Students live summer on the fringe
Some studetns did the 9 to 5, others challenged their bodies in the great outdoors
Morgan Schneider
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Sports
At home this summer, sophomore Katie Christiansen had the 46,000 acre Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park for a backyard.
Christiansen, an outdoor aficionado, is from Michigan's Leelanau County where she paddled her 12 foot ultralight kayak around Lake Michigan and the inland waters near her home.
Christiansen said she enjoys kayaking because it brings her close to the water for most of the year.
"Most water sports you can do for about three months in Michigan, but I was kayaking the day after Christmas [last year]," she said.
She recommends kayaking to others because of the freedom it offers.
"It's very calming and at the same time intense," she said. "You can push it as hard as you want; you can get to places you'd never see otherwise."
Christiansen said kayaking in Michigan is "as close to perfection as one could get in the Midwest because you basically have an ocean's worth of water, and inland rivers and lakes."
Climb a rock, be a man
Sophomore Ian Faley is a stud rock climber. Since he lives in northeast Washington, he is only hours from the Cascade Mountains, where he climbs every week during the summer.
"I typically do free climbing," he said. "I enjoy the adrenaline rush you get from climbing a rock you'd usually do technical climbing on, which is [climbing] with ropes and [harnesses]. It's probably not the smartest thing, but it gives the biggest rush."
According to Faley, climbing is not difficult to learn and one of the best ways to get into it is to go out with someone who already climbs. Bouldering - climbing low boulders or climbing across a rock face parallel to the ground - is the easiest form of climbing, followed by free climbing, then technical climbing.
Faley said he likes climbing because it's a great workout and is not as popular as other sports, but his favorite aspect of climbing is the accomplishment of getting to the top.
"I can see God's glory," he said. "You get to the top and the payoff is so great because of the view and you can see for miles."
Christiansen, an outdoor aficionado, is from Michigan's Leelanau County where she paddled her 12 foot ultralight kayak around Lake Michigan and the inland waters near her home.
Christiansen said she enjoys kayaking because it brings her close to the water for most of the year.
"Most water sports you can do for about three months in Michigan, but I was kayaking the day after Christmas [last year]," she said.
She recommends kayaking to others because of the freedom it offers.
"It's very calming and at the same time intense," she said. "You can push it as hard as you want; you can get to places you'd never see otherwise."
Christiansen said kayaking in Michigan is "as close to perfection as one could get in the Midwest because you basically have an ocean's worth of water, and inland rivers and lakes."
Climb a rock, be a man
Sophomore Ian Faley is a stud rock climber. Since he lives in northeast Washington, he is only hours from the Cascade Mountains, where he climbs every week during the summer.
"I typically do free climbing," he said. "I enjoy the adrenaline rush you get from climbing a rock you'd usually do technical climbing on, which is [climbing] with ropes and [harnesses]. It's probably not the smartest thing, but it gives the biggest rush."
According to Faley, climbing is not difficult to learn and one of the best ways to get into it is to go out with someone who already climbs. Bouldering - climbing low boulders or climbing across a rock face parallel to the ground - is the easiest form of climbing, followed by free climbing, then technical climbing.
Faley said he likes climbing because it's a great workout and is not as popular as other sports, but his favorite aspect of climbing is the accomplishment of getting to the top.
"I can see God's glory," he said. "You get to the top and the payoff is so great because of the view and you can see for miles."
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