and that renting equipment from Outdoor Adventures with the gym is another good option. Outdoor Adventures, run by University Recreation, rents out hiking and camping equipment, as well as canoes and kayaks.
The group is hoping to get some funding from the university to purchase general equipment that club members can borrow. According to Riley, the easiest way to get involved with the club is to join the club’s Facebook page, “Adventure Club at NCSU.”
The Adventure Club hikes Hanging Rock for one of the many trips they take around North Carolina.
