As GOL! embarks on our second year of work, we want to invite community leadership and guidance through a formal Advisory Board. This group will help GOL! fulfill our strategic plan and keep our commitment to serve the desires of our diverse community. Please consider whether you or someone you know could help provide vision and leadership in this role.

We are also excited to dive headfirst into planning with CMC for the community Gear Library! We will have community focus groups and design charrettes in the coming weeks so everyone has a chance to share their ideas and insights. Dates and details will be shared out just as soon as they’re set.Happy trails,

–the GOL! Team

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Winterpalooza

Thank you to all who attended this month’s Winterpalooza workshops! It’s inspiring to share in your enthusiasm for getting kids outdoors. GOL! Is thrilled to have the Gear Library open now for youth-serving organizations and program providers. With 80 pairs of youth snowshoes, 23 fat bikes, 40 pairs of Nordic skis, and a cadre of newly trained leaders, our youth have so many new opportunities to get out and enjoy the winter wonderland in which we live.

It’s great to see Project Dream’s GOL! Adventure Clubs and PE teacher Christian Lovely already regularly using the gear with students! Still more educators — like Roxie Aldaz and Michelle Cavanaugh — are getting their classes outside frequently too!

GOL! Adventure Days

Almost 70 students joined 10 GOL! leaders for a memorable day of Nordic and downhill skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, and snow games up at Ski Cooper and ice skating at Huck Finn on Friday, January 26th. Even though temps were low, spirits were high!

Huge thanks to Ski Cooper, Tennessee Pass Nordic Center, guest Nordic instructor Malin Bengtsson, Lake County Recreation Department, and Lake County School District transportation and food services for supporting the activities. Kudos to all the kids and crew leaders who made it such a blast; whether they were trying downhill skiing for the very first time ever, shredding all day on the backside, or taking over the Nordic Center trails and ice rink, everyone enjoyed a full day of snowy outdoor fun!

GOL!-LCSD

A new semester of Wilderness Experience kicked off at CMC on January 11th with a cohort of 12 students who are earning college credit and high school credit (a dual-enrollment course!) through the course. These students are gaining practical outdoor skills as they also develop leadership, community skills, and resilience. So far, they’ve cooked on Whisperlite stoves, taken on some challenging team building initiatives, and learned about thermoregulation including the pros and cons of different materials for preventing heat loss. GOL!’s gear library has helped outfit them for the semester – so they’re sporting everything from shiny new Keen hiking boots to Columbia long underwear to Madden packs courtesy of Colorado Outward Bound School and Patagonia puffies donated to the library by HMI! We’re really excited about learning and adventuring with this great group of students this semester!

OLT Celebration Day

On Thursday, January 25th, the students at Lake County Intermediate School (LCIS) got the best type of reward: playing in the snow! This reward, dubbed “Snowpalooza” by the LCIS staff, was to honor the strong work these students did during quarter 2 to develop their perseverance, one of LCIS’s “Habits of a Learner.”

“Snowpalooza” included Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, and snow play/snacks. GOL!-trained teachers and guest instructors oversaw the gear borrowing process and facilitated each station. Susan Fishman, a volunteer GOL!-trained leader, led Nordic skiing and said it was a “hoot.” “There was lots of laughter because I told them that was a rule when they fall,” Susan explained.

This was the first large-scale use (about 200 kids got out!) of the gear from the Gear Library since GOL! implemented trainings and formalized borrowing procedures. We’re excited that the gear is getting kids out trying new outdoor activities! Thanks to LCIS staff for this awesome idea!

The GOL! Community Gear Library Updates

The many dreams and visions developed over the past 2+ years are finally starting to take shape as GOL! works with Colorado Mountain College on preliminary design ideas for the GOL! community Gear Library. The facility will be an annex to the CMC Climax building, complementing the CMC student gear library space already in place, with easy access to the great CMC campus trails. We will facilitate community focus groups and design charrettes in the coming weeks so everyone has a chance to share their ideas and insights. Dates and details will be shared out just as soon as they’re set. It’s so exciting the GOL! gear will have a permanent home where all can access and enjoy it!