In the Swell with U Explore

The most spectacular places in Utah are the ones often left unseen.

Nestled in the vast deserts of Southern Utah, slot canyons lie just out of sight, carving their way with spectacular power through the red rocks. Dangerous, exciting, and utterly breathtaking, these canyons are often forgotten by most that venture into our great deserts. With most requiring technical skills in both rappelling and downclimbing, many of these routes are formidable, and often just downright inaccessible for the average person. For students at the University of Utah, however, learning to conquer these canyons is made incredibly accessible with a phenomenal program.

Through the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism department, students can enroll in three different canyoneering classes that introduce the basics and build into more advanced skills with each consecutive course. Whether you’re just looking to add a few credits or want to experience the whole program, these trips are a great way to learn a new hobby and get away from classes for a few days, all while still getting college credit.

With each course, students can expect to meet for class instruction twice before the field trip. With enough time to learn all of the necessary knots and skills without adding stress to already busy semesters, these classes are really more of a break from school than anything. The culmination of these classes is the weekend fieldtrip down to Hanksville to put these skills to the test and to finally bomb down some canyons. The drive down is breathtaking, and it only gets better as the weekend goes on. Upon arriving and getting camp set up, students can expect to be assigned to a group under a team of instructors. With each instructor having a canyon leader certification and hundreds of canyons under their belts, there’s an abundance of knowledge and experience to help guide you through the canyons.

Because each class varies in difficulty, you’ll get to experience a wide variety of canyons. One of my favorites that I did in the Canyon II course was a route called Hogwarts. With a pretty steep approach to get to this specific canyon, it was a challenge far before we even descended, but it was incredibly worth it. With multiple repels spanning from 40 to 90 feet high, this was a perfect route to practice some longer repels.

While canyoneering is by far my favorite course that the University offers, there are dozens more for students to choose from. There are an impossible number of outdoor hobbies, most of them having a relatively high learning curve that can often discourage new comers. With these classes, the U continues to foster the great outdoor culture that our state has to offer by making these hobbies incredibly accessible for students to try. With the base of knowledge built by these classes and the stoke that they can bring towards something new, I think that these are a great way to get excited about something new.

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